Dirt on Dirt - Hoffman nips Pierce in wild Farmer City finish

April 12

Farmer City Raceway,

Farmer City, IL

Sanction: World of Outlaws Case Late Model Series (Illini 100 opener) - $10,000

Information provided by: Kyle McFadden, series and track reports (last updated April 13, 1:59 pm)

Hoffman nips Pierce in wild Farmer City finish

Illini 100 opener

Nick Hoffman
Bobby Pierce
Cade Dillard
Tyler Erb
Tim McCreadie
Brandon Sheppard
Kyle Bronson
Dennis Erb Jr.
Shannon Babb
Jason Feger
Ryan Unzicker
Chris Madden
Brian Shirley
Drake Troutman
Daniel Hilsabeck
Ryan Gustin
Dustin Sorensen
Max Blair
Brent Larson
Tyler Bruening
Tanner English
Frank Heckenast Jr.
Todd Cooney
Cody Overton
Ethan Dotson
Steve Sheppard Jr.

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Nick Hoffman celebrates his $10,000 victory on opening night of the Illini 100 at Farmer City Raceway.

What won the race: Surviving a near-disastrous bobble rounding the final turns, Nick Hoffman of Mooresville, N.C., nipped Bobby Pierce in a wild photo finish at Farmer City Raceway to win Friday’s 40-lap opener of the Illini 100. Hoffman’s Tye Twarog-owned car made contact with Pierce’s machine exiting turn four, slid over the homestretch berm and crossed the finish line sideways on the cinder track surrounding the quarter-mile oval to beat Pierce by 0.072 of a second for the $10,000 World of Outlaws Case Late Model Series victory.

Quotable: “I drove into three expecting (Pierce) to slide me,” Hoffman said of the last lap. “I could watch that video board down the back straightaway and he was close enough and I was like, ‘Surely he’s gonna slide me here.’ So I blew up in there harder than I ran all night and screwed up. Then he did the right thing to try and come across and take my lane away, but I just held ‘er wide and sent ‘er off the front straightaway and luckily we got this horse track out here to run off on.”

Key notes: Hoffman, who tallied his second WoO triumph of 2024 and the third of his career, never relinquished the lead after overtaking Cade Dillard for the top spot on lap two. … Pierce’s eventful drive to a runner-up finish included a fall from third to sixth on lap six and near-disaster on lap 32 when he came together with Dillard on the homestretch while battling for second. He still nearly stole the race on the final lap when Hoffman stumbled, allowing Pierce to slip underneath the leader off turn four but fall short at the finish line. … Dillard settled for a third-place finish; he said his car’s right-front was bent in the run-in with Pierce. … Tyler Erb ran in fourth from lap 25 to the finish. … Racing on his 50th birthday, Tim McCreadie reached fifth on lap 38 and finished there in the Rocket Chassis house car. … Two caution flags slowed the feature: on lap 30 when Steve Sheppard Jr. stopped on the homestretch and lap 32 when Ethan Dotson slowed with heavy nose damage. … The checkered flag flew at 11:37 p.m. … Daniel Hilsabeck's car had to be towed off the track after his third-place finish in Heat 3 because of a broken shifter. ... Bob Gardner's car was double-hooked back to the pits after a B-main accident. ... Frank Heckenast Jr. filled in for Mike Harrison in the Mike Lampley-owned Rocket No. 33 after Harrison had minor back/neck surgery. ... The Illini 100, running for the first time since 2021, concludes Saturday with a 60-lap, $20,000-to-win finale.

On the move: Chris Madden of Gray Court, S.C., started 23rd and finished 12th.

Winner's sponsors: Hoffman’s Tye Twarog Racing Longhorn Chassis is powered by a Clements Racing Engine and carries sponsorship from NOS Energy Drink, C&W Trucking, Petroff Towing, Tye Twarog Performance Parts, Lonewolf Petroleum, Haulin’ Haskells, Tri Valley Equipment Sales, Allgaier Performance Parts, Bilstein Shocks, Eibach Springs, Lincoln Smith Racing and KBC Graphix.

Points chase: After Farmer City Friday: 1. Brandon Sheppard (1,002); 2. Chris Madden (980); 3. Cade Dillard (972); 4. Nick Hoffman (962); 5. Tyler Bruening (932); 6. Dennis Erb Jr. (930); 7. Kyle Bronson (902); 8. Ryan Gustin (892); 9. Brian Shirley (886); 10. Bobby Pierce (870); 11. Cody Overton (860); 12. Dustin Sorensen (854).

Current weather: Clear, 48°F

Car count: 45

Fast qualifier: Nick Hoffman

Time: 12.395 seconds

Polesitter: Cade Dillard

Heat race winners: Cade Dillard, Drake Troutman, Nick Hoffman, Dennis Erb Jr.

Consolation race winners: Frank Heckenast Jr., Ryan Gustin

Provisional starters: Chris Madden, Cody Overton, Brent Larson, Todd Cooney

Next series race: April 13, Farmer City Raceway (Farmer City, IL) $20,000

Editor's note: Results and race details are unofficial.

