FOUNTAIN CITY, Wis. (May 3) — Nick Hoffman continued to show that he is a serious threat for the 2024 World of Outlaws Case Late Model Series championship with his performance Friday night at Mississippi Thunder Speedway.

Shining in the opener of the Dairyland Showdown doubleheader, the driver from Mooresville, N.C., paced the final 45 circuits of the 50-lap feature that brought him a career-high $25,000 payday and gave him three victories in the season’s first seven WoO events after winning just once in his 2023 Rookie of the Year campaign.

Hoffman began the night by going fastest in his qualifying group then followed up by winning his heat race by over four seconds. He started the headliner on the outside of the front row alongside polesitter Brian Shirley of Chatham, Ill., settled into second at the drop of the green flag and then on lap six powered into the lead for good with an inside move down the frontstretch.

Racing just two days after celebrating his 32nd birthday, Hoffman handled lapped traffic and the race’s lone caution flag — on lap 35 for a flat tire on the car driven by Dustin Sorensen of Rochester, Minn. — to beat defending WoO champion Bobby Pierce of Oakwood, Ill., to the finish line by 1.894 seconds.

Four-time WoO champion and current points leader Brandon Sheppard of New Berlin, Ill., finished third, followed by Ryan Gustin of Marshalltown, Iowa, and ninth-starter Chris Madden of Gray Court, S.C.

“I can’t thank everyone enough,” said Hoffman, who moved into a tie for second in the WoO standings with Madden, 28 points behind Sheppard. “(Crew members) Darien and Zach have done a great job for me, along with NOS Energy Drink, C&W Trucking, Petroff Towing, Bilstein, Longhorn and Clements Racing Engines. To get our third win of the year and fourth (career) Outlaw win is special, and we gotta keep it rolling because these guys are gonna be hot on our tail all year and I fully believe this points battle will go all the way down to Charlotte.”

Hoffman wasn’t hampered by the lap-35 restart that tightened the field. He steered his Tye Twarog-owned machine ahead entering turn one and left Pierce, who started eighth, and the fourth-starting Sheppard to fight for second place over the remaining distance.

“This is the biggest money win I’ve ever had in my career,” Hoffman said. “Right now, we need every dollar we can get in building a new shop and everything.

“This is more of my style of racing right there and what I’ve made a living doing in my modified by running through the middle of the racetrack when it’s slick and slow. I’m super pumped to race for another $25,000 (Saturday) night.”

Pierce, 27, settled for second, accepting that he used up the tires on his Longhorn No. 32 in his quest to chase down Hoffman.

“This track moves around a lot,” said Pierce, who reached the runner-up spot on lap 35. “In the beginning stages everyone was running the middle to bottom, and then once the top got clean enough, everyone jumped up there. But, with the new dirt, it had some spots that were flatter than it used to be, so it made it tough to enter the corner and get a good run on the top side because it felt like as flat as can be.

“Nick had a really good car. He could pace himself in that middle line and I know I was hurting my tires in the charge to the front — especially the runs I had on (Cade) Dillard and Sheppard, I knew I abused the tires getting around them. Once I got to second, I knew I didn’t have much left for Nick because he had it dialed.

“I’m pretty happy with second, but we’ll see what we can do to work on it. And I know they’re gonna make the track more tacky tomorrow because it rubbered up down the back. You gotta stay on your toes at this place.”

Sheppard, 31, placed third to cap off a night that saw improvements from the Longhorn Factory Team. He won his heat and ran inside the top five for the entire distance.

“It was definitely different than the last few years,” Sheppard said of the Mississippi Thunder track. “They did a good job prepping the track all night, and it was definitely slick all night long. It was drier than what I anticipated. The car had good balance and we were able to drive nicely all night long and came up a little short tonight.

“I probably could’ve been more aggressive at the start, but Nick’s been rolling really good so we just gotta keep working and catch up to him.”

Cade Dillard of Robeline, La., ran as high as second in the early laps before slipping to finish seventh while Shirley led the opening five laps from the pole before fading to a ninth-place result.

Feature lineup

(50 laps)

Row 1: Brian Shirley, Nick Hoffman
Row 2: Cade Dillard, Brandon Sheppard
Row 3: Ryan Gustin, Max McLaughlin
Row 4: Tyler Bruening, Bobby Pierce
Row 5: Chris Madden, Kyle Bronson
Row 6: Tyler Erb, Lance Hofer
Row 7: Dustin Sorensen, Cody Overton
Row 8: Shannon Babb, Dennis Erb Jr.
Row 9: Jake Timm, Jordan Yaggy
Row 10: Daniel Hilsabeck, Lance Matthees
Row 11: Nick Panitzke,Chad Mahder
Row 12: Brent Larson, Todd Cooney
Row 13: Dustin Walker, Tristan Chamberlain

Consolation results

(10 laps; top three transfer)

First consolation: Jake Timm, Daniel Hilsabeck, Nick Panitzke, Sam Mars, James Giossi, Tad Pospisil, Gary Brown Jr., Parker Foster, Dustin Walker.

