Strickler bags podium finish out of Last Chance Showdown after hospital visit just hours before
A grand total of 94 DIRTcar UMP Modifieds packed Volusia Speedway Park’s pit area Wednesday for night #2 of competition at the 50th DIRTcar Nationals, prompting a format change that called for two separate, 20-lap Features before the night was out.
Volusia’s reigning Reutimann Memorial winner Tyler Nicely, of Owensboro, KY, took advantage of another slick and smooth racing surface to grab the win in the first Feature, while the five-time and defending DIRTcar Nationals UMP Modified champion Nick Hoffman, of Mooresville, NC, did the same to score the victory in Feature #2.
Feature #1 – Tyler Nicely
Tyler Nicely seems to be picking up right where he left off at Volusia last November.
His then-brand-new Longhorn by Loenbro chassis powered him to his first career victory in the track’s marquee event, the Emil & Dale Reutimann Memorial, in November of last year. Less than three months have passed and he’s already back in Victory Lane. This time, making the pass for the lead on Lucas Lee and holding off another star-studded cast of competitors for his fourth career win in the event.
“All Speedweeks I’ve been trying to get this win; I’m glad it’s on this stage at Volusia,” Nicely said. “It’s always nice to win it with a bunch of cars, standing on this stage and getting a gator.”
Nicely’s been in action since the opening round of the Winternationals at East Bay Raceway Park two weeks ago and hadn’t been able to find Victory Lane through those five starts plus another last weekend at North Florida Speedway. But after a third-place finish in Tuesday night’s opener, Nicely cashed out with his momentum and advanced two spots higher to collect the $1,000 victory Wednesday night.
Nicely started on the outside of the front row and immediately went to work on polesitter Lucas Lee, catching him in open track and making the pass to his inside on Lap 5.
From there on out, it Nicely’s race to lose. Nobody seemed to have anything for the race leader by the end of 20 circuits as he crossed to collect the checkers. However, if there had been just one more caution later in the race, he may have had a familiar foe knocking on his door.
Jim DenHamer Photo
Kyle Strickler, of Mooresville, NC, may have gone though one of the most bizarre, painful, yet most successful runs to the front in DIRTcar Nationals history Wednesday night.
Earlier in the evening, Strickler was taken in an ambulance to a nearby hospital after severely cutting his left middle finger in the pit area while operating the lift his team uses to raise their car up.
“When I was in the ambulance after almost cutting my finger off, they told me, ‘it’s a hard no on you racing tonight,’ because that was the first question I asked them,” Strickler said. “We ended up going to the hospital, getting it stitched up and making it back here in time.”
Indeed, he did get back to the track on time. But only to tag the tail of Last Chance Showdown #1, where he snagged the final transfer spot into the first Feature. This set him up for a 23rd-place starting spot in that event, where he drove all the way back to finish third, making for what will surely be one of the most memorable nights of his career.
Feature (20 Laps) 1. 25-Tyler Nicely [3]; 2. 5S-Curt Spalding [4]; 3. 8S-Kyle Strickler [23]; 4. OOEH-Steve Arpin [8]; 5. 25W-Allen Weisser [14]; 6. 12L-Lucas Lee [2]; 7. 21A-Nick Allen [1]; 8. 6A-Ryan Ayers [11]; 9. 88-Matt Crafton [15]; 10. 36-Kenny Wallace [6]; 11. 80-Rich Dawson [5]; 12. 3L-Jeff Leka [7]; 13. 7D-Brad DeYoung [17]; 14. 9-Ken Schrader [21]; 15. 2A-Matt Altiers [20]; 16. 7T-Drake Troutman [9]; 17. 32-Chad Roush [24]; 18. 23-Ryan Cripe [16]; 19. 114-Clayton Bryant [19]; 20. K19-Will Krup [13]; 21. A1-Gary Bentley [22]; 22. Z1-Zac Oedewaldt [18]; 23. 8A-Austin Holcombe [12]; 24. 21H-Clay Harris [10] Hard Charger: 8S-Kyle Strickler[+20]
Feature #2 – Nick Hoffman
Nick Hoffman has often preferred the slicker, slower racing surfaces at the big tracks like Volusia. That certainly showed again Wednesday night, as he took full advantage of it in collecting his 19th career DIRTcar Nationals Feature win.
Compared to the Feature event previous, Hoffman wasted even less time in moving to the front, making the pass on polesitter David Stremme on Lap 3. From there on out, nobody had anything for the two-time and defending UMP Modified national points champion as he crossed the stripe for the win.
He makes it look so simple on the DIRTVision cameras, but sometimes, much of the battle is won before the race even starts in the pit area. Like Tuesday night, it came down to a tire selection to help Hoffman pick up the win.
