Hoffman Scores Second Gator Of DIRTcar Nationals

Story By: CLAYTON JOHNS / DIRTCAR – BARBERVILLE, FL Nick Hoffman darted past Robbie Eilers on the opening lap and turned in a dominating 20-lap performance in the main event for his second UMP Modified win of the 46th Annual DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia Speedway Park on Friday night.

Hoffman, a Mooresville, NC native, was perfect all night long. He turned in his second perfect night of the week after he set quick time overall in qualifying before winning his heat race and capped the night with a main event victory.

Eilers of Highland, Ill. started on the pole, but Hoffman dove past him on the bottom of the first two corners and never looked back on his way to the victory.

“Rolling out on to the track before the feature, I knew I would be pretty dialed in,” Hoffman said.
“Robbie just buried it into [turn] one a little too deep and missed the bottom on the first lap. I drove by him by the center and led every lap. It was really good and after that I just made sure to hit my marks.”

On lap 12, Hoffman raced his way into lapped traffic and had to negotiate slower cars. It was a short challenge though, as a caution on lap 14 granted Hoffman a clean racetrack for the final six laps.

Hoffman’s teammate, Willie Krup of Mount Carmel, Ill., used the restart to take second from Eilers and then sustained the runner-up spot for his first podium finish this week.

“If I could hit the bottom without the water being out there [in turn three], we were pretty decent,” Krup said. “All in all, it was a pretty good run for us. I’ve had a fast car all week, I just haven’t gotten the good finishes yet.”

Krup had one final opportunity to steal a win from his teammate when the second and final caution waved for a spin on lap 19 just before Hoffman could take the checkered flag. However, Hoffman wouldn’t be denied as he drove to victory by over two seconds following the restart.

“The way it went all night, I knew if I just hit the bottom and didn’t miss it, I’d be fine,” Hoffman explained. “It was pretty nerve-wracking riding around during that caution thinking something might break.”

Eilers maintained the third spot for his first top-five finish of the week. Rounding out the top-five were Trent Young of Crofton, Ky. and Jacob Hawkins of Fairmont, WV.

“It’s fun here. This is our first trip here,” Eilers said. “It’s Ty Dillon’s old car. The car is familiar with the track, just not me. I think this is good for our first time here.”

Hoffman now enters the weekend of split qualifying nights for Monday’s $5,000-to-win event on a high as the only driver with a pair of Gator trophies this week.

“It’s definitely a confidence booster,” Hoffman said. “The biggest thing is to make sure you get through the heat race, don’t run into anybody and try to keep all four tires inflated.”

Krup, Eilers, Devin Dixon of Apollo Beach, Fla., Taylor Cook of Stanley, NC, and David Stremme of South Bend, Ind. were also heat race winners. Matt Crafton of Tulara, Cali., Tyler Clem of St.Petersburg, Fla. and Justin Allgaier of Riverton, Ill. claimed B-Main victories.

The DIRTcar UMP Modifieds return to action on Saturday night for the first of two qualifying nights for Monday’s $5,000-to-win show. They join the World of Outlaws Craftsman® Sprint Car Series for the second straight night. Additional event information is available at www.dirtcarnationals.com.

46th Annual DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia Speedway Park
DIRTcar UMP Modified Notebook – February 17, 2017
A-Main – (20 Laps) – 1. 2 – Nick Hoffman [3]; 2. K9 – Will Krup [4]; 3. 3E – Robbie Eilers [1]; 4. 10Y – Trent Young [7]; 5. 13 – Jacob Hawkins [11]; 6. 35 – David Stremme [6]; 7. 49 – Brian Ruhlman [9]; 8. 58 – Devin Dixon [5]; 9. 90 – Jason Beaulieu [13]; 10. 78 – Rich Pratt [14]; 11. 77 – Ray Bollinger [23]; 12. 8 -Kyle Strickler [26]; 13. 65 – Josh Rice [27]; 14. 2 – Jonathan Taylor [2]; 15. 12 – Tyler Nicely [12] 16. 14T – Tyler Clem [20]; 17. 36 – Kenny Wallace [15]; 18. 98F – Derek Fisher [8]; 19. 17T – Tyler Evans [25]; 20. 72 – Todd Neiheiser [10]; 21. 21C – Taylor Cook [16]; 22. 28BX – Robert Garnes [28]; 23. 24Z – Zeke McKenzie [18]; 24. D4 – Dave Jamison [22]; 25. 7 – Justin Allgaier [21]; 26. 2X4 – Chase Collins [24]; 27. 88 – Matt Crafton [19]; 28. 45J – Johnny Broking [17].

