CLEWISTON, Fla. (Feb. 21) — If Hendry County Motorsports Park wasn’t on the national radar before this weekend, it most definitely is now.
The track’s inaugural visit by the World of Outlaws Late Model Series reached its conclusion in dramatic fashion on Saturday night with Nick Hoffman of Mooresville, N.C., outdueling two-time and defending tour champion Bobby Pierce of Oakwood, Ill., for a narrow victory in the 60-lap Swamp Cabbage 100 finale.
The fourth-starting Hoffman, 33, watched the 29-year-old Pierce shoot forward from the sixth starting to grab the lead on lap six. Hoffman came on to assume command on lap 13, then later lost it to Pierce on lap 53 before moving back in front one circuit later and holding off Pierce’s final-lap challenge to triumph by 0.369 of a second.
Hoffman earned $20,000 for his third victory in the last four WoO events after winning twice the previous week at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla. Pierce, who captured Friday’s 40-lap feature to open the Swamp Cabbage doubleheader, settled for his fifth straight podium finish.
Ryan Gustin of Marshalltown, Iowa, finished third for his best result of the young WoO campaign. Drake Troutman of Hyndman, Pa., advanced from the 12th starting spot to place fourth and Ethan Dotson of Bakersfield, Calif., completed the top-five after taking the runner-up spot in Friday’s A-main.
Sam Seawright of Rainsville, Ala., who led laps 1-5 off the pole, faded to 10th in the finishing order.
Hoffman, who ended the season-opening eight-race stretch of WoO action at Volusia and Hendry County leading the circuit’s standings by 10 points over Pierce, rebounded from a fifth-place finish in Friday’s headliner. He faded from the outside pole in that event, leaving him uncertain about both the raciness of the third-mile oval and his own ability to conquer it.
But Hoffman’s Saturday performance in his Tye Twarog-owned Longhorn Chassis changed his tune.
“This place was really good,” said Hoffman, who registered the 14th WoO triumph of his career. “I had my doubts, I will say. Tonight’s track, the racing surface was great. Had a little bit of character, but I feel like that’s what evened it out a little bit.
“I didn’t plan on this, I can tell you that,” he added. “I thought if I can get through this weekend with a couple decent points nights … but man, this is badass.”
After Pierce wrestled the lead away from Seawright on lap six, Hoffman got his first look at the top spot 14 laps in when he rolled the bottom of three and four well enough to nose in front going into turn one. The next time around Hoffman jumped the cushion in turn two and let Pierce get back by, but he was bailed out by a caution flag for a slowing Eli Johnson that negated Pierce’s pass.
Late in the race, most of the field had migrated to Hoffman’s preferred inside groove, leaving the top wide open for Pierce to put a last-ditch effort together. With the race winding Pierce used a strong run off the top of turn two to cross down under Hoffman going into the third corner and Hoffman responded by moving up top himself to keep it side-by-side. The duo soon came up to the slower car of Tristan Chamberlain, and Hoffman kept Pierce pinned behind the No. 20TC long enough to clear him and get back to the bottom.
With a clear track to settle the race, Hoffman kept it low while Pierce went back to the cushion on the final lap and pulled alongside Hoffman racing down the backstretch. There wasn’t quite enough juice on the top for Pierce to make the Hail Mary work, however, and he came up a car length short to Hoffman at the flag stand.
“If [Pierce] was going to get it, he was going to have to earn it,” Hoffman said. “I just knew that bottom was starting to clean up and get pretty good, so he threw caution to the wind and was going for it.”
Pierce mourned the caution flags that thwarted several of his attempts to regain command from Hoffman, but he blamed himself for ending up chasing Hoffman in the first place.
“The caution came out every time I was on him,” Pierce said. “But nonetheless, we should have never lost the lead if I was just on the gas harder. So it”s on me, it’s on us, but congrats to him on the win. It was a fun race at the end.”
The race was slowed by four cautions, the final one coming for Chamberlain slowing with five laps remaining after apparent contact with Pierce cut his right-rear tire. Chamberlain soldiered to 15th after changing the flat.
Other cautions flew for hometown racer Eli Johnson, who slowed on lap 16; debris on lap 25; and Tim McCreadie, who slowed from 10th and pulled off on the 33rd lap.
Feature lineup
(60 laps)
Row 1: Sam Seawright, Ryan Gustin
Row 2: Brent Larson, Nick Hoffman
Row 3: Tyler Erb, Bobby Pierce
Row 4: Ethan Dotson, Eli Johnson
Row 5: Daulton Wilson, Dustin Sorensen
Row 6: Ryan Montgomery, Drake Troutman
Row 7: Dennis Erb Jr., Boom Briggs
Row 8: Tristan Chamberlain, Tim McCreadie
Row 9: Trey Mills, Jake Timm
Row 10: Logan Zarin, Christian Augspurger
Row 11: Luke Morey, Todd Morrow
Row 12: Jason Intoppa, Doug Horton
Consolation race results
(10 laps; top six transfer)
Consolation: Logan Zarin, Christian Augspurger, Luke Morey, Todd Morrow, Jason Intoppa, Doug Horton, Matthew Larson, Tim Barron. Scratched: John Garvin Jr.
