Strickler second, Krup third in 30-lap main event
An entire family of reptilian gold is headed back to Mooresville, NC, after yet another dominating DIRTcar UMP Modified performance at Volusia Speedway Park from the now seven-time DIRTcar Nationals champion, Nick Hoffman.
Hoffman scored the win in Saturday’s Gator Championship Feature, the fourth of his career, giving him his seventh-straight Big Gator trophy as points champion of the division. No other driver has won more than two.
Starting sixth, Hoffman had some work to do to get to the lead. Outside polesitter Kyle Strickler maintained the top spot through the first 11 laps before Hoffman caught him in traffic and blasted by on the bottom out of Turn 2.
“I got aero-tight a couple of times behind him, and then in lapped traffic too, when we were racing through,” Hoffman said of his chase with Strickler. “I just had to bide my time and slow down. I didn’t want to wear my tires out. We were killing tires earlier, so I didn’t know, being later in the night, how bad tires wear was going to be of an issue.”
From that point forward, it was all Hoffman’s race to lose. He was never seriously challenged for the lead again.
Meanwhile, the battle for second was heating up behind him. Strickler held second for a restart on Lap 13, but Will Krup made the most of the bottom lane that Strickler have him have at the drop of the green, swiping the spot away with a horsepower move down low.
Krup’s time in second wouldn’t last, however, as Strickler got another chance on a restart at the halfway point. He ripped around the top groove and was able to carry enough momentum to get back around Krup on Lap 16.
Hoffman (2) makes the move for the lead on Strickler (8) (Josh James Artwork)
Looking back, Krup said he should’ve done more to miss a small patch in Turn 1 that upset the car, costing him some speed.
“I clipped it a couple times off that restart once I got around him, and [Strickler] was able to roll back around me,” Krup said. “After that, I just kinda fell in line and tried to bring home a strong third-place finish.”
Strickler gave it all he had to catch Hoffman in the final 10 laps but was unable to make up the gap. Hoffman’s lead was as large as four seconds at one point, further showcasing his dominance on the half-mile tracks.
“Any of the places like this here or Eldora – those big places that you can just momentum and make speed through the corner – I feel like that’s where my car is the best and it’s where I’m the best,” Hoffman said.
After redrawing the sixth spot on the starting grid, Hoffman knew he was not going to be denied of his fourth Gator Championship Feature win.
“Even with Kyle starting on the front row, I felt like my racecar was that good,” he said. “I had no doubt in my mind that my racecar was plenty good enough to do this deal from sixth.”
Strickler crossed the line in second with a car he said he could handle, but just needed more speed.
“We went a completely different direction for the Feature, and I got the feel I needed on the front-end, but we just weren’t stuck enough in the rear of the car,” Strickler said.
Krup (K9) battling with Hoffman and Kenny Wallace for position (Josh James Artwork)
Despite his relentless efforts to catch Strickler, Krup came up just a bit short. However, the podium finish goes down in the record books as one of his best-ever finishes in the Gator Championship at Volusia.
“At the end of the race, I felt like I had a decent chance at [Strickler],” Krup said. “We kinda got in lapped traffic, but I couldn’t get around him. All-in-all, still a good run.”
THURSDAY MAKEUP FEATURES
Saturday’s program began with ten, 15-lap makeup Features from Thursday night’s postponed program.
Winners:
Feature 1 – Rob Pitcher
Feature 2 – Jonathan Taylor
Feature 3 – Michael Altobelli
Feature 4 – David Stremme
Feature 5 – Justin Allgaier
Feature 6 – Nick Hoffman
Feature 7 – Jason Garver
Feature 8 – Billy Green
Feature 9 – Tony Anderson
Feature 10 – Rich Michael Jr.
UP NEXT
The UMP Modified portion of the 51st DIRTcar Nationals is complete, but DIRTcar Racing isn’t done at Volusia just yet. The event breaks on Sunday but will return to action on Monday with the DIRTcar Late Models alongside the debut of the Xtreme Outlaw Series Non-Wing Sprint Cars.
Buy a ticket to watch it in person or stream every lap live on DIRTVision.
