Hoffman Edges Pierce in Hendry Co. Thriller

 Saturday night, February 21st, the World of Outlaws Late Model Series wrapped up their southern experiment with the Swamp Cabbage finale, a sixty lap race paying a strong twenty grand to the winner. The two drivers that seem destined to battle it out for the World of Outlaws Late Model point championship, Bobby Pierce and Nick Hoffman, went at it for sixty laps on Saturday night and on this occasion, it was Hoffman who got the better of his rival, edging out Pierce by just over a car length to win the main event and earn the big cash. 

And as it had also on Friday night, the track raced very well. allowing plenty of side by side racing, passing and providing good racing action. But on the downside, a few other things didn't change from Friday that took something away from the overall experience. 

It was another beautiful southern Florida day on Saturday, with temperatures in the upper eighties and plenty of sun shining. It actually felt hot to me but my blood still hasn't thinned out totally after escaping the cold temperatures of the North Country. 

In preparation for the Saturday night show, we made a stop at Harbor Freight for some necessary supplies and boy, was I glad that we purchased face shields for the night. They worked slick at deflecting the sand and gravel that was spewed into the grandstands like bullets fired from a machine gun and while we still were dust covered from head to toe, at least we were able to keep our eyes open most of the time as the shields deflected the spray away from out eyes. 

All different manner of protection was used by the crowd from the veteran fans here who wore goggles or sunglasses to cobbled together protection that made some of the fans look more like they were crossing the Nairobi Desert rather than witnessing dirt track racing. It was not a fashion show but nobody cared. 

The same twenty seven drivers that were on hand to race on Friday night returned for round two while the 4.6 Fords had a few more entrants with thirty seven of them showing up to race. I won't say this is a "down home" type of crowd but many in the stands seemed to get just as much entertainment value out of the 4.6 Ford driver that tried to continue racing after his hood came up and instead plowed into a ute tire as those that cheered on the duel between Hoffman and Pierce. 

It appeared there was a concerted effort to get more moisture into the racing surface than on Friday night as a nearly endless amount of packing and hot lapping was necessary which pushed the start time back almost an hour. Still, in the end, the surface still turns bone dry after a few laps on it and with the close proximity of the track to the stands, the machine gun action begins quickly. 

Upsetting the apple cart slightly, Sam Seawright, the first driver out for time, turned in the quickest lap of the night at 13.877 seconds and after winning a heat and having a nice redraw, Seawright would start the sixty lapper from the pole. 

Wisely starting the Late Model feature first again after initially scheduling them last on Friday until a change was made, the eight yellow flag "clown fest" that the 4.6 Fords would later produce as the last race would have set the hair of the Late Model fans in attendance on fire if they had to wait for the Late Models to appear. As it was, they were in line trying to get out the drive way when the 4.6 Fords finally hit the track. 

Seawright led the first five laps of the feature race before Pierce, who started sixth, motored around him on the top side to take over the lead. Most were hugging the inside line early but Pierce immediately went to the cushion with success. Once in front, Pierce pulled away slightly as Hoffman, who started fourth, moved into the runner up slot. He was running the low side as the leaders lines couldn't have been much different. 

Hoffman started to get a great burst on the bottom off turn four and he quickly closed in on Pierce, surprising him as he drove under him to take over the top spot. One lap later, however, Hoffman jumped the cushion in turn one and Pierce regained the lead but the pass was negated because a slowing car triggered the yellow. 

After that, there was a long stretch of green flag racing with the two leaders playing a game of cat and mouse. Hoffman stayed low for the most part but occasionally ran the cushion in turns one and two. Pierce was primarily up against the wall but would try racing lower on the track, particularly if Hoffman moved up in front of him. Several times Pierce got close but not so near as to attempt a passing maneuver. 

With just over ten laps to go, the two leaders finally caught the back of the pack for the first time and this made things even stickier as they tried to decide the best line to both pass slower cars but not open the door to their rival. It was exciting as Piece slipped past on lap fifty three, only to see Hoffman respond and get the lead back one lap later. 

A late yellow set up a six lap dash to the finish and after Ryan Gustin, who ran third for just about the entire race, almost gave Pierce a problem, it again turned into a two car battle. Pierce was pounding the cushion which was still big but was a long way around while Hoffman tip toed around the inside, trying not to break momentum or spin his tires coming off the turns. 

Pierce edged closer as the laps ran down, drawing the rear quarter panel of Hoffman. Bobby gave it his best effort on the final lap, blasting off the final corner cushion but Hoffman was just a bit quicker, holding on by just over a car length. Gustin finished third with Drake Troutman and Ethan Dotson completing the top five. Dustin Sorensen had worked his way up to fourth but the final restart saw him in the wrong lane and he lost a couple spots. Sixteen of the twenty four starters were still on the track at the finish. Early leader Seawright faded to tenth at the finish. Without a doubt it was a good entertaining race. 

Unless you were a fan of one of the 4.6 Ford drivers or perhaps a former owner of a Crown Vic, their feature was not quite so entertaining. They started twenty two cars in their main event but there were very few periods of steady racing as the yellow waved early and often and about five consecutive laps of racing was about the best they could do. 

Dalton Ellis started on the outside of row one and he led the first nine laps which also featured three slow downs. Moving up from the third row, Stephen Bruner, the only driver to move up the track, was able to find traction and speed on his lonely path and he was able to drive around Ellis to take over the lead. 

Through five more yellows and Ellis trying his best to regain the lead, Bruner held on and drove to the win. David Bruner, Friday night winner Blake Ridgdill and Cody Allen completed the top five. 