Jim DenHamer Photo
“I knew it was probably gonna latch-up there in the second Feature, so I went with the hard tire again tonight,” Hoffman said. “Once it started to latch-up, I got really tight and just couldn’t maneuver quite like I needed to.”
Hoffman’s Elite Chassis had yet another good showing with himself and Justin Allgaier finishing 1st and 3rd, respectively.
“I know every nook and cranny on that racecar, so that really helps. Just running my own chassis for the last eight years; we’ve got a really good balance, obviously, at this place. It just suits my style, momentum racing, and when it gets dead slick like this, it’s really where I’m the best,” Hoffman said.
The DIRTcar UMP Modified action continues Thursday night from Volusia Speedway Park’s 50th DIRTcar Nationals with Round #3 of racing. Catch all the action live on DIRTVision!
Feature (20 Laps) 1. 2-Nick Hoffman [2]; 2. 96M-Mike McKinney [4]; 3. 7-Justin Allgaier [6]; 4. 35-David Stremme [1]; 5. 12H-Jason Hughes [3]; 6. 11J-Justin Haley [7]; 7. 49-Brian Ruhlman [9]; 8. 18L-Michael Long [5]; 9. 51-Brandon Green [14]; 10. 95-Michael Altobelli [8]; 11. 67-Garret Stewart [11]; 12. 11H-Spencer Hughes [12]; 13. 31G-Stephen Pedulla [17]; 14. T9-Ryan Thomas [21]; 15. O5-Dave Wietholder [19]; 16. 17X-Richard Michael [13]; 17. 77-Ray Bollinger [10]; 18. 4T-Zeke McKenzie [15]; 19. 4R-Ricky Thornton [24]; 20. 25P-Robert Poole [18]; 21. 45-Johnny Broking [22]; 22. 17T-Tyler Evans [16]; 23. 15-Joey Miller [23]; 24. 22K-Dale Kelley [20] Hard Charger: T9-Ryan Thomas[+7]
Qualifying Event Results
Qualifying Flight-A 1. 21A-Nick Allen, 18.212; 2. 25-Tyler Nicely, 18.444; 3. 80-Rich Dawson, 18.466; 4. 6A-Ryan Ayers, 18.676; 5. K19-Will Krup, 18.789; 6. 3L-Jeff Leka, 18.819; 7. 7T-Drake Troutman, 18.861; 8. 88-Matt Crafton, 18.969; 9. 7D-Brad DeYoung, 18.984; 10. 114-Clayton Bryant, 19.022; 11. 44-KC Burdette, 19.095; 12. 27G-Jason Garver, 19.15; 13. 9-Ken Schrader, 19.213; 14. 6-Ryan Fowler, 19.252; 15. 72-Todd Neiheiser, 19.369; 16. 21-Taylor Cook, 19.555; 17. M41-Steve Maisel, 19.649; 18. 24-Travis Dickson, 19.692; 19. 6B-Dave Baldwin, 19.81; 20. 27-Tom Wakefield, 19.872; 21. 8-David Pinkerton, 20.064; 22. 33-Ken Mihalik, 20.359; DNS. 8S-Kyle Strickler, NT; DQ. 21S-Kenny Shaw, 19.666
Qualifying Flight-B 1. 5S-Curt Spalding, 18.504; 2. 12L-Lucas Lee, 18.553; 3. 36-Kenny Wallace, 18.665; 4. OOEH-Steve Arpin, 18.716; 5. 21H-Clay Harris, 18.892; 6. 8A-Austin Holcombe, 18.919; 7. 176-Scotty Owens, 19.111; 8. 23-Ryan Cripe, 19.147; 9. 32-Chad Roush, 19.198; 10. A1-Gary Bentley, 19.313; 11. 11N-Gene Nicholas, 19.403; 12. 2A-Matt Altiers, 19.441; 13. Z1-Zac Oedewaldt, 19.443; 14. 9PG-Percy Gendreau, 19.548; 15. 25W-Allen Weisser, 19.703; 16. 57-Mark Grosvenor, 19.707; 17. 62E-Kim Edington, 19.856; 18. O1-Earnie Woodard, 20.057; 19. 11M-Tyler Morehouse, 20.087; 20. 22J-John Baker, 20.222; 21. 89W-Rick Weitekamp, 20.861; 22. 12M-David Moheng, 21.049; DQ. 47-Collin Thirlby, 19.63
