PONTOON BEACH, Ill. – Even with the extreme heat and the big names in the house, nothing was able to shake the momentum of three-time and defending Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals champion Nick Hoffman Friday night.
For the fourth night in-a-row, Hoffman reached Victory Lane, leading flag-to-flag in the 25-lap Feature at Tri-City Speedway.
Hoffman took on the 100-degree-plus heat and his best competition thus far with six-time tour champion Mike Harrison making his first Summit Modified appearance of the season.
“Especially today with the heat index of over 110, and then ripping the nose off in qualifying, it’s pretty brutal. This one today took a toll on us,” Hoffman said.
Harrison, already with five UMP Modified Feature wins at Tri-City this season, challenged Hoffman’s streak right off the bat by setting quick time in Qualifying. The rest of the event, however, was Hoffman’s strong suit.
Hoffman won his heat race, putting him into the redraw for a top-three starting spot in the Feature, but Harrison did not. He slipped back to third before the checkered fell in his heat, forcing him to come from seventh in the Feature.
In the end, Harrison did not have enough to catch the defending tour champion, advancing three spots in 25 laps to finish fourth while Hoffman led every lap en route to his fourth-straight win.
“Any time Mike’s here, he’s pretty good on that ledge up there. Tonight, it just kinda worked out in our favor – it was middle-to-the bottom dominant and I was able to roll-on.”
The finish:
1. 2-Nick Hoffman[2]; 2. 25-Tyler Nicely[1]; 3. 05-Dave Wietholder[4]; 4. 24H-Mike Harrison[7]; 5. 99-Hunt Gossum[10]; 6. 14C-Rick Conoyer[3]; 7. 36-Kenny Wallace[8]; 8. 12L-Lucas Lee[6]; 9. 1D-Dean Hoffman[17]; 10. T6-Tommy Sheppard Jr[11]; 11. 59R-Jacob Rexing[12]; 12. 13-Charlie Mefford[14]; 13. 87Z-Zeb Moake[13]; 14. 7N-Tim Nash[15]; 15. 8-Kyle Steffens[9]; 16. 45-Kyle Hammer[19]; 17. 44R-Anthony Reams[22]; 18. 7-Blake Thompson[21]; 19. 82Q-Cole Queathem[20]; 20. 18L-Michael Long[18]; 21. 66-Cole Falloway[5]; 22. 54-Shaun Horstmann[16]