Each summer, the quarter-mile of Charlotte Motor Speedway is flooded with the very best Legend Cars and Bandolero for the Cook Out Summer Shootout, where drivers from all over the country and around the world test their mettle against the toughest grassroots racing competition. One of those drivers, 18-year-old Boston Reid & Co. Legends Pro division’s Justice Calabro, is a shootout regular, but the California native’s path to America’s Home for Racing has been anything but normal.
His route to the track began with the movie, Herbie Fully Loaded. Calabro quickly fell in love with the idea of driving and being behind the wheel of a car.
He first got a taste of racing at an indoor go-kart track. At the age of 14, Calabro got behind the wheel of his first Legend Car when he participated in a driving school near the speedway. Like something out of the movies, his raw, unpolished skill impressed the Stillwell Racing team, earning him a spot to race against some of the sport’s best drivers. But in order to chase racing glory, he first had to make the move to North Carolina.
Calabro and his family made the decision to pursue his dream of racing and moved from California to Charlotte.
“My mom, dad, grandma, grandpa and myself all packed up and moved away from California,” Calabro said. “My parents left their jobs and their whole lives behind so that I could come out here and pursue racing.”
Calabro got his first victory in the Legend’s Young Lions division of the 2019 Winter Heat at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
So far this Cook Out Summer Shootout season, the No. 25 Legends car for the Boston Reid & Company Pro division has seen success in each round, improving his finishing position each round, including a sixth-place finish last week.
“I would say it has been a fruitful journey so far,” said Calabro.
This is Calabro’s fourth summer racing the Cook Out Summer Shootout. The excitement continues this Tuesday, with “Awful Night.” It will be a night of great racing, a “celebrity” autograph session, silly shenanigans, a forgettable t-shirt toss making it an all-around “awful” night.
TICKETS:
Cook Out Summer Shootout continues Tuesday, June 28. Entry is $10 for adults; $5 entry for anyone named Karen; kids 12 and under are FREE. Tickets can be purchased at the gate or online at www.charlottemotorspeedway.com/tickets.
KEEP TRACK:
Follow all the thrilling Cook Out Summer Shootout action using the hashtag #WeCreateLegends. Connect with Charlotte Motor Speedway on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