I found out that both the Friday night and tonight's 4.6 Ford feature paid a grand to win. And here we go, down that slippery slope that leads to problems with these supposedly "entry level" classes. Start paying them much more money for specials than they receive for most events and some teams are going to start "pushing the cushion", trying to earn the big bucks. Others will follow and soon you will have a class out of control, cost wise. We've seen this happen about a million times over the years and paying them too much for what they should have invested in their cars is the first step to the undoing of the class. 

Overall, this weekend of races probably far exceeded most folks expectations. There was a question of how well this track would race for open Late Models and I guess that was answered emphatically. The crowd on Saturday was gigantic and perhaps the largest in track history. The Outlaws staff was all a glow and even the drivers were surprised and pleased with the racing. However, none of them had to sit in the stands and be blasted by sand and gravel like the fans. Will the spectators put up with that again next year after the novelty of the race wears off? I think the only way to cure this problem is with a complete resurfacing of the track with some different material and I don't think that's going to happen. 

Of course no one can know at this time what the schedules for the major series will look like in 2027 but I feel that the Outlaws were pleased enough with this event to have it again next year. Where it will fit on the schedule remains to be seen and will the local fans who formed the majority of those attending be willing to pony up a hundred bucks to see the races again are all questions that right now have no answers. 

Thanks to everyone at the WoO for their help and all the employees of the Hendry County Motorsports Park for their hard work. This race had been a dream of theirs for a long time and in 2026 they brought it to fruition. 

Pierce Tops Hendry County As WoO Visits for First Time

 Extending their visit to Florida after the completion of the DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia County, the World of Outlaws Late Model series traveled over two hundred miles further South to the Hendry County Motorsports Park located in the middle of no where but nearest to the city of Clewiston Florida for a weekend doubleheader of point racing. 

On a track that looked and raced much like any number of Illinois short tracks, Bobby Pierce feasted on the familiarity of such a set up as he drove to any easy win in the forty lap main event and earned twelve grand for his efforts. 

The 4.6 Fords(called Crown Vics in my neck of the woods), also ran a complete program and Blake Ridgdill was the winner of their twenty five lap feature. 

Called the Swamp Cabbage 100 and with a local Swamp Cabbage festival to go along with the races, I did actually see some Cabbage growing in the fields near Clewiston. Billed as the "Southern Most Dirt Track in the USA( I would have thought there might be a track in either California or Texas that might hold this honor, but I will will go along with their claim), the track is somewhere between a quarter and a third mile although the official description lists it as a third, it is a wide track with progressive banking that allows for side by side racing. 

It is also known as the "Fastest Sand Pit" and there will be no argument there, particularly on the sand pit part of the phrase, but more on that later. 

This is the first time that I had been at Hendry County and these days I don't get to a lot of new, to me, tracks so let's take a moment to talk about what I saw. The entrance is a bit of East Bay and the old Stateline Speedway in Tennessee before they cleaned it up. The driveway off a busy highway is a rough and bouncy dirt trail that winds between an abandoned boat yard of some sort with junked cars lining the driveway . It is not impressive.  

The parking lot is very small with many of the spectators actually driving into a field behind the pit area in turns three and four to park. To their credit, management was offering golf cart rides to the ticket gate for spectators that parked far from the gates. 

Interestingly, the tickets to get into the races were "all inclusive" with one price paid to get in which then allowed the spectators to roam the grounds at will, including walking into the pits once they had signed the waiver form. Fifty bucks got you everywhere you wanted to go. 

I was told that some extra bleacher seating had been added recently at the track with their being grandstands down the front chute, in turns one and two and also in turns three and four. They were of various size and construction and offered various levels of both comfort and visibility but there was plenty of seating available. The track lightning was good and the track p.a. system was very good with the announcers easy to hear. There was a small scoreboard behind turn two but it was a little hard to read from the main stands but at least they had something. There were several bathrooms around the grounds and most were of the permanent variety, not the "satellites" type. 

Observations on how the track would race for the Late Models were varied with some folks that had been there feeling that it would be a train around the inside of the track while others said that the racing had improved there over what it used to be. They do race crate Late Models and 360 Sprints here for specials so there must be some kind of passing available , right?

As it turned out, the racing itself was quite good. The heat races especially were excellent with two and three wide racing and the powerful motors in the Late Models allowed them to do what some classes don't and that it to get up to the top side of the track, clean off the track and even establish a cushion for them to race off which even makes the side by side racing easier. 

Then there is the down side to report. There is a reason that they call this track the "Fastest Sand Pit" because that seems to be exactly what they race on, sand. And it is dirty. Very dirty. Almost intolerably dirty. I witnessed fan after fan get up and leave early after they got sand blasted to the point they couldn't see the track. It was easy to spot local weekly fans as they all came equipped with goggles, snorkels and more . 

Without doubt, it was among the top five dirtiest tracks that I have ever been to and that includes a lot of tracks and a lot of race nights. It was miserable and about the only track that I can compare it to that I have been to in recent years is Charlotte for the World Finals and folks know how dirty that track is. But here you sit right on the track and much closer than at Charlotte and it was brutal. Honestly, I would never even consider taking someone here on a "date night" or introducing any new fan to racing here as they would never go to a race again, and I wouldn't blame them. 

It was too bad because the racing was good to the point of even edging into the very good category but it was hard to even see it because of the dirt. Honestly, if I had to put up with what we sat through on Friday on a regular basis, I would find some other activity to be a part of, that's how bad it was. 

