CONCORD, N.C. – Kyle Strickler had himself quite the weekend.
After setting fast time in qualifying and running away with the heat race victory on Friday, Strickler pulled the outside pole position in the DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment UMP Modified redraw on Saturday and went to work as the green flag dropped, snatching the lead from polesitter David Stremme and leading flag-to-flag for the $4,000 Drydene World Short Track Championship victory at The Dirt Track at Charlotte.
Strickler was untouchable in the feature. Even with multiple restarts throughout the 30-lap event, nobody else in the field seemed to have anything for him. Except one man, who had to come from the Last Chance Showdown to make the show.
Nick Hoffman, the only other UMP Modified feature winner in World Short Track Championship history, broke a fuel pump valve in his heat race on Friday, forcing him to start last on the grid of the final Last Chance race on Saturday. By the skin of his teeth, Hoffman grabbed the final transfer spot into the feature with a pass in turn two on the final lap.
He dropped the hammer in the opening laps of the feature and began his climb to the front of the field.
By lap five, Hoffman was up to 17th. On the lap nine restart, he had passed seven cars in one lap to advance to eighth. From there, he began just picking cars off, one-by-one – something he rarely has to do as a two-time DIRTcar national points champion.
“Dirty air is huge. You get in behind them guys and either push or lose the right side and get loose. It’s just hard to pick a lane and figure out which way them guys are gonna go,” Hoffman said.
But in the end, Hoffman was only able to reach third. Impressive as his drive was, Strickler just had the field covered, and was the man to beat all weekend.
“I’ve got to thank Drydene for putting this deal on. It means so much to the local short track racers, and it’s so great for me to be able to come back in a modified in this Longhorn [chassis], on the first night out with it and be able to be the first three-time winner,” Strickler said.
Virginia’s Chris Arnold was the meat in Strickler and Hoffman’s podium sandwich, coming home second after a hard-fought battle with Stremme throughout the race. Arnold was looking for room on the high side in the closing laps and was finally able to make the pass with three to go.
Stremme came home in the fourth spot, getting passed by Hoffman for third with two laps left. He did, however, get the job done in the 20-lap All-Star Invitational feature after initial leader Drake Troutman dropped out while leading on lap five. Stremme started fifth and passed up to second with ease before Troutman slowed in turn four to bring out the caution.
Stremme led the final 15 laps unchallenged for the $600 victory, and was met with a special edition of victory lane after the checkers, with interview questions coming from wife Ashley on the DIRTVision cameras.
The finish:
1. 8-Kyle Strickler [2]; 2. 99W-Chris Arnold [4]; 3. 2H-Nick Hoffman [23]; 4. 35-David Stremme [1]; 5. 71D-Dan Davies [7]; 6. 5S-Curt Spalding [6]; 7. 3W-Dylan Woodling [5]; 8. 8A-Austin Holcombe [18]; 9. 74-Mike Franklin [14]; 10. 6-Ryan Ayers [24]; 11. 95J-Justin Cullum [8]; 12. 463-Daniel Sanchez [9]; 13. 5T-Jonathan Taylor [11]; 14. 43-RJ Otto [22]; 15. 21J-Clay Harris [17]; 16. 537-Jesse Rockett [13]; 17. 79-Cody Brightwell [20]; 18. 5-Jerry Foster [16]; 19. 11-Troy Loomis [26]; 20. 84-Ryan Toole [15]; 21. 45-William Long [19]; 22. 7-Robert Poole [25]; 23. 7T-Drake Troutman [10]; 24. 18-Brandon Kinzer [12]; 25. 12R-Ty Rhoades [3]; 26. 96-Slade Parsons [21]