BARBERVILLE, Fla. — In Saturday night’s Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals finale, Brandon Sheppard did what can sometimes feel like an impossible task at Volusia Speedway Park – pass Nick Hoffman.
The driver of the NOS Energy Drink No. 9 had been victorious in his last three starts and led the opening laps in pursuit of his fourth win in a row. But past halfway, the 2024 champion of the World of Outlaws Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision had something to say about that.
With 18 laps remaining in the 50-lap main event, Sheppard found some grip on the bottom of Turns 1 and 2 while Hoffman slid his way through the middle. The two raced side-by-side down the backstretch before Hoffman drove it deep into Turn 3, leaving Sheppard room to keep it low and take the lead at the flag stand.
From then on, it was all Sheppard en route to his record-extending 88th World of Outlaws triumph. Seven of those have come at DIRTcar Nationals as part of his 10 overall wins in the event between World of Outlaws and DIRTcar competition.
“I was able to run second for a long time there, kind of see what Nick was doing,” Sheppard said. “Where he was struggling at compared to what I was doing and where I was struggling at. Just kind of compensate for that, and I was able to find a couple lines that I could make a little time on him. I kind of waited and got him to move around a little bit by showing him the nose. I felt really good through [Turns] 1 and 2, so we were just able to capitalize.”
Sheppard’s overall performance across the six nights of late model racing at DIRTcar Nationals wasn’t enough for his fourth Big Gator, as that honor went to the driver he passed in Hoffman. “The Thrill From Mooresville” crossed the line fourth to finish the week with three wins, five top fives and a worst finish of seventh.
After winning the award seven years in a row in the DIRTcar UMP Modified ranks, Hoffman joins Tim McCreadie as the second driver in DIRTcar Nationals history to win the Big Gator in more than one division.
“To race for a whole week here, it takes a lot,” Hoffman said. “Not having any issues, no DNFs or anything, it went about as smooth as it could, I feel like.”
Bobby Pierce raced his way forward from his 19th starting spot to finish second, while Hudson O’Neal took the last spot on the podium in third.
The finish:
Feature (50 Laps): 1. 1S-Brandon Sheppard[3]; 2. 32-Bobby Pierce[19]; 3. 71-Hudson O’Neal[10]; 4. 9-Nick Hoffman[1]; 5. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[13]; 6. 111-Max Blair[18]; 7. 58-Garrett Alberson[14]; 8. 19R-Ryan Gustin[6]; 9. 9M-Tim McCreadie[25]; 10. 19-Dustin Sorensen[12]; 11. 22*-Drake Troutman[21]; 12. 74X-Ethan Dotson[28]; 13. 93-Carson Ferguson[11]; 14. 11R-Josh Rice[20]; 15. 16S-Sam Seawright[16]; 16. 76-Brandon Overton[9]; 17. 13-Dallon Murty[17]; 18. 97-Cody Overton[27]; 19. 49-Jake Timm[29]; 20. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain[30]; 21. 76N-Blair Nothdurft[2]; 22. 19M-Brenden Smith[7]; 23. 18-Chase Junghans[22]; 24. 44-Chris Madden[5]; 25. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[26]; 26. 60-Dan Ebert[8]; 27. 16-Tyler Bruening[15]; 28. 8S-Kyle Strickler[23]; 29. 24-Tyler Wyant[24]; 30. 1-Tyler Erb[4]; 31. B1-Brent Larson[31]
