NASCAR
Bubba Wallace Returns to Short Track Racing Roots at Bojangles Summer Shootout in Charlotte
Throughout this summer, Bubba Wallace has revisited his racing roots while also competing on Sundays. On Tuesday nights, Bubba Wallace has been racing a Legends car at Charlotte Motor Speedway in the Bojangles Summer Shootout. Wallace is just one of a long list of current NASCAR stars to have graduated through the CMS summer series. He began in these divisions in 2009, but last raced in the 10-week series in 2012. Since then, Wallace has been racing in each of the 3 NASCAR national series. For 2019, Wallace has headlined the Pros division in his number 76 Legend car.
In 10 weeks of competition, Bubba earned 1 win and finished 7th in the Pro division championship. Wallace did miss week 1 however, due to the race at Michigan. Being a NASCAR star, Bubba Wallace brings much publicity to these divisions of racing at Charlotte. Many young drivers are getting their first experience racing on a big stage. Some of them even had Wallace act as a mentor for them.
Other Diversity Stars Shine at Shootout
“Bubba went from being someone I looked up to for nearly 10 years to a real help here,” said NASCAR Drive for Diversity Youth Driver Development member Rajah Caruth. Caruth, 17, is an acclaimed iRacing sim driver from Washington, DC who made his first oval-track racing start at the Summer Shootout. “Running laps with him, talking on a weekly basis has been pretty awesome. If I have questions or need help getting a feel for the car or track then he’s a big benefit.”
Caruth is far from the only young diversity driver in this year’s Shootout. Gracie Trotter, Isabella Robusto, and Jadyn Daniels were all female feature winners throughout the 10 weeks. The 3 of them made up the most successful female drivers in the 26-year history of Summer Shootout. “It’s pretty cool seeing a bunch of other females, especially this year at Summer Shootout. There’s been a lot more female drivers which is amazing,” said Charlotte-native Gracie Trotter.
“This feels amazing, with just all of the hard work we’ve put in throughout the years finally being able to accomplish this,” Isabella Robusto said after being declared the Semi-Pro feature winner in week 4. This marked her first ever feature win after 8 years of trying at Summer Shootout. After a hotly contested championship in her division, Robusto would have to settle for 2nd. Along with her brother Will, Isabella Robusto, 14, is a potential star on the rise in the world of racing. She is currently with Rev Racing as part of NASCAR Drive for Diversity. She hopes to be in a late model stock car in the near future.
Summer Shootout History Made with Robusto, Trotter
The week after Robusto’s win, Gracie Trotter took the checkers in Semi-Pro. This win would mark the first back-to-back female winners in any Summer Shootout division. “It feels good to be back (after winning this race last year), it’s been a long time coming. It was a long race, lots of cautions, so I knew I just had to nail all of the restarts. I pulled off every single one so it was a good night,” said Trotter.
Scary Moment for Trotter Didn’t Phase Her
A few weeks after her big win, Trotter found herself upside down while going for another win on the last lap. “I was trying to go for the lead and it didn’t end my way,” said Trotter. “I ended up on my lid, but the car is better now.” Similar to both Caruth and Robusto, the 18-year-old Trotter has been tabbed by NASCAR Drive for Diversity. She is also a driver for Toyota Racing Development, a program that has alums such as Erik Jones, William Byron, and Christopher Bell. A week after her flip, Trotter showed up again to Charlotte and was eyeing another strong run. “I got in the car the day after the flip and I was just fine. The flip didn’t scare me much, because it was so slow, but the front clip and the motor needed repair. We came back with a fast car.”
As part of TRD’s developmental pipeline, Trotter hopes to be racing a K&N Pro Series car next year. She hopes to be one of the first female winners in a NASCAR national series.
Shootout Demonstrates Health of National Short Track Racing
In the wake of NASCAR On NBC’s new #MyTrackMyRoots campaign to highlight short tracks across America, the Summer Shootout at Charlotte saw a renewed energy. Each of the respective divisions were headlined with stars of all ages, and had compelling championship battles all the way down to Round 10. The 6 champions ranged from NASCAR veteran Mark Green to young children such as Lucas Vera and Sam Butler. The state of short tracks in America is strong, and NBC’s social media campaign is giving a new awareness to countless tracks and driver’s racing roots.
Whether for experienced NASCAR stars to return to their racing roots or have young drivers get their first taste of oval-track racing, the Summer Shootout brings together drivers of all ages. Bubba Wallace is certainly doing his part in giving back to the short track divisions that turned him into a NASCAR star. This included teaming up again with longtime car owner Chris Rogers. Wallace and Rogers have 15 years of racing as well as friendship together, which was rekindled this summer after a 5 year absence from Shootout. “(Chris) is like family, it’s like we’ve never skipped a beat,” said Wallace. “We’ve been going at it since I was 10 years old. Chris owned the motorcycle shop that my dad visited, he raced go karts and invited us out, that’s the story of how I started out in racing and the rest is history.”
Is the Next NASCAR Star Among the Field at Shootout?
Much like Wallace, Summer Shootout at Charlotte can be a springboard for countless other driver’s careers. Was a future Cup Series champion one of the young stars out there this summer? Many of them have the talent to break into NASCAR someday, which will have many fans saying ‘I was there’ when they started out on the Charlotte quarter mile.
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Written by Peter Stratta
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Photo credit to TSJ101Sports
