Knowland Overcomes Two Spins For Eighth At Charlotte

Taegan Knowland at Charlotte Motor Speedway. (Andrea Thomas photo)

CONCORD, N.C. – Taegan Knowland made the best of a roller-coaster night Tuesday during round four of the Cookout Summer Shootout Series at Charlotte Motor Speedway, finishing eighth in the Bandolero Bandits feature despite two spins and a loose-handling race car.

Knowland entered the day third in class points and was brimming with confidence after a runner-up finish in round three. He qualified ninth but wasn’t going to let that stop him from moving forward.

The 10-year-old from Topeka, Kan., jumped up three positions on the opening lap and was all the way up to fourth by lap six, before a mid-race tangle with Cam Truett cost Knowland all his track position and forced the young driver to rally back through the field.

Knowland did just that, clawing his way back up to fourth, but was battling an extremely free No. 17 car due to a bent left-front spindle from the earlier accident with Truett.

Eventually, that loose condition was too much for Knowland to overcome, and he spun in turns three and four coming to four to go. That dropped him back to ninth place for a sprint to the checkered flag.

Knowland was able to advance past Gerald White III for eighth with three laps left, but ran out of time to improve further. The race was won by Wyatt Coffey, ahead of Jack Smith, Landon Thrasher, Truett, and Delaney Gray.

Despite the result being “a bit disappointing on paper,” Knowland nears the midpoint of the summer season feeling confident about the speed in his Race Driven Performance entry at the Charlotte quarter mile.

“I’m really feeling more and more comfortable in the Bandolero, and it’s exciting to be able to race against Cam and Wyatt, who are two of the best in the nation in this class right now,” said Knowland. “Monday practice was rough because of some chain issues that put us behind, but when we got to the race Tuesday night, we had a lot of speed after working on the car.

“The incident with Cam was hard racing; we were still able to keep pushing after that, but the car was so loose. It finally got to the point where it just stepped out on me in turn four,” Knowland added. “We restarted from the back again and got what we could, but there just wasn’t enough time to get back to the top five with so few laps remaining. We’ll get better and come back even stronger next week.”

Knowland would like to thank ATP Restoration, Race Face Brand Development, the Friends of Jacklyn Foundation, Qdoba of Topeka, Jeremiah Bullfrogs Bar & Grille of Topeka, Manhattan and Junction City, Royal Signs, Thrivent Financial, and DC Lawn Care for their partnership and support of his racing efforts.

Knowland will return to action during round five of the Cookout Summer Shootout Series, which takes place Tuesday night, July 2 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

For those unable to attend at the track, FloRacing will stream the event live.

Jeremiah Bullfrogs is continuing to hold local watch parties for each round of the Summer Shootout in support of Knowland. Topeka-area fans looking to get in on the fun can do so by visiting the restaurant at 2827 Southwest Wanamaker Road, with the FloRacing broadcast kicking off at 4 p.m. Central time.

About Taegan Knowland

Taegan Knowland is a 10-year-old Kansan whose dreams of racing were strong from his earliest years. A first-generation racer, Knowland began racing quarter midgets in 2021 and has since compiled a record of more than 30 victories, including a highlight win in 2022 at historic Daytona (Fla.) Int’l Speedway.

Knowland currently races quarter midgets nationally in the NASCAR Youth Series (formerly the USAC.25 Series) and has also branched out into Bandolero car racing, with plans to compete for Race Driven Performance in the prestigious Summer Shootout Series at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway and other major INEX-sanctioned events.

For more information on Taegan Knowland, visit his website at https://taeganknowlandracing.com/.

Fans can also follow Knowland on Facebook and Instagram at Taegan Knowland Racing.