Shannon Koch Wins Better Half Dash at Charlotte

Shannon Koch alongside husband Blake Koch

Pete McCole/AR1

Shannon Koch won Thursday night’s Better Half Dash race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, leading 12 of the 25-lap distance in her first race ever.

Koch, the wife of NASCAR Xfinity driver Blake Koch, took the lead shortly after losing the entire back-half worth of sheet metal off of her Bandolero race car, shooting to the front past Katelyn Sweet, who later spun out while fighting off Jenna Robison for second.

Sweet would fight her way back toward the front and regained second place after Robinson spun out, but Koch’s car seemed to have a slight aerodynamic advantage without a back end. Koch would go on to win by two car lengths over Sweet, winning $10,000 for the charity of her choice. Tandra Greenfield was third.