Twenty seven drivers signed in to race with WoO on Friday, fortified by about four or five drivers from the region, some with crate cars and some with equipment not likely to make most shows. It would appear that the idea to extend Speed Weeks for the WoO put them on the short end of the stick, car count wise. Drake Troutman was quick qualifier at 13.875 seconds. 

Three excellent heat races and a B Feature would qualify the field with only three drivers left sitting on the sidelines for the main. Only the B Feature was substandard with everyone hugging the low line for that race. Track prep then took place for the main and the groove widened out immediately for that race. No complaints should be issued about the quality of the racing all night. Complaints about he persistent sandstorm blowing into the stands however, should be legitimate and fair. 

The original running order of the event was tossed and the Late Model feature was first up. The drivers put on an excellent show for those able to see it. Troutman redrew the pole and led the first seven laps of the race, running the low line. Pierce, who started third, moved to the cushion immediately, and with the help of a couple of other drivers, cleaned up that line and he then stormed past Troutman to take over the lead. 

Bobby then pulled away, at times opening up nearly a full straightaway lead over the field. However, there was still a good race going on for the second through fifth spot that was entertaining and Pierce had to fight through a bunch of lapped traffic which made his route to victory not easy. 

There was only one yellow in the race and that with just five laps to go when Tyler Erb spun. Ethan Dotson had started seventh and moved up to second, also pounding the cushion and he was Pierce's biggest competition at the end, but Bobby got away good on the lone restart and pulled away again for the win. 

The battle for second came down to the final corner with Dotson holding off Daulton Wilson as Wilson started to make the low groove work well at the end. Amazingly, there were only two drivers that didn't finish the race and all those extra drivers still racing during the contest on the relatively small oval added to the fun. 

4.6 Fords were the support class for this race with they apparently being a very popular class at this track. Thirty four of them signed in to race on Friday, necessitating four heats and a B Feature. Fortunately, they raced OK with not a lot of yellow flag events. They also ran their feature race last which allowed the parking lots to clear and spread out the rush to head home. 

Twenty two of them started the main with pole sitter Blake Ridgdill leading from start to finish with the main stopped three times for yellow flags with most being of the minor variety. 

Late in the race he received a challenge from Billy Evans but he clung to the inside lane with the 4.6 class not having the power to move up the track, and held on for the win. Evans finished second with Codey Allen, Stephen Bruner and Alan Smith trailing. The final checkered flag waved somewhere just after 10 pm in what was a fast moving show. 

The same two classes will race again on Saturday night with the Late Models going an extra twenty laps for an extra eight grand. 

 

Sheppard and Wight Win VSP Finales, Hoffman and Williamson Big Gator Champions

 Saturday night, February 14th the Volusia Speedway Park wrapped up what was a very successful DIRTcar Nationals with one final performance by the World of Outlaw Late Model division and the DIRTcar Big Block Modifieds. 

Saturday night's show would mark the longest races for both classes this week with a pair of fifty lap finales presented and correspondently, the most money to the winners with the Late Models racing for twenty grand and the Big Blocks for seventy five hundred dollars to the winner. 

Strong fields of drivers still remained after a long week of racing with fifty six Late Model drivers signing in as their car counts have held stout all week. The Big Blocks had a bit of an exodus with forty one of them racing, but their numbers have been larger all week than for last year's event and even on Saturday they still fields a half dozen more entrants than in 2025. 

Other than the laps in the main events, the format would remain the same as it has the last few nights and the track prep crew seemed to have found that happy medium that many track prep crews are constantly working to get, a track that is fast but not blindingly so, not muddy but also not to the point of rubbering up and ruining the racing. It is a constant battle, no matter the region and no matter the time of year. This is part of what makes dirt track racing so interesting while also being so maddening from time to time. 

While most spectators sleep through the time trials(not literally), they are just about the most important part of the entire racing program as without a decent starting spot for a qualifying event, you might be advised to just put the car in "the box" and call it a night. Chris Madden was the quick qualifier for the night at 15.227 while Garrett Alberson, who has run just a partial week here, topping the second group about two tenths of a second slower. 

Six heats were again run for the Late Models and for those at home keeping score, the front row provided the winners for all six heats, thus emphasizing the importance of a good qualifying effort. 

The B Features are brutal events, starting twenty or more drivers and only moving up three but it was noted on Saturday that more drivers were scratching out of their B Features and hitting the road home early, cutting their losses and beating traffic. 

For the second straight night, there were a number of drivers that are WoO regulars that struggled to qualify and thus had to rely on one of several different categories for those who failed to make the main but wished to participate. This swelled the field to thirty one drivers that took the green for the Late Model event, a traffic jam for even this large and wide a racing track. 

With Nick Hoffman, the fastest and winningest driver here this week starting from the pole, the odds were heavily in his favor for another big win. But as they say, that is why the race is run and while Hoffman led for a large chunk of the race, when the checkers flew he failed to even earn a podium finish. 

Hoffman led early over Blair Nothdurft, the young South Dakota driver that is rapidly turning into a qualifying wizard and sending the "railbirds" searching their programs to find out who this #76 was. 

Unfortunately, while Nothdurft has gotten the qualifying part of the racing down, he is still learning how to pace a race and still have his car under him at the end as he faded back rapidly in the pack after the first few laps had been completed. 

Nineteen green flag laps started the race after a shocking first lap yellow when Tyler Erb broke before he got the motor oil warm, and by that time Brandon Sheppard had moved up to second. Hudson O'Neal and Ryan Gustin had also worked into the top five. 

