Motor Sports

CONCORD, N.C. -- Chris Buescher cashed in on his tutelage from NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver David Ragan as Dollar General presented round three of the Quaker Steak & Lube Summer Shootout Series at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

The 15-year-old racer from Prosper, Texas, has been mentored thissummer by Ragan, Roush-Fenway Racing's driver of the No. 6 Ford Fusion. Intonight's Pull-A-Part Legends Car Pro division finale, Buescher proved to be a worthy pupil.

Buescher patiently stalked John Ellenburg for 14 laps before makinghis move with two trips to go around the quarter-mile frontstretch oval. Following a two-car accident, Buescher used a bump-and-run maneuver in Turn1 to take the point after the restart. But Ellenburg fought back, pulling the same move in Turn 3 to ease the Texan to the outside. Ellenburg appeared on the way to his first Pro division victory, but his car got loose in Turn 4 and was collected in a three-car pileup. Buescher escaped unscathed and pulled away for his first victory of the season.

Steven Ross and Casey Roderick followed Buescher across the stripe in the division for the nation's best Legends Car drivers.

In the Coke Classic Legends Car Masters division, defending series champion Clay Hair won his first race of the season.

After starting in the fourth position, Hair took the lead on lap five and opened up a huge advantage on the 28-car field. But a lap-19 caution set up a two-lap shootout to the finish. Hair, of Mt. Pleasant, N.C., used a flawless restart to hold off an aggressive challenge from point-leader John Sossoman and captured the 29th Summer Shootout feature victory of his career. Sossoman finished second with George "Cotton" Spry following closely behind in third.

Dillon Bassett of Winston Salem, N.C., cruised to victory for the second straight week in the POWERade Bandolero Bandits feature. The 11-year-old started third, jumped to the lead on lap one, and didn't take long to begin lapping the field.

Mason Massey and T.J. Michael were left to battle it out for second place. Following a late-race caution flag, Massey slipped by Michael to take the runner-up spot, while Michael settled for show money in the 14-lap feature for drivers ages 8 to 11.

Kendall Sellers, 17, of Kannapolis, N.C., captured his first win of the season in the Cherry Coke Bandolero Outlaws feature.

Sellers took the lead on lap one of the caution-free race and never looked back, crossing the finish line a full straightaway in front of second-place Chris Morgan of Kannapolis, N.C. Bailey Daniels came in third in the series for Bandolero drivers ages 16 and up.

Other feature winners included Rusty Drye of Rockwell, N.C., in the CRASHCars division; Scott Hensley of Olive Branch, Miss., in the Vault Legends Car Young Lions division; Timmy Hill of Port Tobacco, Md., in the Sprite Bandolero Young Guns division; Cody Blackburn of Stanley, N.C., in the Coke Zero Legends Car Semi-Pro division; and Adam Gay from Dubline, Ga., by the margin of .003-seconds in the Full Throttle Thunder Cars.

There will be fireworks on and off the track Tuesday night, July 1, when the 15th annual Quaker Steak & Lube Summer Shootout celebrates Independence Day with a giant fireworks extravaganza presented by the Cabarrus County Convention & Visitors Bureau.

In addition to a full slate of Legends Car, Bandolero and Thunder Car racing, a wild-and-crazy CRASHCar Trailer Race of Destruction will be part of the action. The fireworks extravaganza will follow the racing program at approximately 10:15 p.m.