Qualifying Flight-C 1. 2-Nick Hoffman, 18.463; 2. 35-David Stremme, 18.48; 3. 49-Brian Ruhlman, 18.586; 4. 15-Joey Miller, 18.629; 5. 31G-Stephen Pedulla, 18.68; 6. 4T-Zeke McKenzie, 18.767; 7. 17X-Richard Michael, 18.789; 8. 67-Garret Stewart, 18.92; 9. 18L-Michael Long, 18.942; 10. 11J-Justin Haley, 18.979; 11. 2J-Troy Johnson, 19.107; 12. 99-Hunt Gossum, 19.152; 13. 11-Jesse Rupe, 19.305; 14. O5-Dave Wietholder, 19.309; 15. T9-Ryan Thomas, 19.539; 16. 463-Daniel Sanchez, 19.574; 17. 74-Mike Franklin, 19.579; 18. 15B-Dave Baker, 19.604; 19. 83-Brianna Robinson, 19.662; 20. 60-Shannon Fisk, 19.709; 21. 81-Steve Axtell, 19.777; 22. O2-Chris Cook, 19.981; 23. 20-Tyler Hendrix, 20.371; 24. 59-Doug Stine, 20.852
Qualifying Flight-D 1. 12H-Jason Hughes, 18.318; 2. 96M-Mike McKinney, 18.443; 3. 51-Brandon Green, 18.783; 4. 11H-Spencer Hughes, 18.898; 5. 7-Justin Allgaier, 18.9; 6. 45-Johnny Broking, 18.907; 7. 77-Ray Bollinger, 18.908; 8. 17T-Tyler Evans, 18.934; 9. 97-Mitch Thomas, 19.143; 10. 88S-Chris Smith, 19.205; 11. 45H-Kyle Hammer, 19.303; 12. 95-Michael Altobelli, 19.313; 13. 25P-Robert Poole, 19.411; 14. 22K-Dale Kelley, 19.549; 15. 22T-Tony Anderson, 19.579; 16. 4R-Ricky Thornton, 19.769; 17. 12-John McClure, 19.805; 18. 21D-Danny Schwartz, 19.886; 19. 88B-Chris Bolyard, 20.252; 20. 7+7-Jeff Solinger, 20.439; 21. 11Z-Rob Pitcher, 21.008; 22. 27C-Billy Cevaal, 21.447; 23. 27S-Paul Schloss, 22.292
Heat #1 – Flight (A) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer 1. 21A-Nick Allen [1]; 2. 80-Rich Dawson [2]; 3. 7T-Drake Troutman [4]; 4. K19-Will Krup [3]; 5. 7D-Brad DeYoung [5]; 6. 9-Ken Schrader [7]; 7. M41-Steve Maisel [9]; 8. 6B-Dave Baldwin [10]; 9. 44-KC Burdette [6]; 10. 72-Todd Neiheiser [8]; 11. 8-David Pinkerton [11]; 12. 8S-Kyle Strickler [12]
Heat #2 – Flight (A) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer 1. 25-Tyler Nicely [1]; 2. 3L-Jeff Leka [3]; 3. 6A-Ryan Ayers [2]; 4. 88-Matt Crafton [4]; 5. 114-Clayton Bryant [5]; 6. 21-Taylor Cook [8]; 7. 6-Ryan Fowler [7]; 8. 27G-Jason Garver [6]; 9. 24-Travis Dickson [9]; 10. 27-Tom Wakefield [10]; 11. 33-Ken Mihalik [11]; 12. 21S-Kenny Shaw [12]
Heat #3 – Flight (B) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer 1. 5S-Curt Spalding [1]; 2. 36-Kenny Wallace [2]; 3. 21H-Clay Harris [3]; 4. 25W-Allen Weisser [8]; 5. Z1-Zac Oedewaldt [7]; 6. 11N-Gene Nicholas [6]; 7. 62E-Kim Edington [9]; 8. 32-Chad Roush [5]; 9. 89W-Rick Weitekamp [11]; 10. 11M-Tyler Morehouse [10]; 11. 176-Scotty Owens [4]; 12. 47-Collin Thirlby [12]
Heat #4 – Flight (B) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer 1. 12L-Lucas Lee [1]; 2. OOEH-Steve Arpin [2]; 3. 8A-Austin Holcombe [3]; 4. 23-Ryan Cripe [4]; 5. 2A-Matt Altiers [6]; 6. 9PG-Percy Gendreau [7]; 7. 22J-John Baker [10]; 8. A1-Gary Bentley [5]; 9. 57-Mark Grosvenor [8]; 10. O1-Earnie Woodard [9]; 11. 12M-David Moheng [11]
