Defending Gator Champion Holds off Charging Florida Native Kyle Bronson to Claim Modified Money
"I got a pretty good draw and I'm not usually good at the draw deal, said Hoffman, of Mooresville, N.C. "Cooper got the jump on me and he was running right through the middle, but once I found the cushion I knew we'd be in pretty good shape. It was just hard to keep control of it and hit your marks every lap."
Hoffman, who drew the pole position for the 20-lap main event, battled side-by-side with Kyle Bronson of Brandon, Fla., for the victory with Bronson finishing second. Bronson started 10th and charged to third in only four laps. Bronson also finished as the runner-up to Rodney Sanders on Tuesday's opening night of the UNOH DIRTcar Nationals.
"We got pretty lucky he showed me the top," Hoffman said. "The next restart I just went up top and blazed the cushion and I felt like it was pretty much game over after that."
Dale Mathison of Clearwater, Minn., finished third for the second consecutive time during his 2013 UNOH DIRTcar Nationals. NASCAR Nationwide driver Justin Allgaier of Springfield, Ill., finished fourth and Kelly Shryock of Fertile, Iowa, rounded out the top five.
Austin Dillon of Welcome, N.C., Tyler Nicely of Owensboro, Ky., Dave Wietholder of Liberty, Ill., and Bart Hartman of Zanesville, Ohio claimed B-Main victories.
There were 82 DIRTcar UMP Modifieds on hand for the first of eight nights of competition. Saturday night's racing program will feature the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series as well as the DIRTcar UMP Modifieds.
For more information, go to www.DIRTcarNationals.com . Follow the event on Twitter @DIRTcarNats and on Facebook at facebook.com/DIRTcarNationals.
A-Main (20 Laps) - 1. Nick Hoffman ($1,000) ; 2. Kyle Bronson; 3. Dale Mathison; 4. Justin Allgaier; 5. Kelly Shryock; 6. Kenny Wallace; 7. Ty Dillon; 8. Kody Weisner; 9. Dave Wietholder; 10. Ken Schrader; 11. Brendan Gaughan; 12. Denny Schwartz; 13. Bryce Jewell; 14. David Reutimann; 15. Bart Hartman; 16. Tyler Nicely; 17. Austin Dillon; 18. Shon Flanary; 19. Matt Cooper; 20. Brian Ruhlman; 21. David Stremme; 22. Collin Thirlby; 23. Jeff Babcock; 24. Corey Seckerson.
Qualifying 1: 1. Ty Dillon; 2. Wendell Wallace; 3. Dale Mathison; 4. Todd Neiheiser; 5. Jeff Mathews; 6. Devin Gilpin; 7. Tyler Carpenter; 8. Paul Miles; 9. Troy Giralmo; 10. Brendan Gaughan; 11. Nick Kurtz.
Qualifying 2: 1. Austin Dillon; 2. Kyle Bronson; 3. Kelly Shryock; 4. Shaun Daugharty; 5. Scotty Kincaid; 6. J.R. Mason; 7. Corey Daugherty; 8. Kevin Gummere; 9. Jason Beaulieu; DNS. Jacob Poel.
Qualifying 3: 1. Justin Allgaier; 2. Tyler Nicely; 3. Collin Thirlby; 4. Justin Marks; 5. Gary Cook Jr; 6. Buzzie Reutimann; 7. Lonnie Wagner; 8. Matt Crafton; 9. Nathan Seale; 10. Dalton Lanich.
Qualifying 4: 1. Kenny Wallace; 2. Jake Griffin; 3. Matt Cooper; 4. David Stremme; 5. Mitchell Opatik; 6. Levi Kissinger; 7. J E Stalder; 8. Scott Mooers; 9. Larry Burkins; 10. Brandon Davis.
Qualifying 5: 1. Ken Schrader; 2. Nick Hoffman; 3. Joel Ortberg; 4. Max Gresham; 5. Denny Schwartz; 6. Joe Carr; 7. Dave Baldwin; 8. Tony Anderson; 9. Rob Underwood; 10. Richard Michael Jr.
Qualifying 6: 1. Kody Weisner; 2. Dave Wietholder; 3. David Reutimann; 4. Todd Sherman; 5. Jeff Thomas; 6. Nate Zimmer; 7. Trey Bryant; 8. Dwight Niehoff; 9. David Mielke; 10. Carl McGowin.
Qualifying 7: 1. Bryce Jewell; 2. Jeff Babcock; 3. Brian Shaw; 4. Brian Ruhlman; 5. Matt Westfall; 6. Garrett Stewart; 7. Jeff Walston; 8. Nick Tharp; 9. Jonathan Taylor; 10. Bryan Barber.
Qualifying 8: 1. Rodney Sanders; 2. Kyle Strickler; 3. Corey Seckerson; 4. Shon Flanary; 5. Bart Hartman; 6. Mike Wedelstadt; 7. Joey Galloway; 8. Jared Allison; 9. Donovan Lodge; 10. Masen Big Eagle; 11. James Smith.
Heat 1: ; 1. Dale Mathison; 2. Ty Dillon; 3. Jeff Mathews; 4. Todd Neiheiser; 5. Paul Miles; 6. Brendan Gaughan; 7. Tyler Carpenter; 8. Nick Kurtz; 9. Devin Gilpin; 10. Wendell Wallace; 11. Troy Giralmo.