Heat race recap
Sam Seawright led all eight laps from the pole and beat Tyler Erb by 0.450 of a second to win the first heat race. Fourth-starting Ethan Dotson finished third with sixth-starting Dustin Sorensen taking fourth. Dennis Erb Jr. and Tim McCreadie join them in punching their ticket into the night’s 60-lap main event. … Nick Hoffman overcame a mid-race restart to earn a flag-to-flag victory in the second heat, crossing the line 1.557 seconds ahead of Brent Larson. The night’s first yellow flag flew on the sixth lap when Boom Briggs over-rotated at the entrance of turn one, collecting Christian Augspurger and Trey Mills, as Matthew Larson spun to avoid; all four drivers continued with Briggs and Mills earning transfer spots into the $20,000-to-win Swamp Cabbage finale. … Second-starting Bobby Pierce dominated the third and final heat race, leading all eight laps and winning by 3.452 seconds over polesitter Ryan Gustin. Fourth-starting Daulton Wilson slipped by Drake Troutman for third, relegating Troutman to fourth. Tristan Chamberlain and Jake Timm each earned starting spot in the feature.
Heat race results
(Eight laps; top six transfer)
First heat: Sam Seawright, Tyler Erb, Ethan Dotson, Dustin Sorensen, Dennis Erb Jr., Tim McCreadie, Logan Zarin, Luke Morey, Doug Horton.
Second heat: Nick Hoffman, Brent Larson, Eli Johnson, Ryan Montgomery, Boom Briggs, Trey Mills, Christian Augspurger, Matthew Larson, Tim Barron.
Third heat: Bobby Pierce, Ryan Gustin, Daulton Wilson, Drake Troutman, Tristan Chamberlain, Jake Timm, Todd Morrow, Jason Intoppa. Scratched: John Garvin Jr.
Time trials
Driver (car no.), hometown, time (unofficial)
1. Sam Seawright (16), Rainsville, Ala., 13.877
2. Nick Hoffman (9), Mooresville, N.C., 14.054
3. Ryan Gustin (19R), Marshalltown, Iowa, 14.159
4. Tyler Erb (1), New Waverly, Texas, 14.235
5. Brent Larson (B1), Lake Elmo, Minn., 14.303
6. Bobby Pierce (32), Oakwood, Ill., 14.313
7. Dennis Erb Jr. (28), Carpentersville, Ill., 14.395
8. Ryan Montgomery (12), Fairmont, W.Va., 14.410
9. Drake Troutman (22*), Hyndman, Pa., 14.410
10. Ethan Dotson (74x), Bakersfield, Calif., 14.430
11. Eli Johnson (55E), Clewiston, Fla., 14.442
12. Daulton Wilson (58v), Fayetteville, N.C., 14.454
13. Tim McCreadie (9m), Watertown, N.Y., 14.461
14. Christian Augspurger (35), West Palm Beach, Fla., 14.525
15. Todd Morrow (T1), Penton, Ala., 14.526
16. Dustin Sorensen (19), Rochester, Minn., 14.526
17. Boom Briggs (99B), Bear Lake, Pa., 14.530
18. Tristan Chamberlain (20tc), Richmond, Ind., 14.534
19. Logan Zarin (1z), Moon Township, Pa., 14.588
20. Trey Mills (14), St. Augustine, Fla., 14.588
21. Jake Timm (49), Winona, Minn., 14.595
22. Luke Morey (49m), Zeeland, Mich., 14.638
23. Matthew Larson (8), Lake Elmo, Minn., 14.666
24. Jason Intoppa (18i), West Palm Beach, Fla., 15.256
25. Doug Horton (46), Ruskin, Fla., 15.437
26. Tim Barron (91), LaBelle, Fla., 15.590
27. John Garvin Jr. (J4), Sarver, Pa., no time
Saturday’s schedule
(All times local)
10:00 a.m. - Pits and grandstands open
1:30 p.m. - Outreach service (turn two grandstands)
4:30 p.m. - Driver autograph session (midway)
6 p.m. - Drivers’ meeting
6:30 p.m. - On-track activity
- Late Model hot laps
- Crown Vic hot laps
- Late Model time trials (2 laps)
Opening ceremonies
- Late Model heats (8 laps)
- Crown Vic heats (8 laps)
Intermission/WoO redraw
- Late Model consolations (10 laps)
Feature events
- Crown Vics (25 laps)
- Late Models (60 laps)