Qualifying Group 1 – 1. 10Y-Trent Young, 18.850; 2. 88-Matt Crafton, 18.990; 3. 90-Jason Beaulieu, 19.030; 4. 58-Devin Dixon, 19.133; 5. 17T-Tyler Evans, 19.574; 6. 22T-Tony Anderson, 19.613; 7. Z06-Larry Mott, 19.613; 8. 98-Shon Flanary, 19.714; 9. 12K-Scotty Kincaid, 19.943; 10. 1B-Brad Hall, 20.039; 11. 11T-Dugan Thye, 20.885; 12. 17A-Charles O’Neal, 23.359.

Qualifying Group 2 – 1. 18-Jason Intoppa, 19.189; 2. 98F-Derek Fisher, 19.227; 3. D4-Dave Jamieson, 19.236; 4. 5-Jonathan Taylor, 19.469; 5. 8A-Austin Holcombe, 19.577; 6. 78-Rich Pratt, 19.677; 7. 25B-Shawn Beasley, 20.000; 8. 9G-Ernie Gingerick, 20.080; 9. 2J-Troy Johnson, 20.170; 10. 01-Jared Spalding, 20.560; 11. 05-David Wietholder, 21.439.

Qualifying Group 3 – 1. 36-Kenny Wallace, 18.501; 2. 49-Brian Ruhlman, 18.753; 3. 14T-Tyler Clem, 18.917; 4. K9-Will Krup, 18.944; 5. 17JE-J.E. Stalder, 19.106; 6. 2M-David Mitchell, 19.249; 7. 11N-Gene Nicholas, 19.447; 8. 71M-Shayne Meadows, 19.926; 9. 23G-Robbie Gates, 19.993; 10. 89W-Rick Weitekamp, 20.948; 11. 76-Layton Norris, 21.839.

Qualifying Group 4 – 1. 2-Nick Hoffman, 18.417; 2. 21C-Taylor Cook, 18.553; 3. 54-Larry Burkins, 18.723; 4. 72-Todd Neiheiser, 19.070; 5. 77-Ray Bollinger, 19.129; 6. 9-Ken Schrader, 19.160; 7. 3L-Jeff Leka, 19.346; 8. 8-Kyle Strickler, 19.685; 9. 07-Jeff Thomas, 19.907; 10. 71T-Brent Thompson, 20.226; 11. 00-Will Norris, 20.370.

Qualifying Group 5 – 1. 7-Justin Allgaier, 19.069; 2. 45J-Johnny Broking, 19.113; 3. 13-Jacob Hawkins, 19.127; 4. 3E-Robbie Eilers, 19.185; 5. 33-Jeff Mathews, 19.274; 6. 4-Mike Learman, 19.734; 7. 7S-Paul Shead, 19.745; 8. 28BX-Robert Grimes, 19.828; 9. 1-Blake Spalding, 19.870; 10. 6B-Dave Baldwin, 19.896; 11. 6-Dylan Browning, 20.203.

Qualifying Group 6 – 1. 28B-Jason Brookover, 18.834; 2. 25-Tyler Nicely, 19.010; 3. 24Z-Zeke McKenzie, 19.148; 4. 35-David Stremme, 19.219; 5. 2×4-Chase Collins, 19.299; 6. 67-Garrett Stewart, 19.340; 7. 65-Josh Rice, 19.422; 8. 9S-Slater McCray, 19.675; 9. 64JR-Billy Workman Jr., 19.703; 10. 71-Jessie Hoskins, 20.460; 11. 96J-Matt Johnson, 21.292.

Heat 1 (8 Laps – Top 3 finishers transfer to A-Feature, Winner Redraws) – 1. 58-Devin Dixon [1]; 2. 10Y-Trent Young [4]; 3. 90-Jason Beaulieu [2]; 4. 88-Matt Crafton [3]; 5. 17T-Tyler Evans [5]; 6. 22T-Tony Anderson [6]; 7. 98-Shon Flanary [8]; 8. 12K-Scotty Kincaid [9]; 9. Z06-Larry Mott [7]; 10. 11T-Dugan Thye [11]; 11. 17A-Charles O’Neal [12]; 12. 1B-Brad Hall [10].

Heat 2 (8 Laps – Top 3 finishers transfer to A-Feature, Winner Redraws)- 1. 5-Jonathan Taylor [1]; 2. 98F-Derek Fischer [3]; 3. 78-Rich Pratt [6]; 4. D4-Dave Jamieson [2]; 5. 25B-Shawn Beasley [7]; 6. 8A-Austin Holcombe [5]; 7. 01-Jared Spalding [10]; 8. 9G-Ernie Gingerich [8]; 9. 2J-Troy Johnson [9], 10. 18I-Jason Intoppa [DNS]; 11. 05-David Wietholder [DNS].

