2-24 Page 14

Hoffman makes it two in a row in Super Late Model competition; Sorensen scores a sixth

By Spence Smithback

BARBERVILLE, FL (February 13) - Nick Hoffman is no stranger to dominant weeks at Volusia Speedway Park. But none of them have been as meaningful as the one he had at the 2026 DIRTcar Nationals.

For the third night in a row and the second as part of the World of Outlaws Late Model Series, the Mooresville, NC driver ended up in victory lane. That win streak has the seven-time Big Gator champion on the DIRTcar UMP Modified side headed toward his first as a Late Model driver, as he carries a 48-point lead in the weeklong standings into the final night of action on Saturday.

Those drivers from the upper Midwest who qualified for the feature Friday included Dustin Sorensen in sixh and Dan Ebert, who finished 10th. Jake Timm worked his way from 29th to 13th, Brent Larson was 19th, Blair Nothdurft was 22nd, and Michael Leach was scored 25th.

The path to Hoffman’s record-extending 35th gator trophy started in the fourth spot, but he wouldn’t stay put for long. He cleared Austin Smith for third on lap two, and soon found himself in the middle of a three-way battle for the lead against Michael Leach and Ricky Thornton Jr. Hoffman disposed of Leach exiting turn two with 11 laps complete, and two circuits later, he got around the No. 20RT for the lead.

A flurry of cautions kept the field together throughout the 35-lap contest, but Hoffman remained in control time and time again. Thornton proved to be Hoffman’s closest challenger, but he fell out of contention when he pounded the outside wall in turn two with six laps to go, allowing Hoffman to cruise home uncontested.

“It’s just a matter of how you hit [turn one] and if you get tight,” Hoffman said. “I was so scared a couple times that I would get in there and just not be bent enough and get myself in a push, and then they would swarm me down the backstretch. Luckily I was able to get good restarts. The guys behind me, I knew which lanes they were choosing, but sometimes they would go bottom, top. I was trying to figure out if they were going to have a run on me or anything. I tried to change a little bit of where I was taking off so I could try and dictate that a little.”

Brandon Overton stood on the podium for the third time this week with a second-place run, while Bobby Pierce moved up from 21st to finish third for the second-straight night. Tyler Erb and Drake Troutman completed the top five.

SUMMARY

WoO Late Models:

Feature (35 Laps): 1. 9-Nick Hoffman[4]; 2. 76-Brandon Overton[9]; 3. 32-Bobby Pierce[21]; 4. 1-Tyler Erb[6]; 5. 22*-Drake Troutman[26]; 6. 19-Dustin Sorensen[28]; 7. 97-Cody Overton[12]; 8. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[2]; 9. 40B-Kyle Bronson[23]; 10. 60-Dan Ebert[5]; 11. 1S-Brandon Sheppard[15]; 12. 58V-Daulton Wilson[22]; 13. 49-Jake Timm[29]; 14. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[25]; 15. 111-Max Blair[18]; 16. 11R-Josh Rice[8]; 17. 74X-Ethan Dotson[27]; 18. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[16]; 19. B1-Brent Larson[30]; 20. 11-Austin Smith[3]; 21. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain[20]; 22. 76N-Blair Nothdurft[7]; 23. 16S-Sam Seawright[17]; 24. 19R-Ryan Gustin[10]; 25. 09-Michael Leach[1]; 26. 9M-Tim McCreadie[24]; 27. 157-Mike Marlar[13]; 28. 44-Chris Madden[11]; 29. 16-Tyler Bruening[14]; 30. 13-Dallon Murty[19]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 1-Tyler Erb[1]; 2. 76N-Blair Nothdurft[3]; 3. 157-Mike Marlar[6]; 4. 19M-Brenden Smith[2]; 5. 40B-Kyle Bronson[4]; 6. 74X-Ethan Dotson[8]; 7. 19-Dustin Sorensen[5]; 8. 31-Tyler Millwood[7]; 9. 14R-Reid Millard[10]; 10. 23-Beckham Malone[9]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 9-Nick Hoffman[1]; 2. 76-Brandon Overton[4]; 3. 1S-Brandon Sheppard[2]; 4. 13-Dallon Murty[5]; 5. 18-Chase Junghans[8]; 6. 32-Bobby Pierce[3]; 7. 49M-Luke Morey[10]; 8. B1-Brent Larson[9]; 9. 55E-Eli Johnson[7]; 10. 8-Matthew Larson[6]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 11-Austin Smith[1]; 2. 44-Chris Madden[3]; 3. 16S-Sam Seawright[4]; 4. 1Z-Logan Zarin[5]; 5. 0-Max McLaughlin[6]; 6. 7-Ross Robinson[8]; 7. 77-Preston Luckman[7]; 8. T1-Todd Morrow[9]; 9. 114-Jordan Koehler[2]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[1]; 2. 11R-Josh Rice[3]; 3. 16-Tyler Bruening[4]; 4. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain[5]; 5. 22*-Drake Troutman[2]; 6. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[8]; 7. 93-Carson Ferguson[6]; 8. 99B-Boom Briggs[7]; 9. 58-Garrett Alberson[10]; 10. 17-Austin Howes[9]

Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 09-Michael Leach[1]; 2. 19R-Ryan Gustin[3]; 3. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[2]; 4. 49-Jake Timm[5]; 5. 9M-Tim McCreadie[4]; 6. 14-Trey Mills[7]; 7. 24-Tyler Wyant[9]; 8. 11B-Stacy Boles[6]; 9. 97D-Cade Dillard[8]

Heat 6 (8 Laps): 1. 60-Dan Ebert[1]; 2. 97-Cody Overton[2]; 3. 111-Max Blair[3]; 4. 58V-Daulton Wilson[4]; 5. 71-Hudson O'Neal[5]; 6. 114K-Evan Koehler[8]; 7. 8S-Kyle Strickler[9]; 8. 99-Devin Moran[6]; 9. 388-Jackson Hise[7]

Last Chance Showdown 1 (10 Laps): 1. 13-Dallon Murty[2]; 2. 32-Bobby Pierce[8]; 3. 40B-Kyle Bronson[4]; 4. 74X-Ethan Dotson[7]; 5. 18-Chase Junghans[5]; 6. 1Z-Logan Zarin[3]; 7. 19-Dustin Sorensen[10]; 8. 77-Preston Luckman[12]; 9. 19M-Brenden Smith[1]; 10. 7-Ross Robinson[9]; 11. 55E-Eli Johnson[17]; 12. T1-Todd Morrow[15]; 13. 8-Matthew Larson[19]; 14. 14R-Reid Millard[16]; 15. 49M-Luke Morey[11]; 16. 31-Tyler Millwood[13]; 17. 0-Max McLaughlin[6]; 18. B1-Brent Larson[14]; 19. 23-Beckham Malone[18]

Last Chance Showdown 2 (10 Laps): 1. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain[1]; 2. 58V-Daulton Wilson[3]; 3. 9M-Tim McCreadie[5]; 4. 71-Hudson O'Neal[6]; 5. 49-Jake Timm[2]; 6. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[7]; 7. 22*-Drake Troutman[4]; 8. 93-Carson Ferguson[10]; 9. 8S-Kyle Strickler[12]; 10. 58-Garrett Alberson[16]; 11. 99-Devin Moran[15]; 12. 14-Trey Mills[8]; 13. 97D-Cade Dillard[17]; 14. 114K-Evan Koehler[9]; 15. 17-Austin Howes[19]; 16. 388-Jackson Hise[18]; 17. 24-Tyler Wyant[11]; 18. 99B-Boom Briggs[13]; 19. 11B-Stacy Boles[14]