CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – It’s shaping up to be an incredible battle to the finish for the coveted DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals trophy at season’s end.
With defending champion Nick Hoffman’s flag-to-flag win at Clarksville Speedway Saturday night, the race now gets a little closer.
Hoffman started on the outside pole and made it look easy, going virtually unchallenged for 25 laps as he cruised to his 28th career Summit Modifieds victory.
He knew the pressure to perform was on, lining up next to UMP Modified hot shoe Lucas Lee, but was able to get the jump he needed to get out front heading into the first corner.
“When I drew the ‘2’ [pill], I felt like I could roll [Lee] on the start and then just try and protect getting into turn one, and it worked out,” Hoffman said of the initial start in victory lane.
However, one of his closest competitors, Mike McKinney, did not have the night he was looking for behind the wheel of his Elite Chassis No. 96. McKinney got caught in a pile-up with several other cars on lap six and retired to the pit area immediately.
With McKinney sitting at three wins and Hoffman now with two, the points battle is poised to go right down to the wire with 15 races still to go.
Despite the fact that only the best eight finishes are counted toward a driver’s overall points total with the Summit Modifieds, they’re both fierce competitors and are each shooting for as many wins as possible by the end of the tour.
If they both reach eight wins, it could come down to some math to decide a champion.
The finish:
Feature (25 Laps) 1. 7-Nick Hoffman [2]; 2. 12-Lucas Lee [1]; 3. 99-Hunt Gossum [3]; 4. 15-Clayton Miller [6]; 5. O2-Chris Cook [9]; 6. 16C-John Clippinger [8]; 7. 24-Zeke McKenzie [13]; 8. 43-Ricky Knight [14]; 9. 7S-Pete Sabatino [17]; 10. 98-Zac Harris [11]; 11. 7D-Trent Young [4]; 12. 96M-Mike McKinney [5]; 13. 2-Peyton Walker [10]; 14. 55-Michael Lee [12]; 15. 94-Cory Balkey [16]; 16. 176-Scotty Owens [7]; 17. 74J-Jeff Sanford [15]; 18. K19-Will Krup [18]; 19. 188-Andy Elliott [19]
Hard Charger: 7S-Pete Sabatino [+8]