Gator Championship (30 Laps): 1. 2H-Nick Hoffman[6]; 2. 8-Kyle Strickler[2]; 3. K9-Will Krup[3]; 4. 67-Garret Stewart[9]; 5. 99G-Hunt Gossum[11]; 6. 7-Justin Allgaier[10]; 7. 35-David Stremme[14]; 8. 5E-Rick Eckert[16]; 9. 8A-Austin Holcombe[13]; 10. 36-Kenny Wallace[4]; 11. 88C-Matt Crafton[17]; 12. 5CS-Curt Spalding[23]; 13. 12L-Lucas Lee[26]; 14. 1S-Brian Shaw[18]; 15. 21J-Clay Harris[5]; 16. 96M-Mike McKinney[33]; 17. 81-Steve Axtell Jr[19]; 18. 95-Michael Altobelli[29]; 19. 18L-Michael Long[8]; 20. 11M-Michael McGee[20]; 21. 242X-Dawson Cook[25]; 22. 90-Jason Beaulieu[21]; 23. 5-Jonathan Taylor[28]; 24. 7T-Evan Taylor[24]; 25. 242-Brandon Bollinger[30]; 26. 18-Eric Moon[27]; 27. 21A-Nick Allen[12]; 28. 24-Zeke McKenzie[1]; 29. 24H-Mike Harrison[7]; 30. 21D-Danny Schwartz[15]; 31. 14C-Rick Conoyer[22]; 32. 27G-Jason Garver[31]; 33. 00-Buzzie Reutimann[32]
LCS 1 (10 Laps): 1. 90-Jason Beaulieu[3]; 2. 242X-Dawson Cook[5]; 3. 463-Daniel Sanchez[2]; 4. 05-Dave Wietholder[10]; 5. C8-Cole Perine[9]; 6. 0-Glenn Styres[6]; 7. 2-William Bartlett[14]; 8. 02-Chris Cook[12]; 9. 1-Brenden Rassel[13]; 10. I 70-Kim Edington[18]; 11. 72-Todd Neiheiser[7]; 12. 242-Brandon Bollinger[4]; 13. (DNS) 97-Mitch Thomas; 14. (DNS) 25-Tyler Nicely; 15. (DNS) 22T-Tony Anderson; 16. (DNS) 33-Kenny Mihalik; 17. (DNS) 62E-Deece Schwartz; 18. (DNS) 711B-Jerry Bland Jr; 19. (DNS) 27C-Billy Cevaal; 20. (DNS) 22-Dale Kelley; 21. (DNS) 05X-Kyle Hammer; 22. (DNS) 6B-Dave Baldwin; 23. (DNS) 77S-Jim Shipman
LCS 2 (10 Laps): 1. 5CS-Curt Spalding[1]; 2. 18-Eric Moon[4]; 3. 49-Billy Green[5]; 4. 00D-David Reutimann[2]; 5. 00EH-Steve Arpin[8]; 6. 77-Ray Bollinger[9]; 7. 77D-Dustin Demattia[12]; 8. 00-Buzzie Reutimann[11]; 9. 100-Andy Galgoci[14]; 10. 11N-Gene Nicholas[17]; 11. 33M-Steve Stevenson[6]; 12. 88-Chris Bolyard[16]; 13. 01-Joel Ortberg[13]; 14. 96-Matt Johnson[15]; 15. 51-Brandon Green[7]; 16. 1R-Ryan Rackley[3]; 17. (DNS) 114-Clayton Bryant; 18. (DNS) 92K-Tom Krankel; 19. (DNS) 16C-John Clippinger; 20. (DNS) 59-Doug Stine; 21. (DNS) 97G-Jason Crose
LCS 3 (10 Laps): 1. 14C-Rick Conoyer[4]; 2. 12L-Lucas Lee[7]; 3. 95-Michael Altobelli[3]; 4. 96M-Mike McKinney[8]; 5. 777-Trevor Neville[10]; 6. 11W-Beau Aikey[14]; 7. 27R-Steve Rex[15]; 8. 176-Scotty Owens[22]; 9. 21KS-Kenny Shaw[19]; 10. N8-Nate Huffingham[13]; 11. 27G-Jason Garver[1]; 12. M41-Steve Maisel[20]; 13. 22J-John Baker[6]; 14. (DNS) 24D-Jesse Dill; 15. (DNS) 9PG-Percy Gendreau; 16. (DNS) M20-Mike Potosky; 17. (DNS) 21S-Seth Daniels; 18. (DNS) 20-Tyler Hendrix; 19. (DNS) Z06-Larry Mott; 20. (DNS) 2J-Troy Johnson; 21. (DNS) 89W-Rick Weitekamp; 22. (DNS) 7N7-Jeff Solinger
