BARBERVILLE, Fla. - Two-time defending DIRTcar Nationals Champion Nick Hoffman passed night one of DIRTcar UMP Modified winner David Stremme seven laps in pulled away to the victory Wednesday night at Florida’s Volusia Speedway Park.
“We finished second in the last two races (at North Florida Speedway) before coming here,” said Hoffman. “We finished second last night. So, we made some changes and they paid off for us tonight.
“The track conditions were definitely in our favor tonight. The track is much different when the Sprint Cars race on it. Hats off to the track for giving us a nice surface to race on. Hopefully we can come back tomorrow and do this again.”
Michael Long and Jamie Carter brought the 28-car field to the green flag, with Long grabbing the early advantage. His lead was short lived, as Stremme motored by on the outside from his third starting spot to take over the lead. He brought Hoffman with him and the battle was on for the top spot.
On lap seven Hoffman drove around the outside of Stremme to take over the top spot and started to pull away from the field.
Hoffman would maintain the lead the rest of the way en route to his 12th career DIRTcar Nationals win, the most all-time at Volusia Speedway Park.
Stremme settled for second ahead of Kyle Strickler in third. Long slipped back to fourth ahead of Tyler Nicely in fifth.
Taylor Cook, Garrett Stewart, Ricky Arms, Will Krup, and Allen Weisser rounded out the top ten.
In other action, Donny Schatz stormed from the 12th place starting spot to grab the first Sprint Car feature of the 47th annual DIRTcar Nationals.
Schatz wrestled the lead away from Brad Sweet on lap 22, and went on to score his 17th Arctic Cat All Circuit of Champions triumph. Sweet finished in third, with David Gravel in third, Jason Johnson in fourth and Chad Kemenah in fifth.
Kerry Madsen, Danny Dietrich, Brent Marks, Kyle Larson, and Dave Blaney rounded out the top ten.
Action continues at Volusia Speedway Park on Friday night with the DIRTcar UMP Modifieds and Arctic Cat All-Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Cars. For more information, visit DIRTcarnationals.com.
DIRTcar Nationals
Volusia Speedway Park – Barberville, FL
UMP Modifieds – Feb. 7, 2018
1. Nick Hoffman
2. David Stremme
3. Kyle Strickler
4. Michael Long
5. Tyler Nicely
6. Taylor Cook
7. Garrett Stewart
8. Ricky Arms
9. Will Krup
10. Allen Weisser
11. KC Burdette
12. Jason Beaulieu
13. Brian Ruhlman
14. Hunt Gossum
15. Josh Rice
16. Jamie Carter
17. Shon Flanary
18. Tyler Evans
19. Zeke McKenzie
20. Chase Collins
21. Larry Burkins
22. Matt Crafton
23. Todd Neiheiser
24. Ryan Fowler
25. Austin Holcombe
26. Troy Johnson
27. A.J. Fike
28. Mike McKinney
All Star Circuit of Champions
1. Donny Schatz
2. Brad Sweet
3. David Gravel
4. Jason Johnson
5. Chad Kemenah
6. Kerry Madsen
7. Danny Dietrich
8. Brent Marks
9. Kyle Larson
10. Dave Blaney
11. Brian Brown
12. Tim Shaffer
13. Shane Stewart
14. Kraig Kinser
15. Sheldon Haudenschild
16. Ian Madsen
17. Lucas Wolfe
18. Daryn Pittman
19. Joey Saldana
20. Kasey Kahne
21. Rico Abreu
22. Tony Stewart
23. Cory Eliason
24. Paul McMahan
