CONCORD, N.C. — Nick Hoffman won the World Finals feature on Friday night at The Dirt Track at Charlotte, his 20th World of Outlaws Late Model Series victory and his first win in his home state’s biggest dirt track race.
Hoffman led every circuit of the 35-lap feature. Ryan Gustin stayed within a second of him for much of the race, particularly in traffic, but never got close enough for a race-winning move. Jonathan Davenport passed Gustin for second with four laps to go, too late to run down Hoffman.
It was Hoffman’s final World of Outlaws weekend as the driver at Tye Twarog Racing, and he climbed out of the car in victory lane surrounded by Twarog, family and friends. He recalled spending years in the grandstands at the track as a fan, including watching Scott Bloomquist win the Colossal 100 there.
The win was a long time coming. Hoffman entered Friday’s program on a streak of five straight finishes of seventh or better at World Finals and has three World Short Track Championship titles from his DIRTcar UMP Modified days. After winning his heat race and drawing the Bilstein Pole for the feature, he knew it was his best chance yet to break through.
Ricky Thornton Jr.’s bid for an eighth straight Late Model win ended in fourth, and Chris Madden rounded out the top five.
Feature results (35 laps):
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Start |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9 | Nick Hoffman | 1 |
| 2 | 49 | Jonathan Davenport | 10 |
| 3 | 19R | Ryan Gustin | 3 |
| 4 | 20RT | Ricky Thornton Jr. | 18 |
| 5 | 44 | Chris Madden | 6 |
| 6 | 13 | Dallon Murty | 4 |
| 7 | 8M | Max McLaughlin | 11 |
| 8 | 1S | Brandon Sheppard | 13 |
| 9 | 1 | Tyler Erb | 8 |
| 10 | 32 | Bobby Pierce | 12 |
| 11 | 74X | Ethan Dotson | 25 |
| 12 | 9M | Tim McCreadie | 19 |
| 13 | 114 | Jordan Koehler | 15 |
| 14 | 81F | Jadon Frame | 16 |
| 15 | 5 | Drake Troutman | 20 |
| 16 | 58V | Daulton Wilson | 26 |
| 17 | 28 | Dennis Erb Jr. | 27 |
| 18 | 40B | Kyle Bronson | 9 |
| 19 | 6 | Hudson O’Neal | 7 |
| 20 | 8 | Kyle Strickler | 17 |
| 21 | 14 | Trey Mills | 2 |
| 22 | 5J | Braden Jones | 14 |
| 23 | 19 | Dustin Sorensen | 28 |
| 24 | 1Z | Logan Zarin | 30 |
| 25 | 11 | Austin Smith | 23 |
| 26 | 16 | Ben Watkins | 24 |
| 27 | 5W | Ethan Wilson | 21 |
| 28 | 11R | Josh Rice | 22 |
| 29 | 20TC | Tristan Chamberlain | 29 |
| 30 | 22 | Chris Ferguson | 5 |
