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Hoffman heads to victory lane in barnburner finish Thursday; Sorensen is 21st

From DirtOnDirt.com Staff Reports

BARBERVILLE, FL (Feb. 15) – Using a last-lap, turn-three slider to take the point from mid-race leader Chris Madden, fourth-starting Nick Hoffman of Mooresville, NC, led the final lap to steal Thursday's $12,000 fourth round of the 53rd annual DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia Speedway Park. Hoffman collected his second career full-field World of Outlaws Case Late Model Series victory — his first since May 23 at Stateline Speedway in Busti, NY — and his first career gator trophy in a Late Model after winning several in a Modified.

The second-starting Madden, of Gray Court, SC, squeezed past Mike Marlar and led laps 20-34 before giving way to Hoffman on the final lap and finishing 0.208 of a second back.

“(I found) a lot of grip on (corner) entry where I could run off in there without lifting and really close on (Chris) Madden,” Hoffman said. “I just wanted to make sure I left Bobby (Pierce) a lane because I knew he was running the top pretty hard and I didn’t want to pinch him into the fence. When I got to (turn) three, I had a decent run and I was like ‘I’m coming across whether it was clear or not’ and I felt like I got plenty across (his nose) there. Man it’s just unreal, I’ve won a ton of these gator (trophies) in a Modified, but this one is so special and to win it on a last-lap pass is unbelievable.”

Sixth-starting Bobby Pierce traded the runner-up spot with Hoffman several times before settling for third. Ricky Thornton, Jr. led laps 8-10 before hopping the turn-one cushion and slipping to finish fourth. Daulton Wilson rounded-out the top five after taking the spot on lap 22.

Dustin Sorensen was the top area finisher, as the Rochester, Minnesota native completed the race in 21st. Lake Elmo’s Brent Larson was 22nd.

SUMMARY

WoO Late Models:

Feature (35 Laps): 1. 9-Nick Hoffman[4]; 2. 44-Chris Madden[2]; 3. 32-Bobby Pierce[6]; 4. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[3]; 5. 18D-Daulton Wilson[7]; 6. 157-Mike Marlar[1]; 7. B5-Brandon Sheppard[9]; 8. 99-Devin Moran[10]; 9. 16-Tyler Bruening[5]; 10. 97-Cade Dillard[14]; 11. 39-Tim McCreadie[15]; 12. 111-Max Blair[20]; 13. 1T-Tyler Erb[13]; 14. 5-Mark Whitener[17]; 15. 3S-Brian Shirley[18]; 16. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[22]; 17. 1-Hudson O'Neal[12]; 18. 18-Chase Junghans[19]; 19. 97C-Cody Overton[27]; 20. 40B-Kyle Bronson[25]; 21. 19-Dustin Sorensen[21]; 22. B1-Brent Larson[28]; 23. 114-Jordan Koehler[8]; 24. 30-Todd Cooney[29]; 25. 22*-Max McLaughlin[11]; 26. 17M-Dale McDowell[23]; 27. 12-Ashton Winger[24]; 28. 19R-Ryan Gustin[26]; 29. 20-Jimmy Owens[16]; 30. 14W-Dustin Walker[30]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 44-Chris Madden[1]; 2. 18D-Daulton Wilson[3]; 3. 1T-Tyler Erb[5]; 4. 11B-Stacy Boles[6]; 5. 174-Ethan Dotson[4]; 6. 7-Drake Troutman[8]; 7. 11-Austin Smith[7]; 8. 19R-Ryan Gustin[2]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 9-Nick Hoffman[1]; 2. B5-Brandon Sheppard[2]; 3. 39-Tim McCreadie[4]; 4. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[3]; 5. 89-Mike Spatola[5]; 6. 18-Chase Junghans[7]; 7. 14JR-Jason Fitzgerald[8]; 8. 1Z-Logan Zarin[6]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[1]; 2. 22*-Max McLaughlin[2]; 3. 5-Mark Whitener[4]; 4. 6JR-Parker Martin[6]; 5. 17M-Dale McDowell[3]; 6. 25-Mike Benedum[5]; 7. 17Z-Seth Zacharias[7]; 8. 14W-Dustin Walker[8]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 32-Bobby Pierce[2]; 2. 114-Jordan Koehler[1]; 3. 97-Cade Dillard[3]; 4. 111-Max Blair[4]; 5. 30-Todd Cooney[6]; 6. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[5]; 7. B2-Brian Booze[8]; 8. 66C-Mason Zeigler[7]

Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 16-Tyler Bruening[1]; 2. 99-Devin Moran[2]; 3. 20-Jimmy Owens[3]; 4. 19-Dustin Sorensen[5]; 5. 4-Amanda Robinson[4]; 6. 99T-Tanner English[6]; 7. 40B-Kyle Bronson[8]; 8. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain[7]

Heat 6 (8 Laps): 1. 157-Mike Marlar[2]; 2. 1-Hudson O'Neal[1]; 3. 3S-Brian Shirley[3]; 4. 12-Ashton Winger[5]; 5. B1-Brent Larson[6]; 6. 23-David Breazeale[7]; 7. 97C-Cody Overton[8]; 8. 76-Blair Nothdurft[4]