Second consolation: Jordan Yaggy, Lance Matthees, Chad Mahder, Brent Larson, Clay Stuckey, Jason Strand, Tristan Chamberlain. Scratched: Todd Cooney

Heat race recap

Cade Dillard led all nine laps from the pole to win the first heat race by 0.760 of a second over third-starting Bobby Pierce. Fourth-starting Chris Madden finished third and Dustin Sorensen placed fourth, grabbing the final transfer spot into Friday’s 50-lap, $25,000-to-win feature. The lone caution flew on lap seven when Gary Brown Jr. slowed, setting up a green-white-checkered finish and extending the race one additional lap. … Brian Shirley led green-to-checkered to win heat two by 0.470 of a second over third-starting Tyler Bruening, who grabbed the runner-up spot from Tyler Erb in the last set of corners. Erb settled for third, with Shannon Babb claiming the fourth and final transfer position. … Pole-starting Nick Hoffman dominated heat three, leading the entire distance and winning by 4.638 seconds over Max McLaughlin. Kyle Bronson and Cody Overton each improved one position to round-out the race’s transfers. … Brandon Sheppard powered around early leader Lance Hofer and narrowly edged third-starting Ryan Gustin at the line, winning the fourth and final heat race by a scant 0.075 of a second. The second-starting Hofer, of Cochrane, Wis., led the opening three laps before slipping to finish third, while fifth-starting Dennis Erb Jr. placed fourth. The lone caution flew on lap two when Chad Mahder spun to avoid a slowing Todd Cooney, collecting Clay Stuckey and sending both hard into the turn-one wall; Mahder continued and finished sixth, while Cooney and Stuckey called it a night.

Heat race results

(Eight laps; top four transfer)

First heat: Cade Dillard, Bobby Pierce, Chris Madden, Dustin Sorensen, Daniel Hilsabeck, Nick Panitzke, Sam Mars, Parker Foster, Gary Brown Jr.

Second heat: Brian Shirley, Tyler Bruening, Tyler Erb, Shannon Babb, Jake Timm, Tad Pospisil, James Giossi, Dustin Walker.

Third heat: Nick Hoffman, Max McLaughlin, Kyle Bronson, Cody Overton, Jordan Yaggy, Tristan Chamberlain, Brent Larson, Jason Strand.

Fourth heat: Brandon Sheppard, Ryan Gustin, Lance Hofer, Dennis Erb Jr., Lance Matthees, Chad Mahder, Todd Cooney, Clay Stuckey.

Time trials

Group A
Driver (car no.), hometown, time (unofficial)
1. Cade Dillard (97), Robeline, La., 13.596
2. Brian Shirley (3s), Chatham, Ill., 13.913
3. Dustin Sorensen (19), Rochester, Minn., 13.928
4. Tyler Erb (1), New Waverly, Texas, 13.945
5. Bobby Pierce (32), Oakwood, Ill., 13.954
6. Tyler Bruening (16), Decorah, Iowa, 13.994
7. Chris Madden (44), Gray Court, S.C., 14.034
8. Shannon Babb (18), Moweaqua, Ill., 14.080
9. Daniel Hilsabeck (22), Earlham, Iowa, 14.226
10. Jake Timm (49), Winona, Minn., 14.261
11. Sam Mars (28m), Menomonie, Wis., 14.307
12. Tad Pospisil (04), Norfolk, Neb., 14.358
13. Nick Panitzke (22p), Lonsdale, Minn., 14.403
14. James Giossi (11), Hudson, Wis., 14.523
15. Gary Brown Jr. (22B), Brandon, S.D., 14.590
16. Dustin Walker (14w), Polk, Mo., 14.834
17. Parker Foster (35), Winona, Minn., 14.898
Group B
1. Nick Hoffman (9), Mooresville, N.C., 13.929
2. Brandon Sheppard (B5), New Berlin, Ill., 14.070
3. Max McLaughlin (22*), Mooresville, N.C., 14.156
4. Todd Cooney (30), Des Moines, Iowa, 14.260
5. Jordan Yaggy (77), Rochester, Minn., 14.370
6. Ryan Gustin (19R), Marshalltown, Iowa, 14.373
7. Kyle Bronson (40B), Brandon, Fla., 14.386
8. Lance Hofer (11H), Cochrane, Wis., 14.396
9. Cody Overton (97c), Evans, Ga., 14.491
10. Dennis Erb Jr. (28), Carpentersville, Ill., 14.507
11. Brent Larson (B1), Lake Elmo, Minn., 14.537
12. Chad Mahder (88), Bloomer, Wis., 14.757
13. Tristan Chamberlain (20tc), Richmond, Ind., 14.770
14. Lance Matthees (90), Winona, Minn., 14.886
15. Jason Strand (E85), Portland, N.D., 15.026
16. Clay Stuckey (15s), Shreveport, La., 15.045

Friday’s schedule

(All times local)
8 a.m. - Golf tournament sign-in at The Grove
3 p.m. - Pits open
5 p.m. - Grandstands open
6:30 p.m. - On-track activity begins
- Late Model hot laps
- Modified hot laps
- Late Model time trials (2 laps)
Opening ceremonies
- Late Model heats (8 laps)
- Modified heats (8 laps)
- Late Model consolations (10 laps)
- Modified consolations (12)
Feature events
- Late Models (50 laps)
- Modifieds (40 laps)