Nick Hoffman might be “The Thrill From Mooresville,” but Pevely, MO will always feel like home.
And his return “home” couldn’t come at a better time after a career-best finish at the Dirt Late Model Dream before the World of Outlaws St. Louis Firecracker Faceoff at I-55 Federated Auto Parts Raceway Park, June 20-21.
Prior to relocating to North Carolina, Hoffman spent his childhood summers tagging along with his father, Darrell, as he traveled the Midwest chasing checkered flags. He spent plenty of time at every dirt track in the St. Louis area, but none more than Pevely’s I-55 Raceway.
“My dad raced there every Saturday night for the first 10 years of my life,” Hoffman said. “I don’t know how many nights I stood on the front straightaway there and was a junior flagman, I would stand right behind the flag stand and flag races. Pretty much sat in the same spot every week right before the flag stand, right in front of the tower, that’s pretty much where I grew up. There were three or four tracks that my dad raced at all the time, but Pevely was the main one.”
Those days as a wannabe flagman wouldn’t be the last fond memories Hoffman has of I-55. Years later, the five-time DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals champion was attempting his first Hell Tour campaign on the Late Model side in 2018 when the tour rolled into Pevely for the co-sanctioned event with the World of Outlaws Real American Beer Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision.
Late Model racing was still new to Hoffman at the time, and his operation was beat down by weeks on the road with the most grueling tour in racing. Against the odds, Hoffman introduced himself to the Late Model world that night by scoring his first World of Outlaws top 10 at his home track.
“I was driving a Rocket car, that was my first Late Model opportunity that I had ever gotten, driving for the Jones Oil Company and I was the Marathon car,” Hoffman said. “It wasn’t my first full-time year, but my first year running over 30 Late Model races. We decided we were going to try and run the first two weeks of the Hell Tour. So that’s where Pevely ended up playing in, since it was part of the Hell Tour then too.
“Pevely was so miserable, because it was like 100 degrees outside, I had knocked the nose off the night before wherever we raced. The pit area is all asphalt, and so we were sweating, pissed off at life that we’ve got to change this nose and race against these Outlaw guys. It was a pretty long and grueling day, it was a reminder of why they call it the Hell Tour. I ran 10th, and I just remember that whole race I ran right around the bottom of the racetrack. I don’t remember who I was battling, I want to say it was [Chris] Madden or one of those guys. I ran right there with him the entire race, it was like I couldn’t get separated from him. At that point, it was a pretty good run for us as a smaller team, and it was cool for me just because it was Pevely.”
Plenty has changed in the seven years since that breakout performance. Hoffman has gone from a Late Model rookie to a regular winner and championship contender with The Most Powerful Late Models on the Planet. But up until last week, there was still one legacy-defining place Hoffman had yet to find success at – Eldora Speedway.
Sure, Hoffman has two American Late Model Series wins at “The Big E” to his credit along with several more DIRTcar UMP Modified triumphs. But any Late Model racer knows that the 100-lappers are what turn drivers into legends.
Prior to 2025, Hoffman’s best crown-jewel result was a ninth in the 2021 Dirt Late Model Dream. However, something clicked this season. A 16th-to-fourth charge in his Preliminary Feature put him on the outside of the front row of his Heat Race on Saturday, and while he came up one spot short of a transfer, his prelim night points total was enough to earn him a provisional into the big dance.
Not long after the race went green, Hoffman tagged the wall and bent the spoiler, and it looked like he would be in for another finish in the back half of the field at Eldora. But not this year.
The Tye Twarog Motorsports crew went to work on getting the No. 9 back into raceable condition and sent Hoffman back out one lap down in 25th. The original mission was to simply finish the race and salvage the best result possible, but then a well-timed caution allowed Hoffman to get his lap back with the Lucky Dog. And then he started charging his way through the field as others faded.
When the checkers flew, Hoffman found himself in a career-best third behind Jonathan Davenport and Bobby Pierce. Suddenly, the driver best known for his Modified resume was standing on the podium alongside two modern-day legends of Late Model racing on one of the sport’s biggest nights.
“Now I’ve gotten myself to the point where I feel like our program’s where it needs to be, our cars and everything, that it really wasn’t a surprise,” Hoffman said. “I was pretty confident going into that 100-lapper, it was just a matter of putting myself in the right spot. My Heat Race didn’t go the way you would plan, but then luckily got the provisional instead of having to run the B. But still, Bobby’s proved that it doesn’t matter where you start in that 100-lapper, you can win it.
“I just wish when I fixed my spoiler 20 laps in that I would have took a right-rear tire or something at the same time, but I didn’t. I feel like that wasn’t going to be a deal that was going to win me the race, but it probably would have secured me to run second.”
That Eldora showing combined with his streak of five-straight top-six runs on the World of Outlaws trail gives Hoffman a head of steam entering a weekend at one of his favorite tracks. The St. Louis Firecracker Faceoff will mark Hoffman’s first start at Pevely as a touring member of the World of Outlaws, creating a full-circle moment for the former junior flagman.
“I remember when Summer Nationals would come into town and how big of a deal it was,” Hoffman said. “Then, the early years of the Outlaws coming to town, seeing all those guys come in, it was a huge deal for me. To be on that side of the fence now and be the driver that some of these kids maybe look up to, or the fans think it’s a huge deal that we come into town is really pretty surreal.”
Hoffman and the rest of the World of Outlaws Real American Beer Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision will join forces with the DIRTcar Summer Nationals for the St. Louis Firecracker Faceoff at I-55 Federated Auto Parts Raceway Park, Friday-Saturday, June 20-21. In addition to the Late Models, the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota and the DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals will also be in action.
Get your tickets in advance by clicking here. Can’t make it? Stream every lap live on DIRTVision.