As the race moved into its second half, Hoffman seemed to be slowing down while Sheppard was also picking up the pace and on lap thirty three, Brandon moved into the lead. When the yellow waved two laps later, Bobby Pierce, who started nineteenth, first showed in the top five in the running order and he didn't hang back long as when the green flew once again, he made a spectacular move, splitting the drivers in front of him and suddenly finding himself in the runner up slot. 

The last dozen laps saw a battle between the two Illinois drivers with Pierce pushing very hard and able to close the gap to a few car lengths. Several times it looked like he just might sneak under Sheppard and take over the lead but Sheppard fought off all challenges and with a couple nifty moves in the last five laps, put just a bit of distance between himself and Pierce. They would cross the line first and second with both likely happy that they had gotten their programs straightened out after some shaky moments by both this week. 

O'Neal also made some positive advances as after starting tenth, he raced past Hoffman to finish third. Ricky Thornton Jr has also been pretty quiet this week but he did manage to move up from thirteenth to complete the top five. Twenty two drivers were still on the track at  the finish with three of them being a lap behind. 

The Big Blocks also went for fifty laps on Saturday and there were three different leaders in that race. Many were hoping for good luck for "The Aussie", Peter Britten after he redrew the pole but things went South for him quickly when he hooked a rut on the first lap, went shooting up the track and took himself out of serious consideration for the win immediately. 

A different face was up front early as Justin Stone grabbed the lead after Britten's bobbleand he paced he field for the first seventeen laps of the race, a period that was broken up by numerous yellows. The most serious was a lap four red flag when Danny Creeden clobbered the turn three wall and then went for a couple of quick flips. He was rattled just a bit but eventually clambered out of his wrecked car. 

Stewart Friesen and Matt Sheppard were putting the pressure on Stone and when he slipped up the track on lap eighteen, Friesen was right there to motor into the lead. Larry Wight started sixth and it took some time for the track to open up so that he could get to his "sweet spot", which is the cushion. However, when things settled down, he quickly charged forward and by halfway point, was side by side with Friesen for the lead when the yellow flew once again. 

Steward couldn't hold back Wight however when the green again flew and Larry shot into the lead. It was one of the those nights when the Big Blocks just couldn't keep racing without the yellow waving often and while it made the battle for second between Friesen and Sheppard interesting, it was frustrating in that they just couldn't seem to get any consistent racing. A total of nine yellows flew during the race with the last coming with just seven laps remaining in the race. 

Wight was on a roll and there was no one able to keep up with him. Sheppard went for the lead on the last restart but pushed up the track and forfeited positions to both Friesen, who came home second and Mat Williamson who finished third. At the line, Sheppard nipped Felix Roy for fourth. 

Twenty one of twenty nine drivers were still racing at the end and with the frequent yellows, everyone was still on the lead lap. 

And just that quickly, the DIRTcar Nationals are in the books again for another year. Thanks to all the  many folks from DIRTcar and VSP for their help and  for their efforts over the last week plus for me. It is a grueling stretch of racing and all the employees do a great job and still maintain their smiles after night after long night of work. 

The crowds have been great all week and a block buster crowd was on hand for the Saturday night finale. The weather has been good all week, albeit cool but the shining sun always helps improve attendance. 

Things were a little slow at the Gator Pond in 2026 with just one little one spotted a couple of times. On the plus side, there were no reports also of missing children and small dogs!

   

Hoffman and Williamson Both Repeat at VSP

 One would think that with over one hundred of the finest teams in the country in the pits for World of Outlaw Late Model and Super DIRTcar Big Block Modified racing that it would be quite difficult to repeat as a feature winner. However, such was not the case on Friday the 13th of February at Volusia Speedway Park as both Nick Hoffman in the Late Models and Mat Williamson in the Big Block would repeat their Thursday night wins by going to victory lane once again. And in Hoffman's case, it was actually his third straight win, having won one of the three twenty lappers on Wednesday as a part of the final night of the UMP action at the same track. 

And neither would be a close run either as both dominated the final laps of their respective mains, leaving no question as to who was the fastest car on the track. However, the Friday the 13th stigma did play out somewhat as there were some strange goings on over the course of the night, a bit of controversy and certainly some new faces playing a part in the night's action. 

Fifty seven Late Models and forty six Big Blocks signed in to race on Friday on a night when the Florida weather was again sub part, producing some cold wins that found most fans bundled up like they were witnessing racing up North. Nevertheless, a large crowd was on hand for the action as it builds towards its conclusion on Saturday night. 

Both classes would use the format that they ran on Thursday night with the exception that the Late Models would run first with the Big Blocks wrapping up the action. Tyler Erb, who has been showing good speed this week was the quickest overall qualifier at 15.467 seconds with Ricky Thornton Jr topping the second half of the field at 15.493 seconds. 

If you have been keeping track this week, you know how important qualifying is, especially with straight up starts in the heats and only the heat race winners redrawing for feature spots. So it was again that all six heats were won off the front row. However, there were some different faces in heat race victory lane with Michael Leach, Austin Smith and Dan Ebert winning heats, which did give the front rows a different look for the feature. 

With some different drivers up front, at least early, it did leave some of the old steady faces on the outside looking in and as a result there were more point provisional and emergency provisional starters than normal with thirty drivers taking the green for the feature. Some of these same faces have been having nightly emergencies for the past several years! Actually make that twenty nine drivers for the green as Dallon Murty hurt his motor getting qualified and he opted not to start the main, not a good way to get his open motor season started. 

