BROWNSTOWN, Ind. — Nick Hoffman made his mark in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series record books on Friday night at Brownstown Speedway, becoming the 94th different winner in the series’ 21-year history.
Hoffman took the lead on lap 30 and narrowly edged out Brandon Sheppard at the finish line to win the $10,000 prize in the fourth annual C.J. Rayburn Memorial.
Hoffman, the defending Hoosier Dirt Classic winner at Brownstown, won by just .081 seconds in one of the closest finishes in series history.
Sheppard finished second, with 10th-place starter Devin Moran third. Moran was aiming for his third win in the last two years at Brownstown, as he has secured victory lane in the last two Indiana Icebreaker races.
Jonathan Davenport took the lead at the start of the race, leading the first nine laps until he had to pit under caution for a left rear tire flat. Sheppard then moved up as Moran and Hoffman made it a three-car battle for the lead, with Hoffman passing Moran for second on lap 14.
Hoffman then pressured Sheppard for the lead through heavy traffic while Moran was close behind in third. Hoffman was able to clear Sheppard on lap 30, and in the final 10 laps, he held on for the thrilling finish win.
Point leader Ricky Thornton Jr. finished fourth, with Garrett Alberson rounding out the top five drivers.
In a race with three different leaders, Hoffman was the third and final leader after starting on the outside of row two for the 40-lap main event.
“JD was in the lead there, and I just didn’t know where to be. I was just trying to play with him a little because Ricky was beside me, and I was trying to get around Jason Jameson,” Hoffman explained. :Finally, I cleared him, and then I could run where I wanted. Devin showed me his nose there, and he was able to get by me on that restart, which got me back on the outside.
“On a restart, our car was good. It was just about picking the right lanes, but I ended up losing at the end, and I reached a point where I couldn’t run where I wanted to. So, I started playing defense, and with Sheppy behind you, he’s probably the cleanest guy out there.”
Sheppard, who was aiming for his third career win at Brownstown, narrowly missed the victory as he searches for his first Jackson 100 win on Saturday night.
“I shouldn’t have given up the lead the first time,” Sheppard said. “When I got to lapped traffic, I was really trying to charge hard through the middle to pass the lapped cars, and I think that’s where I made a mistake because most of us had soft left rear tires. So when I charged through that middle, I could just feel myself getting worse and worse, and I would slide from center off. I think I overheated my left rear tire there, and then I wasn’t as good when I got down on the bottom.”
The finish:
Nick Hoffman, Brandon Sheppard, Devin Moran, Ricky Thornton Jr., Garrett Alberson, Josh Rice, Bobby Pierce, Tyler Erb, Clay Harris, Daulton Wilson, Donald McIntosh, Jason Jameson, Brandon Overton, Jonathan Davenport, Dan Ebert, Daniel Hilsabeck, Tanner English, Drake Troutman, Tyler Neal, Camaron Marlar, Carson Ferguson, Hudson O’Neal, Chris Ferguson, Justin Rattliff.
