BARBERVILLE, Fla. — Nick Hoffman is no stranger to dominant weeks at Volusia Speedway Park. But none of them have been as meaningful as the one he’s having at the 2026 Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals.
For the third night in a row and the second as part of the World of Outlaws Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision, the Mooresville, N.C., driver ended up in victory lane. That win streak has the seven-time Big Gator champion on the DIRTcar UMP Modified side headed toward his first as a late model driver, as he carries a 48-point lead in the weeklong standings into the final night of action on Saturday.
The path to Hoffman’s record-extending 35th Gator trophy started in the fourth spot, but he wouldn’t stay put for long. He cleared Austin Smith for third on Lap 2, and soon found himself in the middle of a three-way battle for the lead against Michael Leach and Ricky Thornton Jr. Hoffman disposed of Leach exiting Turn 2 with 11 laps complete, and two circuits later, he got around the No. 20rt for the lead.
A flurry of cautions kept the field together throughout the 35-lap contest, but Hoffman remained in control time and time again. Thornton proved to be Hoffman’s closest challenger, but he fell out of contention when he pounded the outside wall in Turn 2 with six laps to go, allowing Hoffman to cruise home uncontested.
“It’s just a matter of how you hit [Turn 1] and if you get tight,” Hoffman said. “I was so scared a couple times that I would get in there and just not be bent enough and get myself in a push, and then they would swarm me down the backstretch. Luckily, I was able to get good restarts. The guys behind me, I knew which lanes they were choosing, but sometimes they would go bottom, top. I was trying to figure out if they were going to have a run on me or anything. I tried to change a little bit of where I was taking off so I could try and dictate that a little.”
Brandon Overton stood on the podium for the third time this week with a second-place run, while Bobby Pierce moved up from 21st to finish third for the second-straight night.
The finish:
Feature (35 Laps): 1. 9-Nick Hoffman[4]; 2. 76-Brandon Overton[9]; 3. 32-Bobby Pierce[21]; 4. 1-Tyler Erb[6]; 5. 22*-Drake Troutman[26]; 6. 19-Dustin Sorensen[28]; 7. 97-Cody Overton[12]; 8. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[2]; 9. 40B-Kyle Bronson[23]; 10. 60-Dan Ebert[5]; 11. 1S-Brandon Sheppard[15]; 12. 58V-Daulton Wilson[22]; 13. 49-Jake Timm[29]; 14. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[25]; 15. 111-Max Blair[18]; 16. 11R-Josh Rice[8]; 17. 74X-Ethan Dotson[27]; 18. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[16]; 19. B1-Brent Larson[30]; 20. 11-Austin Smith[3]; 21. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain[20]; 22. 76N-Blair Nothdurft[7]; 23. 16S-Sam Seawright[17]; 24. 19R-Ryan Gustin[10]; 25. 09-Michael Leach[1]; 26. 9M-Tim McCreadie[24]; 27. 157-Mike Marlar[13]; 28. 44-Chris Madden[11]; 29. 16-Tyler Bruening[14]; 30. 13-Dallon Murty[19]
