CONCORD, N.C. — Round Seven of the Cook Out Summer Shootout commenced Tuesday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Ben Morabito (Bojangles Outlaws) and Alex McCollum (Boston Reid & Co Pro) starred in their respective divisions, while Gerald White III (Beginner Bandits), Jack Smith (Bandits), Jackson Denton (The UNC Charlotte Young Lions), Carson Haislip (VP Racing Fuel Semi-Pro) and Dwayne Holder (Old Armor Beer Co. Masters) also captured checkered flags amongst a tremendous field of 141 total entries across seven divisions.
Bojangles Outlaws
In a jam-packed 24-car Bojangles Outlaw Bandits feature, one driver proved he was the top dog as Morabito marked his territory with a first place start on the pole and a checkered-flag finish in the division for drivers ages 12 and up.
At the start of the race, the green flag turned yellow almost immediately as turn one got the best of several racers but Morabito and Killian McMann retained the top two spots.
On lap three, a multi-car pileup brought out another caution and the tow truck for two competitors, but again, Morabito and McMann escaped unscathed and pulled away from the rest of the litter over the next several laps.
“You just have to hold on and hope that you can get past on the inside,” Morabito said. “I was hoping that the people behind me would push me around and get me in front of everybody else.”
As the field caught up by lap 13, McMann lost momentum and his place near the front. He was shuffled outside as another caution flag flew, opening the door for Mitchell Flater to take second place on the restart. Flater and Marty Roberts III traded second in the remaining laps but neither could pounce on Morabito as the Ferocious racer from New York took the win on a yellow/checkered flag finish. Flater finished second and Hunter Morgan slipped into third.
Boston Reid & Co. Pro
The Boston Reid & Co Pro Division competitors showed why they are known as the leaders of the pack at the Cook Out Summer Shootout. Several drivers were in a dogfight for the grand finale of the evening before Alex McCollum pulled ahead to claim his second win of the season.
The New Jersey-native howled his way into first on lap one off turn four and maintained the lead with Jake Bollman close on his tail. Bollman took his opportunity on turn two of lap 10, unleashing a burst of speed on the inside to take the point.
Bollman stayed in front until the only caution of the race occurred on lap 22 as Cameron Bolin and Nicholas Sowa collided off turn one to bring the pack back together. As the green flag waved to resume competition, McCollum cut on the inside to regain the lead.
Jensen Jorgensen, who had run in third place from the start, made a fierce move in turn four on lap 23 to take the top spot heading into the final circuit.
McCollum pounced in turn four to take the lead for the final time, dashing past Bollman and taking advantage as Jorgensen drifted outside to give up the inside lane.
“Those last laps, I tried running Jake and Jorgensen as clean as possible, it was just a chain reaction going into three (Turn). Everybody was so close, we were all going for the win there. We all race with respect and that’s why we are the Pros,” said McCollum.