LCS 4 (10 Laps): 1. 7T-Evan Taylor[2]; 2. 5-Jonathan Taylor[4]; 3. 65-Dylan Woodling[8]; 4. 32-Chad Roush[7]; 5. 17C-Coleman Evans[14]; 6. 117-Clinton Gillen[13]; 7. 4S-Craig Shaw[10]; 8. 11-Tyler Morehouse[12]; 9. 27-Joshua Kunstbeck[17]; 10. 07-Curtis King[16]; 11. 88-Zayden Bolyard[21]; 12. (DNS) 6-Ryan Ayers; 13. (DNS) Z1-Zac Oedewaldt; 14. (DNS) 22B-Austen Becerra; 15. (DNS) 99-Justin Haley; 16. (DNS) 96P-Slade Parsons; 17. (DNS) 11Z-Zane Oedewaldt; 18. (DNS) 21C-Drew Charlson; 19. (DNS) 11R-Jesse Rupe; 20. (DNS) 17X-Richard Michael Jr; 21. (DNS) 91P-Rob Pitcher
Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 91P-Rob Pitcher[1]; 2. 114-Clayton Bryant[7]; 3. 14C-Rick Conoyer[2]; 4. 24D-Jesse Dill[8]; 5. 4S-Craig Shaw[16]; 6. 07-Curtis King[5]; 7. 88-Chris Bolyard[3]; 8. N8-Nate Huffingham[6]; 9. 96-Matt Johnson[9]; 10. 27C-Billy Cevaal[11]; 11. 88-Zayden Bolyard[17]; 12. 21S-Seth Daniels[4]; 13. (DNS) 7N7-Jeff Solinger; 14. (DNS) 27-Joshua Kunstbeck; 15. (DNS) 05X-Kyle Hammer; 16. (DNS) 89W-Rick Weitekamp; 17. (DNS) 2J-Troy Johnson; 18. (DNS) 77S-Jim Shipman; 19. (DNS) 6B-Dave Baldwin; 20. (DNS) 97G-Jason Crose; 21. (DNS) 59-Doug Stine
Feature 2 (15 Laps): 1. 5-Jonathan Taylor[5]; 2. 242-Brandon Bollinger[6]; 3. 27R-Steve Rex[16]; 4. 27G-Jason Garver[9]; 5. 2-William Bartlett[19]; 6. 11-Tyler Morehouse[21]; 7. 117-Clinton Gillen[13]; 8. 463-Daniel Sanchez[4]; 9. 176-Scotty Owens[2]; 10. 11N-Gene Nicholas[17]; 11. 11R-Jesse Rupe[10]; 12. 100-Andy Galgoci[1]; 13. 22J-John Baker[3]; 14. 0-Glenn Styres[18]; 15. 711B-Jerry Bland Jr[11]; 16. I 70-Kim Edington[20]; 17. 20-Tyler Hendrix[8]; 18. Z06-Larry Mott[15]; 19. Z1-Zac Oedewaldt[14]; 20. 11Z-Zane Oedewaldt[12]; 21. 1-Brenden Rassel[7]
Feature 3 (15 Laps): 1. 95-Michael Altobelli[1]; 2. 36-Kenny Wallace[2]; 3. 32-Chad Roush[3]; 4. 242X-Dawson Cook[11]; 5. 21D-Danny Schwartz[4]; 6. 77-Ray Bollinger[8]; 7. 72-Todd Neiheiser[14]; 8. 24-Zeke McKenzie[6]; 9. 17C-Coleman Evans[5]; 10. 7T-Evan Taylor[21]; 11. 00-Buzzie Reutimann[13]; 12. 21KS-Kenny Shaw[20]; 13. 18-Eric Moon[16]; 14. 22-Dale Kelley[7]; 15. 11W-Beau Aikey[15]; 16. 01-Joel Ortberg[17]; 17. 02-Chris Cook[12]; 18. 62E-Deece Schwartz[18]; 19. 05-Dave Wietholder[10]; 20. M41-Steve Maisel[9]; 21. (DNS) 6-Ryan Ayers
Feature 4 (15 Laps): 1. 35-David Stremme[4]; 2. 00EH-Steve Arpin[2]; 3. 51-Brandon Green[5]; 4. 18L-Michael Long[6]; 5. 5E-Rick Eckert[7]; 6. 00D-David Reutimann[8]; 7. 88C-Matt Crafton[22]; 8. 11M-Michael McGee[16]; 9. 777-Trevor Neville[10]; 10. 81-Steve Axtell Jr[14]; 11. 22T-Tony Anderson[19]; 12. 77D-Dustin Demattia[15]; 13. 33-Kenny Mihalik[13]; 14. 9PG-Percy Gendreau[20]; 15. 90-Jason Beaulieu[18]; 16. 22B-Austen Becerra[3]; 17. 24H-Mike Harrison[1]; 18. 1R-Ryan Rackley[9]; 19. 16C-John Clippinger[11]; 20. 12L-Lucas Lee[17]; 21. 33M-Steve Stevenson[12]; 22. 92K-Tom Krankel[21]