I was at the driver's meeting where series officials gave specific new directions about starts and restarts to avoid some of the jumps and unseemly starts that have been happening. Those directions apparently went in one ear and out the other for the drivers as the Late Model feature started with a big stack up before half the drivers even got to the starting line, something you would more expect to see in Bomber racing. Several cars were damaged and hopes for Brandon Sheppard, Chris Madden and a couple others were flushed. 

Leach redrew the pole and it was interesting to see a new face lead the pack as he was able to fend off the challengers for the first ten laps of the thirty five lapper. However, eventually the masters of the sport were able to track him down with Thornton Jr taking over the lead on lap eleven. 

Hoffman was moving quick after starting fourth and he got by Leach for second and then, two laps later, blew past Thornton Jr for the lead. This was a race marked by fits and spurts as the yellow waved way too often for slowing cars and flat tires with six slowdowns needed. The battle for second was interesting though, as Thornton Jr and Brandon Overton exchanged that position a couple times. 

The last yellow, with twenty six laps down was for Ryan Gustin who had charged up to fourth with a battered up car before the motor let go. The final restart saw Hoffman drive off from the field once again, with Thornton sacrificing second when he plunked the turn two wall, giving Overton that spot for the duration of the race. 

Bobby Pierce made a successful drive, passing a number of cars and also inheriting a number of spots when others dropped out or back and he came home third, his best finish of the week. Tyler Erb and Drake Troutman, both with used up looking cars, completed the top five. There were not a huge number of drivers that didn't finish the race (7), but there were quite a few that looked as if they had lost a war. 

The Big Block feature saw another dominating performance that was also sparked with just a bit of controversy. At least that's how one driver saw it. 

Things started out very strangely when as they were ready to take the green, Matt Caprara lost a rear wheel on the front chute before the race event started. A wrecker quickly whisked him to the work area where the wheel was replaced and the crew man assigned to that task likely sent packing for another job. 

Matt Sheppard, who has not been himself so far in his Florida visits, started on the outside pole and got the jump to take the early lead. Mat Williamson quickly moved to second and the race was on between two of the "king pins" of Big Block racing. They were putting on a good battle for the lead, interspersed among the two yellows that flew early for other drivers parking on the track as the pace in this race was no better than for the Late Models. 

Sheppard was running a line right through the middle of the track that seemed to work for him as he was able to hold off Williamson. However, the yellow flew once again with twelve laps complete and this is when things got spicy.

The side by side restart used by the Big Blocks saw Sheppard and Williamson door to door and when they fired off turn four, Williamson got a great jump and immediately took over the lead. Sheppard believed that he got "jumped" by Williamson I believe, and I was also looking for the yellow to fly and bring back the field because I also thought that Williamson jumped. 

However, no such action was taken and Williamson then pulled away from the field. It appeared the Sheppard let his emotions get away from him at this point as he started driving a bit wild and he lost several positions because of that. 

When the yellow flew again with twenty laps complete, Sheppard drove by the front stretch several times with his arm in the air out his window, either appealing the previous non ruling, or checking to see  if it was raining. It turns out that neither happened and he had to settle back in line. 

Williamson then pulled away once again over the final ten laps to drive away for a relatively easy win, with Alex Payne making a nice drive up to second and Jack Lehner recovering from a smoking car in his heat to race home third. Alex Yankowski and Justin Haers completed the top five but it was too bad that Sheppard didn't finish on the podium as his post race interview might have been quite interesting. 

Only four drivers failed to finish the race but because of the frequent yellow flags, Williamson was not forced to lap a single car. 

Quite frankly, neither class shined on this night with too many yellows for slowing and stopped cars really bogging down both features and not producing much attractive racing for the fans. It was also the longest night of the week with racing getting done much later than it should have. Hopefully everyone gets back on their "A" game and produces a better show for the Saturday night finale. 

Nick Hoffman Dominates WoO Late Model Opener at VSP, Williamson Tops Big Blocks

 The DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia Speedway Park has moved into the "meat" of its schedule now, with Thursday night, February 12th featuring the first of three straight nights of World of Outlaws Late Model points paying events while the Super DIRTcar Series Big Blocks ran their second of four nights with all racing wrapping up on Saturday of this week.

The Late Models would provide the most dominant run of the week to date as Nick Hoffman "smoked" the troops, winning by a resounding five plus seconds over the pack while defending DIRTcar Series Big Block champion Mat Williamson found victory lane over a strong field of racers in that class. 

Car counts have remained remarkably similar to previous years with the Late Model field of fifty eight drivers the exact same number as took the green for this event last year while the Big Blocks continue to remain just a bit stronger than last year. 

Track conditions split the difference between Tuesday night's rubber race and Wednesday night's mud bath and while a few complained that the slick conditions still weren't good, most of the competitors were happy with the track on Thursday night. 

The WoO Late Model format is slightly different than that of UMP with the field split in half and each half of the field qualifying against drivers in their flight with six heats in total and only the top three in each heat moving on. The B Features are most brutal with twenty cars fighting for just two spots and then to fill out the starting grid, the emergency provisional, point provisional and provisional provisional starters that would make up the twenty eight car field. 

Cody Overton continued his impressive runs of the week, turning the quickest lap overall at 15.567 seconds while Brandon Sheppard led group B just under a tenth slower. 

Twenty eight drivers started the thirty five lap Late Model feature and despite some whining about track conditions from Chris Madden, he still redrew the pole position. However, at the drop of the green, he pushed up the track and Nick Hoffman, who started outside of him, cut under and took over the lead and that would be the closest that anyone would get to him over the next thirty five laps. 

