PLYMOUTH, IN – Four races in, and the defending champ is already at it again.
Nick Hoffman cooked up some Modified magic Tuesday night at the Plymouth Speedway, mastering the slick surface over 25 laps to collect $1,500 and the first DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals win of his 2020 campaign.
Coming from his fifth-place starting spot, Hoffman, of Mooresville, NC, worked the low groove in the opening laps but was unable to gain any track position before the race’s first caution on Lap 5. But that all changed with a single, eye-opening move he made on the restart.
Hoffman cut to the inside groove in Turns 1-2 after riding the top off Turn 4 on the restart, got a great bite off corner exit and drag raced leader Curt Spalding into Turn 3. His initial attempt at the pass was unsuccessful, but his second was not. Hoffman came back at Spalding on Lap 10 with a slider in Turns 1-2 and made it stick, despite Spalding’s counter back to the inside.
From that point forth, it was all Hoffman out front. He went virtually unchallenged back to the stripe to collect his 27th career Summit Modifieds victory and first of 2020 behind the wheel of the Justin Allgaier-owned #7 Elite Chassis.
“I just had to get aggressive there on that restart, going from fifth to second, then I was able to slide Curt [Spalding] for the lead there,” Hoffman said in Victory Lane. “Car was really good, made some changes throughout the night and got better. Obviously, the track came to me like this, it got slick. As a driver, it just gets better.”
The JHA Motorsports entry of Will Krup held strong for his first podium finish of the 2020 campaign in second. Fifteen-year-old Summit Modified talent Hunt Gossum came into the evening as the tour points leader and backed his strong recent finishes up with yet another Tuesday night, coming from 11th to finish third. Derek Losh crossed the line in fourth while two-time Summit Modifieds winner this season Mike McKinney rounded out the top-five.
UP NEXT
The DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals action continues Thursday night from the Spoon River Speedway in Canton, IL. Catch all the action live on DIRTVision. The tour’s visit to LaSalle Speedway, originally scheduled for Wednesday, July 15, has been postponed due to impending inclement weather. A reschedule date will be announced when determined.
ABBREVIATED RESULTS (click for full results)
Feature (25 Laps) 1. 7-Nick Hoffman [5]; 2. K19-Will Krup [4]; 3. 99-Hunt Gossum [11]; 4. 21-Derek Losh [3]; 5. 96M-Mike McKinney [1]; 6. 80-Rich Dawson [6]; 7. T9-Ryan Thomas [16]; 8. 53-David Stremme [7]; 9. 5-Curt Spalding [2]; 10. 3W-Dylan Woodling [10]; 11. O-Garrett Jameson [15]; 12. 24-Zeke McKenzie [12]; 13. 28B-Lucas Pace [19]; 14. 65-Todd Sherman [17]; 15. 27-Beau DeYoung [18]; 16. 16-Dillon Nusbaum [13]; 17. 22T-Tony Anderson [21]; 18. 21A-Nick Allen [14]; 19. 4G-Bill Griffith [20]; 20. 114-Clayton Bryant [9]; 21. 10-Bradley Jameson [8]; 22. 8C-Corey Bevard [22] Hard Charger: T9-Ryan Thomas[+9]