Heat #5 – Flight (C) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer 1. 2-Nick Hoffman [1]; 2. 18L-Michael Long [5]; 3. 49-Brian Ruhlman [2]; 4. 17X-Richard Michael [4]; 5. 31G-Stephen Pedulla [3]; 6. T9-Ryan Thomas [8]; 7. 81-Steve Axtell [11]; 8. 74-Mike Franklin [9]; 9. 20-Tyler Hendrix [12]; 10. 2J-Troy Johnson [6]; 11. 83-Brianna Robinson [10]; 12. 11-Jesse Rupe [7]
Heat #6 – Flight (C) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer 1. 35-David Stremme [1]; 2. 11J-Justin Haley [5]; 3. 67-Garret Stewart [4]; 4. 4T-Zeke McKenzie [3]; 5. O5-Dave Wietholder [7]; 6. 60-Shannon Fisk [10]; 7. 15-Joey Miller [2]; 8. 15B-Dave Baker [9]; 9. 59-Doug Stine [12]; 10. O2-Chris Cook [11]; 11. 463-Daniel Sanchez [8]; 12. 99-Hunt Gossum [6]
Heat #7 – Flight (D) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer 1. 12H-Jason Hughes [1]; 2. 7-Justin Allgaier [3]; 3. 77-Ray Bollinger [4]; 4. 51-Brandon Green [2]; 5. 25P-Robert Poole [7]; 6. 22T-Tony Anderson [8]; 7. 12-John McClure [9]; 8. 45H-Kyle Hammer [6]; 9. 97-Mitch Thomas [5]; 10. 88B-Chris Bolyard [10]; 11. 27S-Paul Schloss [12]; 12. 11Z-Rob Pitcher [11]
Heat #8 – Flight (D) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer 1. 96M-Mike McKinney [1]; 2. 95-Michael Altobelli [6]; 3. 11H-Spencer Hughes [2]; 4. 17T-Tyler Evans [4]; 5. 22K-Dale Kelley [7]; 6. 4R-Ricky Thornton [8]; 7. 45-Johnny Broking [3]; 8. 21D-Danny Schwartz [9]; 9. 88S-Chris Smith [5]; 10. 7+7-Jeff Solinger [10]; 11. 27C-Billy Cevaal [11]
Last Chance Showdown 1 (10 Laps) – Top 2 Transfer 1. 9-Ken Schrader [1]; 2. 8S-Kyle Strickler [13]; 3. 6-Ryan Fowler [4]; 4. 24-Travis Dickson [8]; 5. 6B-Dave Baldwin [5]; 6. 8-David Pinkerton [11]; 7. 33-Ken Mihalik [12]; 8. 27-Tom Wakefield [10]; 9. 21-Taylor Cook [2]; 10. M41-Steve Maisel [3]; 11. 27G-Jason Garver [6]; 12. 44-KC Burdette [7]; 13. 72-Todd Neiheiser [9]; 14. 21S-Kenny Shaw [14]
Last Chance Showdown 2 (10 Laps) – Top 2 Transfer 1. A1-Gary Bentley [6]; 2. 32-Chad Roush [5]; 3. 11N-Gene Nicholas [1]; 4. 11M-Tyler Morehouse [9]; 5. 62E-Kim Edington [3]; 6. 9PG-Percy Gendreau [2]; 7. O1-Earnie Woodard [10]; 8. 57-Mark Grosvenor [8]; 9. 12M-David Moheng [12]; 10. 89W-Rick Weitekamp [7]; 11. 176-Scotty Owens [11]; 12. 22J-John Baker [4]; 13. 47-Collin Thirlby [13]
Last Chance Showdown 3 (10 Laps) – Top 2 Transfer 1. T9-Ryan Thomas [1]; 2. 15-Joey Miller [4]; 3. 81-Steve Axtell [3]; 4. 99-Hunt Gossum [14]; 5. 20-Tyler Hendrix [7]; 6. 463-Daniel Sanchez [12]; 7. 60-Shannon Fisk [2]; 8. 2J-Troy Johnson [9]; 9. 15B-Dave Baker [6]; 10. 74-Mike Franklin [5]; 11. 83-Brianna Robinson [11]; 12. O2-Chris Cook [10]; 13. 59-Doug Stine [8]; 14. 11-Jesse Rupe [13]
Last Chance Showdown 4 (10 Laps) – Top 2 Transfer 1. 45-Johnny Broking [4]; 2. 4R-Ricky Thornton [2]; 3. 45H-Kyle Hammer [5]; 4. 22T-Tony Anderson [1]; 5. 7+7-Jeff Solinger [10]; 6. 97-Mitch Thomas [7]; 7. 88S-Chris Smith [8]; 8. 12-John McClure [3]; 9. 88B-Chris Bolyard [9]; 10. 27C-Billy Cevaal [12]; 11. 27S-Paul Schloss [11]; 12. 21D-Danny Schwartz [6]; 13. 11Z-Rob Pitcher [13]
