Photo Credit - Ryan Roberts
Nick Hoffman almost gave one away but held on by .072 over Bobby Pierce to take night one of the Illini 100. Pole sitter Cade Dillard rounded out the World of Outlaws podium Friday night. Tyler Erb and the birthday boy , Tim McCreadie , rounded out the top 5.
45 Late Models took time with Bobby Pierce topping Group A but overall fast time honors went to the final qualifier Hoffman. Heat race wins went to Dillard , Troutman , Hoffman , and Dennis Erb Jr. B main wins belonged to Frank Heckenast Jr. and Ryan Gustin. Heckenast is subbing in for the injured Mike Harrison Jr.
At the drop of the green flag for the 40 lap event , Dillard would jump out to an early lead. Hoffman would pass for the lead on lap 2 and started to pull away from the field. The Tye Twarog Longhorn was slicing through the lapped traffic putting several cars between him and Dillard.
The yellow flag made it's first appearance on lap 30 as Steve Sheppard would come to a stop on the front stretch. Two laps later it would wave for the second and last time for Ethan Dotson. Dotson who recently left the Coltman Farms Racing team and jumped back into the Chris Bragg owned team.
Right before the yellow came out on lap 32 Dillard and Pierce made contact on the front stretch as Pierce took over the runner up spot. The stage was set for the wild finish with an eight lap dash to the checkers.
Photo Credit - Ryan Roberts Photography
Hoffman would fire off on the restart as Pierce stayed close to the rear of the blue and white 9. After a few laps Hoffman looked to pull away from Pierce but on the last lap Pierce would close on the rear spoiler of the leader. With the DirtVision big screen on the backstretch going into turn 4 , Hoffman looked up anticipating a Pierce slider for the win. Nick would later say in victory lane that he overdrove the corner almost hitting the wall allowing Pierce to get underneath. With the checkers waving Nick smashed the LOUD PEDAL as the two leaders made contact. Hoffman went off the racing surface using the horse track portion to hold on for the win setting up an early favorite for finish of the year.
The racing resumes tonight as the World of Outlaws will battle for 60 laps and a $20,000 payday to the winner. The weather forecast shows warmer weather and less wind. If you are unable to attend you can catch it on DirtVision.
ILLINI 100 RESULTS (Night 1)
NICK HOFFMAN
Pierce
Dillard
T. Erb
McCreadie
B. Sheppard
Bronson
D. Erb Jr.
Babb
Feger
Unzicker
Madden
Shirley
Troutman
Hilsabeck
Gustin
Sorensen
Blair
Larson
Bruening
English
Heckenast
Cooney
Overton
Dotson
S. Sheppard
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