From staff reports

FARMER CITY, Ill. (April 12) — Updates and results from Friday’s Illini 100 opener, featuring a 40-lap, $10,000-to-win feature for World of Outlaws Case Late Model Series-sanctioned Super Late Models (results unofficial):

Feature

Surviving a nearly disastrous bobble rounding the final turns, Nick Hoffman of Mooresville, N.C., nipped Bobby Pierce in a wild photo finish to win Friday night’s 40-lap opener of the Illini 100 at Farmer City Raceway. Hoffman’s Tye Twarog-owned car made contact with Pierce’s machine exiting turn four, slid over the homestretch berm and crossed the finish line sideways on the cinder track surrounding the quarter-mile oval to beat Pierce by 0.072 of a second for the $10,000 World of Outlaws Case Late Model Series victory.

Time trials

Group A
Driver (car no.), hometown, time (unofficial)
1. Bobby Pierce (32), Oakwood, Ill., 12.445
2. Drake Troutman (7), Hyndman, Pa., 12.500
3. Cade Dillard (97), Robeline, La., 12.561
4. Kyle Bronson (40B), Brandon, Fla., 12.574
5. Brian Shirley (3s), Chatham, Ill., 12.632
6. Daniel Adam (75), Wade, N.C., 12.637
7. Tristan Chamberlain (20tc), Richmond, Ind., 12.642
8. Tim McCreadie (1), Watertown, N.Y., 12.651
9. McKay Wenger (99), Fairbury, Ill., 12.675
10. Ryan Unzicker (24), El Paso, Ill., 12.716
11. Dustin Sorensen (19), Rochester, Minn., 12.744
12. Tyler Bruening (16), Decorah, Iowa, 12.787
13. Frank Heckenast Jr. (33), Frankfort, Ill., 12.808
14. Max McLaughlin (22*), Mooresville, N.C., 12.868
15. Myles Moos (84), Lincoln, Ill., 12.903
16. Mike Spatola (89), Manhattan, Ill., 12.932
17. Chris Madden (44), Gray Court, S.C., 12.971
18. Max Blair (111), Centerville, Pa., 13.013
19. Rich Bell (21B), Sheffield, Ill., 13.031
20. Todd Cooney (30), Des Moines, Iowa, 13.088
21. Allen Weisser (25w), Peoria, Ill., 13.142
22. Jason Riggs (81), College Grove, Tenn., 13.220
23. Doug Tye (4D), Troy, Ill., 14.019
Group B
1. Nick Hoffman (9), Mooresville, N.C., 12.395
2. Dennis Erb Jr. (28), Carpentersville, Ill., 12.430
3. Daniel Hilsabeck (22), Earlham, Iowa, 12.588
4. Tyler Erb (1T), New Waverly, Texas, 12.606
5. Jason Feger (25), Bloomington, Ill., 12.630
6. Jeffrey Ledford (8L), Pontiac, Ill., 12.638
7. Ryan Gustin (19R), Marshalltown, Iowa, 12.661
8. Brandon Sheppard (B5), New Berlin, Ill., 12.699
9. Shannon Babb (18), Moweaqua, Ill., 12.716
10. Tanner English (96), Benton, Ky., 12.738
11. Ethan Dotson (174), Bakersfield, Calif., 12.778
12. Jimmy Owens (20), Newport, Tenn., 12.818
13. Cody Overton (97c), Evans, Ga., 12.832
14. Bob Gardner (4G), East Peoria, Ill., 12.891
15. Steve Sheppard Jr. (5s), New Berlin, Ill., 12.931
16. Donny Walden (1w), Towanda, Ill., 12.954
17. Parker Martin (6jr), Milledgeville, Ga., 12.982
18. Logan Moody (162), Catlin, Ill., 13.116
19. Brent Larson (B1), Lake Elmo, Minn., 13.325
20. Timmy Dick (122), Monticello, Ill., 13.645
21. Roben Huffman (33H), Midland City, Ill., 13.737
22. Dustin Walker (14w), Polk, Mo., 13.743

Friday’s schedule

(All times local)
Noon - Pits open
1 p.m. - Grandstands open
6 p.m. - Drivers’ meeting
6:30p.m. - On-track activity begins
- Sprint car midget hot laps
- Super Late Model hot laps
- Sprint car midget time trials (2 laps)
- Super Late Model time trials (2 laps)
- Modified group hot laps/qualifying (2 laps)
Opening ceremonies
- Sprint car midget heats (8 laps)
- Super Late Model heats (8 laps)
- Modified heats (8 laps)
Intermission/WoO redraw
- Sprint car midget consolations (10 laps)
- Super Late Model consolations (10 laps)
- Modified consolations (10 laps)
Feature events
- Sprint car midgets (25 laps)
- Super Late Models (40 laps)
- Modifieds (30 laps)

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Feature

Time trials

Friday’s schedule

Feature lineup

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