Feature 5 (15 Laps): 1. 7-Justin Allgaier[7]; 2. 65-Dylan Woodling[5]; 3. 8-Kyle Strickler[4]; 4. 2H-Nick Hoffman[6]; 5. 67-Garret Stewart[14]; 6. 8A-Austin Holcombe[13]; 7. 5CS-Curt Spalding[19]; 8. C8-Cole Perine[12]; 9. 49-Billy Green[18]; 10. 17X-Richard Michael Jr[9]; 11. 1S-Brian Shaw[2]; 12. 96M-Mike McKinney[21]; 13. 21A-Nick Allen[8]; 14. 21C-Drew Charlson[16]; 15. 99G-Hunt Gossum[20]; 16. 99-Justin Haley[10]; 17. K9-Will Krup[17]; 18. 25-Tyler Nicely[11]; 19. 96P-Slade Parsons[15]; 20. M20-Mike Potosky[22]; 21. 97-Mitch Thomas[1]; 22. 21J-Clay Harris[3]
Feature 6 (15 Laps): 1. 2H-Nick Hoffman[2]; 2. 8-Kyle Strickler[4]; 3. K9-Will Krup[1]; 4. 7-Justin Allgaier[3]; 5. 67-Garret Stewart[7]; 6. 36-Kenny Wallace[6]; 7. 5E-Rick Eckert[16]; 8. 8A-Austin Holcombe[13]; 9. 24H-Mike Harrison[5]; 10. 24-Zeke McKenzie[9]; 11. 88C-Matt Crafton[17]; 12. 21D-Danny Schwartz[15]; 13. 1S-Brian Shaw[18]; 14. 18L-Michael Long[8]; 15. (DNS) 21J-Clay Harris; 16. (DNS) 99G-Hunt Gossum; 17. (DNS) 21A-Nick Allen; 18. (DNS) 35-David Stremme
Feature 7 (15 Laps): 1. 27G-Jason Garver[3]; 2. 5CS-Curt Spalding[4]; 3. 00D-David Reutimann[7]; 4. 7T-Evan Taylor[8]; 5. 463-Daniel Sanchez[5]; 6. 95-Michael Altobelli[10]; 7. 18-Eric Moon[15]; 8. 14C-Rick Conoyer[14]; 9. 242X-Dawson Cook[17]; 10. 1R-Ryan Rackley[11]; 11. 5-Jonathan Taylor[16]; 12. 90-Jason Beaulieu[9]; 13. 11M-Michael McGee[2]; 14. 24D-Jesse Dill[6]; 15. 242-Brandon Bollinger[13]; 16. (DNS) 81-Steve Axtell Jr; 17. (DNS) Z1-Zac Oedewaldt; 18. (DNS) 9PG-Percy Gendreau
Feature 8 (15 Laps): 1. 49-Billy Green[1]; 2. 33M-Steve Stevenson[5]; 3. 72-Todd Neiheiser[6]; 4. 65-Dylan Woodling[12]; 5. 77-Ray Bollinger[14]; 6. 12L-Lucas Lee[7]; 7. 0-Glenn Styres[3]; 8. 22J-John Baker[4]; 9. 4S-Craig Shaw[18]; 10. C8-Cole Perine[13]; 11. 777-Trevor Neville[17]; 12. 00EH-Steve Arpin[11]; 13. 32-Chad Roush[9]; 14. 05-Dave Wietholder[15]; 15. 114-Clayton Bryant[16]; 16. (DNS) 22B-Austen Becerra; 17. (DNS) 51-Brandon Green; 18. (DNS) 96M-Mike McKinney
Feature 9 (15 Laps): 1. 22T-Tony Anderson[1]; 2. 77D-Dustin Demattia[6]; 3. 00-Buzzie Reutimann[2]; 4. 11-Tyler Morehouse[7]; 5. 11W-Beau Aikey[14]; 6. 02-Chris Cook[5]; 7. 117-Clinton Gillen[11]; 8. 27R-Steve Rex[18]; 9. 01-Joel Ortberg[9]; 10. 17C-Coleman Evans[15]; 11. 96-Matt Johnson[17]; 12. N8-Nate Huffingham[10]; 13. 2-William Bartlett[12]; 14. 21S-Seth Daniels[3]; 15. 1-Brenden Rassel[8]; 16. 100-Andy Galgoci[13]; 17. (DNS) 11Z-Zane Oedewaldt; 18. (DNS) 33-Kenny Mihalik
Feature 10 (15 Laps): 1. 17X-Richard Michael Jr[1]; 2. 91P-Rob Pitcher[5]; 3. 11R-Jesse Rupe[16]; 4. 176-Scotty Owens[10]; 5. 11N-Gene Nicholas[6]; 6. 88-Chris Bolyard[3]; 7. 07-Curtis King[11]; 8. I 70-Kim Edington[9]; 9. 88-Zayden Bolyard[17]; 10. 21KS-Kenny Shaw[7]; 11. 27-Joshua Kunstbeck[8]; 12. 27C-Billy Cevaal[12]; 13. M41-Steve Maisel[14]; 14. 16C-John Clippinger[13]; 15. (DNS) 62E-Deece Schwartz; 16. (DNS) Z06-Larry Mott; 17. (DNS) 22-Dale Kelley
