Nick Hoffman
Toward the end of the 2021 racing season I began doing recorded segments for this website titled “The Weekend Podium” in which I listed what I considered to be the three biggest stories from that particular weekend. If I were to do a season-long podium podcast it would have included what I consider to be the three biggest stories from the past racing campaign.
In the opinion of this writer, there have been three dirt racing stories from 2021 that have been the biggest of all. First, Brandon Overton’s amazing ability to win many of the top-paying races including three of the four crown jewel features held at the Eldora Speedway this year certainly ranks as a major story.
Then, the fact that Kyle Larson was able to win major Sprint Car races such as the Knoxville Nationals and the King’s Royal, a big Late Model feature in the Prairie Dirt Classic at the Fairbury Speedway, and Midget Sprint Car racing’s top event in the Chili Bowl Nationals while at the same time competing for and winning the NASCAR Cup Series championship was not only a big story for this year but for all time.
And lastly, Nick Hoffman’s total domination of the Dirt Modified ranks that saw him take 40 feature checkered flags ahead of the competition including completely overwhelming the competition in the UMP DIRTcar Summer Nationals during the running of that summer series was certainly a top story. During that mini-tour which ran throughout June and July, the No. 2 Elite Chassis won 17 of the 18 races held along the way including a stretch of 15 consecutive feature triumphs.
Even though all 40 of Hoffman’s wins were achieved in Modified competition, but this past weekend during the Castrol Gateway Dirt Nationals held inside of The Dome at the America’s Center in St. Louis, Hoffman proved that he is far from a one-trick pony when it comes to dirt racing.
Nick Hoffman won a total of 40 features in his Modified this season
The Belleville, Illinois native who now resides in Mooresville, North Carolina entered all three classes that were on the Gateway Nationals schedule.
Of course, Hoffman would be counted among the favorites in the Modified division where he has had such tremendous success. However, he does not have nearly as much experience in Late Models with that class featuring the likes of highly accomplished stars such as Jonathan Davenport, Bobby Pierce, Brandon Sheppard, Scott Bloomquist and eventual winner Tyler Carpenter. And with little time in the seat of a Midget Sprint Car, he would be up against the stars such as Chris Windom, Shane Cottle, and overall champion Jonathan Beason.
Not only did Hoffman make every feature in each of the classes he was entered but he was a contender for the win each time. As a matter of fact, out of the seven features he was entered into, the 29-year-old racer earned a podium finish all seven times.
The four-time UMP Summer Nationals champion scored his only win of the three-day affair on Thursday in the Modified division. After posting the overall fast time in qualifying and winning his heat race, Hoffman pulled the number six in the redraw which placed on the outside of the third row for the feature. He then made his way to the front of the pack to take the win.
The No. 2 machine finished third in its only other Modified start on Saturday evening.
Hoffman qualified his Team Zero Race Cars Late Model 5th in Group A on Friday night, won his heat race then drove to a runner-up finish in that feature. That effort placed Hoffman in the top-8 in overall points which made him part of the redraw that would set the first four rows for Saturday’s feature in that class. He would ultimately place third in that race.
Nick Hoffman drove this Team Zero Late Model in St. Louis
Hoffman qualified second and first overall in the Midget on Thursday and Friday respectively. He then finished first and second in his heat races on those nights which led to a second-place result in the Thursday feature and a third on Friday. On Saturday night, the driver earned a third-place finish in Saturday’s Midget main event.
To score one win, two seconds, and four thirds out of the seven feature races was no small feat. And that includes two divisions which are not the primary classes Hoffman runs on a regular basis.
Tyler Carpenter’s two Late Model wins, including the $30,000 finale that earned him a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series ride in Knoxville, and Jonathan Beason’s clean sweep of the Midget features rightfully garnered many headlines from the Dome. But at the same time, Nick Hoffman showed in St. Louis that he isn’t just a top Modified racer.
Instead, he is a top all-around racing talent.
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