Not only did Red Hill Raceway reopen its gates to the public for the first time in nearly 18 years Tuesday night, but it now has an honorable distinction of hosting two generations of UMP Modified stars on its frontstretch Victory Lane.
Nick Hoffman grew up watching father Darrell Hoffman race and win multiple times on the big 3/8-mile red dirt oval in the late 1990s through the early 2000s. Fast forward to 2022, and Nick himself now stands exactly where one of his racing heroes did with his trip to DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals Victory Lane for the eighth time in 10 races Tuesday night.
“A lot of times, he’d come over here and run, or we’d go down to Paducah and run a little bit,” Hoffman said, reminiscing on the days in the grandstands watching his father. “At this time, I would’ve been five, six, seven years old. I remember bits and pieces of this place.”
In short, Hoffman led all but one lap en route to his 64th career Summit Modified triumph. It was a dominating performance in which no driver challenged him once he got the lead throughout the 20-lap main event.
Several cautions were spread throughout the race, but Hoffman held strong out front by changing restart lanes.
“I restarted on the top almost every single time, except that last one where I moved out to the top to get a better run down the hill,” Hoffman said. “I just tried to change it up a little bit with it being a single-file restart; It makes it a little bit tougher being the leader.”
UP NEXT
The Summit Modified action continues Wednesday night at Benton Speedway in Benton, MO – the second track debut in two days for the Modifieds.