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Nick Hoffman enjoys successful DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia

successful Nick Hoffman kicked off the 50th annual DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia Speedway Park (Barberville, Florida) with a bang on Tuesday night. The pilot of the Fox Shocks No. 2 Elite Chassis Modified raced to his 18th-career DIRTcar Nationals triumph at the 1/2-mile oval. (Josh James Artwork photo)

With a star-studded and record-breaking field of 92 DIRTcar UMP Modifieds entered into the evening’s program, started his outing by setting fast time. He then won his heat race before drawing the fourth-starting spot for the 20-lap feature.

As the race went green Nick quickly worked into the second position as he set his sights on leader, Curt Spalding. Hoffman ran in the runner-up spot until a lap 13 restart, when he shot into the lead. Once out front he cruised to his first win of the year, which came over Spalding, Tyler Nicely, David Stremme, and Richard Michael Jr.

Hoffman then backed up his opening round performance on Wednesday night by going to Victory Lane for the second-straight race. Nick started the night with a heat race win before receiving the second-starting spot for the feature in the redraw. Hoffman raced to the lead early in the 20-lap finale on his way to his second win of the year and 19th-career DIRTcar Nationals. Mike McKinney, Justin Allgaier, David Stremme, and Jason rounded out the Top-5 finishers.

On Thursday action continued at the 1/2-mile speedplant, and Hoffman won his heat race once again to earn a spot in the redraw for the 20-lap, $1,000-to-win feature. After receiving the fourth-starting spot in the redraw, Nick ran in the Top-5 throughout the finale, before crossing the finish line in the second spot behind Kyle Strickler.

Friday night’s program found the 96 entries divided into five features, with the breakouts for each one determined by a driver’s previous performances during the 50th annual DIRTcar Nationals. Nick was grouped into the top-tier feature, where he started 10th on the grid. He went on to advance to a fourth-place finish behind Richard Michael, Justin Allgaier, and Mike McKinney.

On Sunday afternoon, Nick Hoffman entered his qualifying night for the Gator Championship. It proved to be a picture-perfect night for Hoffman as he led all 20 laps from the pole position en route to his 20th-career DIRTcar Nationals win. With the victory he locked into the Top-10 redraw for the $5,000-to-win Gator Championship Feature.

The team’s week-long endeavor drew to a close on Monday evening with the Gator Championship. Nick drew the pole-position for the 30-lap finale, and led the first 11 circuits before relinquishing the top spot in lapped traffic. He slipped back as far as the third position before rebounding to finish second behind good friend and Elite Chassis client, Justin Allgaier.

With his performance, Nick claimed his sixth-straight Big Gator point’s title at Volusia.

“Overall, it was one of the best years that we’ve had at the DIRTcar Nationals. We were very consistent every night. To run second in the $5,000-to-win finale to one of my team cars [Justin Allgaier] is very cool. I couldn’t ask for a better person to run second to,” Hoffman said. “Winning six Big Gator Championships in a row is very special, and there’s no way I could’ve accomplished this without all of my great sponsors. I definitely want to thank them and everybody, who makes my program possible.”

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