Overton likely lost the "Big Gator" point lead when he slowed with mechanical ills just four laps into the race and was done but Hoffman continued to lead following the slowdown over Madden, Drake Troutman, Tyler Erb and Sheppard. However, Madden continued to push up the track on the next restart and he faded back as Erb particularly began to advance. 

Ryan Gustin moved into the top five but then he spun with twelve laps complete, slowing the action for the second and final time of the night. Erb was up to third and for the first time all week, Bobby Pierce appeared among the front runners after starting tenth. 

The final twenty three laps of the race ran green to checkers and this long green flag run allowed some of the drivers to use the extra laps to work their way forward for the first time this week. By the halfway point of the race, Pierce was up to second while Tim McCreadie, who started twenty second, had also cracked the top five. 

Hoffman had built up nearly a full straightaway lead over the pack but then he ran into a major hurdle with a considerable amount of slower cars, ready to go a lap down, to fight his way through. Pierce used this problem to get as close as anyone all night, getting to within a few car lengths and looking like he might challenge.

However, at just the right time, Hoffman made a couple of excellent moves in the heavy traffic, clearing space for himself with some sharp driving that opened up his advantage once again. And at the finish he had four lapped cars and considerable space between himself and the field. 

McCreadie continued to be the story late, as his drive to the front saw him slip past Pierce on the final lap and take second which was quite the drive from where he had started. Pierce settled for third with Erb and Madden finishing out the top five. 

Eight drivers were a lap in arrears at the finish but there were only four drivers that weren't on the track when the checkers flew, adding much to the challenging traffic situation. 

Jimmy Phelps and Williamson were the quickest in the two groups of Big Blocks for time trials but just over a second slower than the Late Models. Four heats and a pair of B Features would set their twenty eight car field for their thirty lap main as they also have their share of provisional starters. 

Bobby Varin took the early lead, using the pole starting spot to beat Phelps and Larry Wight and hold the front spot for the first four laps as he held on through two very early yellows. 

However, following the second slow down, Wight made a power move and took over the point and one lap later, Williamson moved into second and the chase was on. Those two stepped away from the field while Justin Haers, Alex Payne and Varin battled for third. Wight remained in control and seemed to be able to weather Williamson's challenges. 

That is, until the yellow flew with seventeen laps down for a slowing car and while it has been well documented time and again, in the modern racing world most passed occur just after yellow flag situations. 

And once again, that is what happened here as on the green, Wight pushed up the track in turn one, Williamson cut left and drove under Larry and took over the lead. Conveniently for Williamson, that was the last yellow of the race so he didn't have to face the same situation. 

Wight stayed close but could never muster a challenge to take back the top spot. Lapped traffic played into things late and Williamson mastered that well, snuffing out any chances Wight had of retaking the top spot as Mat made some nice moves and put two slower cars between himself and Wight as he drove on for the win. 

Payne had a strong run, coming from the fourth row to claim the third spot, ahead of Haers and Phelps. In this race, only four drivers also failed to finish but the more frequent yellow flags made the lapped traffic not nearly so much an issue. 

It was a cold night for February in Florida with an uncomfortable wind blowing right into the grandstand but the crowds continue to be large, split about half and half for the Late Models and Big Blocks. An identical program will be provided again on Friday night with the hopes that the Friday the 13th jinx will not be a part of the show. 

Friesen Tops Big Block Opener, Leach, Hoffman and T. Erb Wrap Up UMP Late Model Action

 The final week of Speed Weeks at Volusia Speedway Park drew to its halfway point on Wednesday night, February 11th as the UMP sanctioned portion of the Late Model action wrapped up while the DIRTcar Big Block Modifieds made their first appearance of four straight nights at the track. 

A couple of significant accomplishments headlined the midweek action as Big Block Modified driver Stewart Friesen took his first feature win since a midyear grinding crash last Summer put him on the sidelines recovering from his injuries for a significant period of time. 

Also, the Late Model action saw Montana driver Michael Leach win his first ever Super Late Model feature win in one of the triple Late Model mains staged on Wednesday. 

It was not surprising and almost predictable but after a Tuesday night show that saw the track rubber up badly and hamper the racing action, the track prep people decided to "stick it" to all those that had been complaining and they "juiced up" the track on Wednesday with the mud flying and "hammer down" racing the norm as we flipped polar opposites in just twenty four hours. This is one of the things that makes dirt track racing so maddening from time to time while also making it very challenging as even for an event of this magnitude, track prep is very inconsistent and a challenge for all involved just to predict what will happen next. 

Wednesday was the last night for racing under the UMP sanctioning which is more about procedures than it is the racing and rules but UMP does a few things in terms of lining up races that are different that what the Outlaws will bring in starting on Thursday. 

For instance, their final show for the last few years has been a "features only" show with just qualifying and the field then split into three feature races that all pay the same and start the same number of drivers. Typically in years past, this night has produced the largest field of drivers for the entire week and so far, that is the case again in 2026 as fifty nine drivers signed in to race, down just two from last year's high water mark which also was for the Wednesday night show. Is that because everyone gets to race a feature and get laps on the track, I do not know for sure but can only speculate. This night typically can produce some upsets and that would be the case again this year. 

And UMP likes to play around with the lineups sometimes as on this night they invert the fastest four in each feature race and while inverts on starts are generally not in their vocabulary at all, on this night they make an exception. 