Heat 3 (8 Laps – Top 3 finishers transfer to A-Feature, Winner Redraws) – 1. K9-Willy Krup [1]; 2. 49-Brian Ruhlman [3]; 3. 36-Kenny Wallace [4]; 4. 14T-Tyler Clem [2]; 5. 17JE-J.E. Stalder [5]; 6. 23G-Robbie Gates [9]; 7. 71M-Shayne Meadows [8]; 8. 2M-David Mitchell [6]; 9. 89W-Rick Weitekamp [10]; 10. 76-Layton Norris [11].

Heat 4 (8 Laps – Top 3 finishers transfer to A-Feature, Winner Redraws) – 1. 2-Nick Hoffman [4]; 2. 72-Todd Neiheiser [1]; 3. 21C-Taylor Cook [3]; 4. 77-Ray Bollinger [5]; 5. 3L-Jeff Leka [7]; 6. 8-Kyle Strickler [8]; 7. 9-Ken Schrader [6]; 8. 71T-Brent Thompson [10]; 9. 07-Jeff Thomas [9]; 10. 00-Will Norris [11]; 11. 54-Larry Burkins [2].

Heat 5 (8 Laps – Top 3 finishers transfer to A-Feature, Winner Redraws) – 1. 3E-Robbie Eilers [1]; 2. 13-Jacob Hawkins [2]; 3. 45J-Johnny Broking [3]; 4. 7-Justin Allgaier [4]; 5. 33-Jeff Mathews [5]; 6. 4-Mike Learman [6]; 7. 28BX-Robert Garnes [8]; 8. 1-Blake Spalding [9]; 9. 7S-Paul Shead [9]; 10. 6B-Dave Baldwin [10]; 11. 6-Dylan Browning [11].

Heat 6 (8 Laps – Top 3 finishers transfer to A-Feature, Winner Redraws) – 1. 35-David Stremme [1]; 2. 25-Tyler Nicely [3]; 3. 24Z-Zeke McKenzie [2]; 4. 2×4-Chase Collins [5]; 5. 65-Josh Rice [7]; 6. 67-Garrett Stewart [6]; 7. 64JR-Billy Workman Jr. [9]; 8. 9S-Slater McCray [8]; 9. 71-Jesse Hoskins [10]; 10. 96J-Matt Johnson [11]; 11. 28B-Jason Brookover [4].

B-Main 1 – (10 Laps, Top 3 finishers transfer to A-Feature) – 1. 88-Matt Crafton [1]; 2. D4-Matt Jamieson [2]; 3. 17T-Tyler Evans [3]; 4. 98-Shon Flanery [7]; 5. 22T-Tony Anderson [5]; 6. 12K-Scotty Kincaid [9]; 7. 01-Jared Spalding [8]; 8. 9G-Ernie Gingerich [10]; 9. 11T-Dugan Thye [13]; 10. 2J-Troy Johnson [12]; 11. Z06-Larry Mott [11]; 12. 17A-Charles O’Neal [15]; 13. 25B-Shawn Beasley [4]; 14. 8A-Austin Holcombe [6]; 15. 18I-Jason Intoppa [14]; 16. 05-David Weitholder [16]; 17. 1B-Brad Hall [17].

B-Main 2 – (10 Laps, Top 3 finishers transfer to Feature) – 1. 14-Tyler Clem [1]; 2. 77-Ray Bollinger [2]; 3. 8-Kyle Strickler [6]; 4. 3L-Jeff Leka [4]; 5. 9-Ken Schrader [8]; 6. 54-Larry Burkins [16]; 7. 71M-Shayne Meadows [7]; 8. 71T-Brent Thompson [10]; 9. 07-Jeff Thomas [12]; 10. 00-Will Norris [14]; 11. 2M-David Mitchell [9]; 12. 89W-Rick Weitekamp [11]; 13. 76-Layton Norris [13]; 14. 17JE-J.E. Stalder [3]; 15. 23G-Robbie Gates; 16. 11N-Gene Nicholas [DNS].

B-Main 3 – (10 Laps, Top 3 finishers transfer to Feature) – 1. 7-Justin Allgaier [1]; 2. 2×4-Chase Collins; 3. 65-Josh Rice [4]; 4. 28BX-Robert Garnes [7]; 5. 67-Garrett Stewart [6]; 6. 64JR-Billy Workman Jr. [8]; 7. 7S-Paul Shead [11]; 8. 33-Jeff Mathews [3]; 9. 9S-Slater McCray [10]; 10. 4-Mike Learman [5]; 11. 71-Jessie Hoskins [12]; 12. 28B-Jason Brookover [14]; 13. 6-Dylan Browning [15]; 14. 6B-Dave Baldwin [13]; 15. 1-Blake Spalding [9]; 16. 96J-Matt Johnson [14].