Heat 2: ; 1. Kelly Shryock; 2. Kyle Bronson; 3. Austin Dillon; 4. Jason Beaulieu; 5. Jacob Poel; 6. Kevin Gummere; 7. Shaun Daugharty; 8. Scotty Kincaid; 9. J.R. Mason; 10. Corey Daugherty.
Heat 3: ; 1. Justin Allgaier; 2. Collin Thirlby; 3. Tyler Nicely; 4. Buzzie Reutimann; 5. Justin Marks; 6. Lonnie Wagner; 7. Gary Cook Jr; 8. Matt Crafton; 9. Dalton Lanich; 10. Nathan Seale;
Heat 4: ; 1. Matt Cooper; 2. Kenny Wallace; 3. David Stremme; 4. Levi Kissinger; 5. Jake Griffin; 6. Larry Burkins; 7. Scott Mooers; 8. J E Stalder; 9. Brandon Davis; 10. Mitchell Opatik.
Heat 5: ; 1. Nick Hoffman; 2. Ken Schrader; 3. Max Gresham; 4. Denny Schwartz; 5. Joel Ortberg; 6. Joe Carr; 7. Richard Michael Jr; 8. Dave Baldwin; 9. Tony Anderson; 10. Rob Underwood.
Heat 6: ; 1. Kody Weisner; 2. David Reutimann; 3. Dave Wietholder; 4. Todd Sherman; 5. David Mielke; 6. Dwight Niehoff; 7. Jeff Thomas; 8. Nate Zimmer; 9. Trey Bryant; DNS. Carl McGowin.
Heat 7: ; 1. Brian Ruhlman; 2. Jeff Babcock; 3. Matt Westfall; 4. Bryce Jewell; 5. Garrett Stewart; 6. Jonathan Taylor; 7. Brian Shaw; 8. Nick Tharp; 9. Bryan Barber; DNS. Jeff Walston;
Heat 8: ; 1. Shon Flanary; 2. Corey Seckerson; 3. Bart Hartman; 4. Rodney Sanders; 5. Joey Galloway; 6. Jared Allison; 7. Mike Wedelstadt; 8. Donovan Lodge; 9. Kyle Strickler; 10. Masen Big Eagle; DNS. James Smith;
B-Main 1: ; 1. Austin Dillon; 2. Brendan Gaughan; 3. Tyler Carpenter; 4. Kevin Gummere; 5. Wendell Wallace; 6. Scotty Kincaid; 7. Nick Kurtz; 8. Jeff Mathews; 9. Todd Neiheiser; 10. Jason Beaulieu; 11. Paul Miles; DNS. Jacob Poel; DNS. Shaun Daugharty; DNS. Joey Galloway; DNS. J.R. Mason; DNS. Cory Daugherty.
B-Main 2: 1. Tyler Nicely; 2. David Stremme; 3. Jake Griffin; 4. Gary Cook Jr; 5. Levi Kissinger; 6. Matt Crafton; 7. Dalton Lanich; 8. Buzzie Reutimann; 9. Mitchell Opatik; 10. Justin Marks; 11. Nathan Seale; 12. Larry Burkins; 13. Troy Giralmo; 14. Lonnie Wagner; 15. Scott Mooers; 16. Brandon Davis; DNS. J E Stalder.
B-Main 3: 1. Dave Wietholder; 2. Denny Schwartz; 3. David Mielke; 4. Todd Sherman; 5. Dwight Niehoff; 6. Richard Michael Jr; 7. Joel Ortberg; 8. Rob Underwood; 9. Tony Anderson; 10. Joe Carr; 11. Jeff Thomas; DNS. Matt Gresham; DNS. Dave Baldwin; DNS. Nate Zimmer; DNS. Trey Bryant; DNS. Carl McGowin.
B-Main 4: 1. Bart Hartman; 2. Bryce Jewell; 3. Joey Galloway; 4. Kyle Strickler; 5. Jonathan Taylor; 6. Brian Shaw; 7. Jared Allison; 8. Donovan Lodge; 9. Matt Westfall; 10. Garrett Stewart; 11. Nick Tharp; DNS. Rodney Sanders; DNS. Mike Wedelstadt; DNS. Bryan Barber; DNS. J.R. Mason; DNS. Masen Big Eagle; DNS. James Smith.
The DIRTcar UMP Modified portion of the University of Northwestern Ohio DIRTcar Nationals by Summit Racing Equipment is brought to fans by several sponsors and partners including Summit Racing Equipment, Hoosier Racing Tires, Chevy Performance, University of Northwestern Ohio, Arizona Sports Shirts, Auto Meter, Bell Helmets, Beyea Custom Headers, Bilstein Shocks, Cool Shirts, Dominator Race Products, Fast Shafts, FK Rod Ends, Fragola Performance Systems, Impact Race Products, Intercomp, Landrum Springs, Racing Electronics, Vicci, KSE Racing Products, MSD Ignition, QA1, Quarter Master, Schoenfeld, XS Power Racing Batteries, VP Racing Fuels, and Wrisco Aluminum.