For the Big Blocks, the Wednesday night show generally produces their largest car count of the week as all their drivers travel from the Northeast, primarily New York and if they're coming, they are here for the week. Forty nine of them signed in to race on Wednesday which is up a half dozen over last year's group but they will need them all as with their wild and unpredictable racing styles with these cars, there will likely be some eliminated from the rest of the week's action quickly. 

The three Late Model features were interspersed throughout the night's racing action and it is a rare thing indeed when the first racing event is a Late Model feature but that was the case on Wednesday and with the track far from being in prime shape, the mud flew as the Late Models did their twenty lap thing. 

Time trials were also a bit jumbled up on Wednesday as they started these too before the track was in prime shape and many of what are normally the quickest drivers got to qualify in the mud and the result was some unpredictable looking lineups. 

One of the "feel good" stories of the night and week so far came in Late Model feature number one, when Montana driver Michael "his friends call him Mikey", Leach took the win, which was his first ever victory in the Super Late Models. Some know that he is the son of Longhorn co-owner Paul Leach but he has had to work his way up through the ranks on his own, and not being spoon fed to the top of the sport. 

I first got to know him when he was spending the Summer a few years ago living in Minnesota with Modified driver Dave Cain and learning the ropes as he ran his 525 crate motored car in WISSOTA competition. Now he lives near the Longhorn shop and works there and runs a varied schedule across the Eastern half of the country. 

He started on the pole for the first feature race and after letting Ryan Gustin get past him on the opening lap, Leach responded by driving back under Gustin to grab the lead one lap later and then he led the rest of the race to get the memorable win. 

The track was still lightning fast and a bit slimy for the first feature so it was important to hit the proper marks and he did so for twenty laps, enduring three yellow flags that brought the field back to him. Late in the race, Daulton Wilson got past Gustin for second but Leach failed to make any mistakes which would have opened the door to Wilson and he drove home for the win. Gustin settled for third with Trey Mills and Dan Ebert completing the top five. A number of generally speaking top names, having qualified poorly, made a few laps in this race and pulled off. 

Feature two saw Austin Smith start on the pole and take the initial lead with Brandon Overton and Nick Hoffman chasing him. Smith felt the heat from the two star drivers but continued to hold his line and neither was able to make a pass on him. However, as so often happens, a yellow flag was the downfall for Smith but it took a real power move by Hoffman to make it happen. 

On the green following the lap twelve yellow, Hoffman blasted off the line and was able to pass both Overton and Smith on the next lap, taking over the lead by using the "hammer down" upper lane on the track. 

After that, Hoffman was able to pull away with Overton and late charging Hudson O'Neal both able to get past him  for position. Max Blair completed the top five finishers.  

The third and final Late Model feature saw Tyler Erb start on the pole and led all twenty laps to take the win. Early on, Chris Madden worked his way forward after being the quick qualifier of the group, moving into second and seemingly drawing close to Erb. In fact, he seemed ready to try a pass just before the halfway point of the race when the yellow flew. 

However, instead of a challenge for the lead, Erb instead pulled away from Madden and widened his margin considerably and there was never a threat to "Turbo's" lead after that. Madden settled for second with Cody Overton, Josh Rice and Garrett Alberson, in his first appearance on the week, completing the top five. 

The Big Blocks saw four big heat races and a pair of B Features set their field for their thirty lap main event that completed the evening's racing entertainment. Using provisional starts earned from last year's event, twenty eight drivers would start the main event. 

With Friesen starting on the pole, it seemed that the outcome of the race would be determined early and while eventually that turned out to be the case, the manner in which it played out was considerably different than expected. 

Felix Roy, returning to the track after a devastating shop fire that destroyed his shop and running a car that he would not normally use here at Volusia, surprised everyone by quickly challenging Friesen for the lead. Stewart was running the low side of the track after taking the initial lead and Roy quickly closed up on him and then motored on past on laps seven to take over the point. 

Roy would then pull away from Friesen during the mid portion of the race, with Stewart having to deal with a charging Larry Wight by the midpoint of the contest with Erick Rudolph and Mat Williamson also on the move. 

Again, late yellows payed a big part in the outcome of the contest. The yellow flew with nineteen laps completed for a slowing car and on the restart, Friesen stayed right with Roy this time, as Felix wasn't able to put any distance on the second place runner. And then, another yellow flew just four laps later to bunch things up again. 

And then, for some reason, while Roy had been so successful running the top side of the track earlier, now he chose to run just a bit lower in the corners and it was apparent immediately that this helped Friesen. 

The top side still had plenty of "juice" and Stewart was able to build a head of steam up and four laps after the final yellow flew and with just four laps left in the race, he blew past Roy on the top side and then pulled away. Friesen extended his advantage the rest of the way to score the win. 

Roy held on for second with Rudolph, Williamson and Jack Lehner completing the top five. There were three yellow flags in the race to slow it down but only four drivers that didn't complete the contest and all were still on the lead lap at the finish. 

As might be expected, the Big Blocks brought a considerable number of fans from the Northeast and a big crowd was on hand for the action with most of the Late Model fans staying around to watch the final feature. 

Racing will continue on Thursday night.  The World of Outlaws Late Models make their first appearance on Thursday for a points paying show that will see some of the bigger names that seemingly have been cruising so far this week seek to up their game while the Big Blocks will also be running a full show. 

Swanson and O'Neal Win VSP "Snoozers"

 Every race track, racing series and promotional team, no matter how hard they try and no matter how skillful their efforts, occasionally produce a "clunker." That's why even as Volusia Speedway Park puts on excellent races for multiple divisions of racing, night after night for weeks on end, they occasionally have one of "those nights" where things just don't play out as they might have hoped. 

