| Thomson gets a Win - Bowers gets Points Lead at Summer SHOOTOUT | by Dave Westerman
 Race fans in Charlotte, NC were treated to back to back nights of racing Monday and Tuesday as the Summer Shootout at Lowe's Motor Speedway ran weeks four and five as part of July 4th festivities with a number of Florida drivers taking part.
After a rough night on Monday, St. Cloud's Brandon Thomson put it all together Tuesday evening leading flag to flag to win the Legends Car Pro Division feature.
Normally these races tend to resemble a Speedworld Crash-A-Rama but it was a rare night Tuesday as the Pro Division race ran green to checker without a caution flag.
Thomson had the pole position for the A-Main and won the race in dominating fashion as no one came close to him over the entire distance.
"We had a terrible draw on Monday night and got banged around in the heat race," said Brandon's dad Russ Thomson. "We decided to run at the back of the B-Main and use it as a test session. Since we're not in the points race anymore, we're racing for the wins now," he said... and that's exactly what they got on Tuesday.
Thomson is the only Florida driver competing weekly in the Pro Division at the Summer Shootout, but that's not the case in the Semi-Pro class where two Florida youngsters are in the thick of the points battle.
Paddy Rodenbeck of Odessa came into week four as the Semi-Pro Legends points leader but had a rough two days, finishing 11th in the A-Main on Monday before failing to qualify for the A on Tuesday after problems in both his heat and B-Main.
Meanwhile, Mt. Dora driver Matt Bowers continued his consistent runs with two more top ten finishes taking 7th on Monday and 4th on Tuesday to go with a 3rd, a 4th and a 6th in the previous three weeks of racing. That consistency has put Bowers out front in the Semi-Pro points chase over drivers from throughout the country heading into week 6 of the 10 week shootout next Tuesday.
Along with Bowers and Rodenbeck, two other Florida drivers made the A-Main on Monday with Port Charlotte's Josh Williams finishing 12th and Kara Clarke of Palm Beach Gardens 15th. Both joined Rodenbeck watching from the sidelines on Tuesday though, however Lake Worth's Bryan Silas made the show, finishing 19th.
In the Bandeleros, Clarke competed both nights in the Outlaw class taking 7th and 14th place finishes respectively. Ryan Rust of Port St. Lucie made the A-Main in the Young Guns both nights finishing 12th on Monday and 19th Tuesday while Sebring's Gerald Campbell made the trip up north and came home with a 20th place finish on Monday night.
Brothers Mark and Shawn Hooven of Orlando (not Hoover, as is shown on the Lowe's web site) made their first run at the Shootout in the Bandits Division and did pretty well finishing 10th and 11th respectively on Monday night while Shawn was 17th on Tuesday and Mark 23rd. Both finished behind fellow Orlando driver Donovan Ponder who came home 16th Tuesday night.
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