Such was the case on Tuesday night, February 10th when the USAC Sprint Cars were hosted for their finale plus the UMP Late Models ran their second of three week night events. And in the case of Tuesday night, the problem was simple and basic, they just didn't get enough water into the racing surface and it rubbered up quickly and repeatedly, despite a couple of efforts to bring the track back to life. 

Things started out on a strange note for the night when large clouds of smoke began drifting over the track from the West and when fire equipment starting moving past the track and helicopters were spotted flying by toting large baskets to catch water, it was clear that a fire was raging West of the track. 

This area is tinder dry this year with many fire hazard warnings posted so it was not surprising that something could break out. The announcement that highway 40 was closed due to smoke, the main road between Daytona and Ocala and one that runs right by the track, was a bit distressing to those planning to head back West after the show, but it was reopened before the night was over. The smoke was very heavy over the track for awhile and I was concerned that I might suffer a wild fire induced cancellation which would be the second for me this year and certainly some kind of international record for sure. Fortunately, things settled down and I didn't have to challenge the record books!

Tuesday night was the second and final night for the USAC Sprints before they move on to Ocala for the weekend while the UMP Late Models were competing in the second of their three appearances before the World Of Outlaws moves in to supplant them. 

Twenty seven Sprints with only Brian Ruhlman not returning made up their field while the Late Models were again at fifty six, gaining two drivers while also losing two, the most notable being Brian Shirley who went home down two motors already during Speed Weeks despite the fact the Late Models are just getting started with at least three more weeks or grinding racing left for them. 

Timing first, the Sprint Cars for the first time probably ever turned faster qualifying laps than the Late Models as that's how fast the track gave up. The quickest Sprint was nearly three tenth faster that the quickest Late Model when last night the Late Models, with something to get hold of, were nearly a second quicker. The quickest qualifier for the Late Models was also a surprise with South Dakota's Blair Nothdurft being the fastest, surely the first time he has recorded that honor here. 

The Sprints ran three heats and a B Feature to set up their main event while the Late Models ran their UMP produced program of six heats and three B Features to qualify for their main. 

A couple long track prep sessions that made the show nearly an hour longer than the previous night really didn't help the situation much as the Sprints reported that the track  was starting to lock down during their thirty lap main event, although that wasn't nearly as apparent to me as when the Late Models took to the track. 

C.J. Leary started on the pole for the Sprint Car feature, their biggest of the two nights and one that would bring the winner twelve grand along with the drivers fighting for a big Gator. Leary lead the first five laps when the lone yellow of the race and indeed, the only feature race yellow for the Sprints in two nights of racing, took place. 

On the restart, Jake Swanson powered past Leary to take over the lead and once he got the top spot, he pulled away from the field with authority. He was just much faster than the field and no matter the track conditions, there was no one that was going to catch him on Tuesday. It didn't hurt that the race remained under green but he continued to expand his lead, working the slower traffic well. 

By the later portions of the race, he had a full straightaway over the pack as he continued to sashay through the slower cars. There was a good battle for second for many laps with Logan Seavey running second and Kevin Thomas Jr trying his hardest to get past. This may have shown the track conditions best as Thomas Jr seemed faster but he just couldn't find a line that would allow him to make the pass. 

As they battled for position but far back from the leader, Justin Grand, Leary, Briggs Danner and Brady Bacon were in a tight group also racing for position. 

The last twenty five laps of the race ran off nonstop and Swanson continued to dominate, driving to a resounding win, his second ever with USAC. Seavey held off Thomas Jr for second while also earning himself the big Gator as the overall winner. Grant and Danner completed the top five. Bacon passed the most cars as after losing a motor early, he rebounded from eighteenth to finish sixth. 

With the Late Models taking to the track last, there was not much left for them to race on and it quickly showed as the field lined up quickly in single fashion order and pretty much rode around. Hudson O'Neal started on the pole which made him a favorite to begin with, much less track conditions. He took the lead early with there being a rush to line up behind him. Cody Overton, who has been a revelation so far this week, wormed his way up from the third row to take second with Ricky Thornton Jr next in line. 

The single yellow flew with eight laps completed when Max Blair slowed with tire issues and on the restart, Thornton Jr went for it. He pulled out of line and when for the win and nearly pulled it off but he came up just short, running out of momentum before be could get by both Overton and O'Neal and in fact, came together quite hard with Overton who while he has been fast so far this week, has already had his share of run ins with other competitors. 

By the time Thornton Jr found a hole in the train to pull in on, he was out of the top five. O'Neal then rode around, going just fast enough to keep challengeres behind him while not going so fast so as to wear out his tires or catch the back of the pack, which would have been a problem given they were all running the same line and not wanting to move. 

Overton briefly battled with Ryan Gustin for second with Gustin nearly getting by but in the end, he settled for third. Brandon Sheppard and Tim McCreadie were next in line. All twenty four drivers that started the event were still on the track at the finish, which surprised me given the fact that often drivers pull off when they are going no where to save their equipment but I guess they figured they had already ruined their tires just by running a few laps as drivers were reporting they were wrecking tires in the eight lap heat races alone!

Wednesday night UMP officials tinker with the format once again. This time all drivers will qualify and then be divided into three groups. No heats will be run and all will get to race one of three feature races, their only competition of the night. The problem being that these races are I believe scheduled to be only twenty laps and that hardly gives time for anyone to make a move, much less produce much passing. 

The Dirt Car Big Blocks will also make their first of four straight nights of racing on Wednesday with a full program for that group also on the card.