CLEWISTON, FL (February 19, 2026) – Following his dominant week at Volusia Speedway Park during Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals, Nick Hoffman stands out as dirt Late Model racing’s man to beat at the moment.

Recognition as the best in the nation isn’t a new feeling for the former DIRTcar UMP Modified superstar, but it’s the first time he’s had a serious case for the position since turning his full attention to Late Model racing in 2023. Now that he’s leaving Volusia with three wins and five top fives in six nights against a stacked 60-car field, Hoffman is feeling better than ever about remaining in the conversation at the top of the World of Outlaws Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision for the rest of 2026 and beyond.

A Big Gator championship has often meant that a driver is in for one of the most memorable years of their career, and you don’t have to look back far for proof. In the past two seasons, 2024 Big Gator champion Brandon Sheppard went on to win his fifth World of Outlaws championship, while Ricky Thornton Jr. won his first World 100 nine months after topping Volusia last year.

“If you leave [Volusia] in bad shape, I mean, your whole year kind of goes to s**t,” Hoffman said. “McCreadie started off [2025] really bad, and at the end of the year, he was probably one of the best cars. You just look at that, if your February and March goes bad, it’s so hard to rebound in June, July, August, you know? As a brand-new team and stuff, this gets us all acclimated. We’re running good, so everybody’s in good spirits. Definitely helps us moving forward.”

The Tye Twarog Motorsports team is entering their fourth season on the road with the World of Outlaws with a fresh approach in more ways than one. Hoffman’s crew has a pair of new names, with Scott Fegter and Brayden Sebenoler joining Darin “D-Train” Townsend.

The other major change comes under the hood. Hoffman’s engines have previously come out of the Clements Racing Engines shop, but his three Volusia wins were powered by a Durham Racing Engines powerplant. Hoffman has no plans to abandon Clements, instead opting to bounce between two suppliers to keep his engine inventory as versatile as possible. It’s a strategy that has become more common in the Late Model pits in recent years, with the most notable example being Hoffman’s close friend, Jonathan Davenport.

“This is a brand-new [Longhorn Chassis], brand-new motor, first time with a Durham,” Hoffman said. “I’ve always ran Clements stuff, that’s what I ran at Sunshine [Nationals] was my Clements. We wanted to save this car for DIRTcar Nationals just because it was our freshest bullet, our freshest car. I just felt like this was more important than Sunshine was, and we were fortunate to run really well at Sunshine and then come here with a brand-new car. I unloaded this car at the Sunshine test and was really fast with it. Only ran three laps, but felt really good and really fast right out of the box. So, I was pretty confident coming into this week with this car and this package.”

Once DIRTcar Nationals race week arrived for the Late Models, Hoffman was entering his fourth-consecutive week on the Volusia property. He may not have competed in the nine nights of Modified competition at the event – aside from practicing Kenny Wallace’s car – but he was able to monitor track evolution night after night and listen to feedback from his Elite Chassis customers, which he credited with preparing him for whatever came his way when he got back behind the wheel.

“Every single night, I feel like they gave us something a little bit different,” Hoffman said. “Which is good, it’s what we expect, it’s what we want. We don’t want the same racetrack every single night. They did a good job. [Saturday], I just missed it a little bit and wasn’t quite good enough. All in all, the experience last week, adjusting on Modifieds and learning what the track does throughout the night definitely helped me for this week. At the end of the day, to win the Big Gator is a huge, monumental deal for me.”

With a month of racing at Volusia in the rearview, Hoffman will wrap up his winter trip to Florida with an entirely different challenge at Hendry County Motorsports Park for the inaugural Swamp Cabbage 100 (Friday-Saturday, Feb. 20-21). Like most drivers in this weekend’s field, Hoffman has never raced at Hendry County before, and he was also not present at last month’s open test session. Hoffman sees Thursday as the most important practice night of the season, as it will be his only chance to get up to speed at the track before defending his World of Outlaws points lead.

“I watched a little bit of that Modified [Speedweeks] race, and it’s interesting for sure,” Hoffman said. “It looks like a typical Florida racetrack as far as sandy, loose dirt, wheel spinning early in the night and then it looks like it does get slick later. But the wheel spin side is what worries me, I’m not very good in those conditions typically. We’ll just see what we’ve got. Our race car’s good, but it’s going to take a whole different package when you go there. So, I don’t really know what to expect.”

Hoffman and the rest of the World of Outlaws Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision are headed to Hendry County Motorsports Park for the Swamp Cabbage 100 (Friday-Saturday, Feb. 20-21). Get tickets in advance by clicking here.

Hoffman Looks Back On DIRTcar Nationals Big Gator, Ahead to Hendry County Debut

CLEWISTON, FL (February 19, 2026) – Following his dominant week at Volusia Speedway Park during Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals, Nick Hoffman stands out as dirt Late Model racing’s man to beat at the moment.

Recognition as the best in the nation isn’t a new feeling for the former DIRTcar UMP Modified superstar, but it’s the first time he’s had a serious case for the position since turning his full attention to Late Model racing in 2023. Now that he’s leaving Volusia with three wins and five top fives in six nights against a stacked 60-car field, Hoffman is feeling better than ever about remaining in the conversation at the top of the World of Outlaws Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision for the rest of 2026 and beyond.

A Big Gator championship has often meant that a driver is in for one of the most memorable years of their career, and you don’t have to look back far for proof. In the past two seasons, 2024 Big Gator champion Brandon Sheppard went on to win his fifth World of Outlaws championship, while Ricky Thornton Jr. won his first World 100 nine months after topping Volusia last year.

“If you leave [Volusia] in bad shape, I mean, your whole year kind of goes to s**t,” Hoffman said. “McCreadie started off [2025] really bad, and at the end of the year, he was probably one of the best cars. You just look at that, if your February and March goes bad, it’s so hard to rebound in June, July, August, you know? As a brand-new team and stuff, this gets us all acclimated. We’re running good, so everybody’s in good spirits. Definitely helps us moving forward.”

The Tye Twarog Motorsports team is entering their fourth season on the road with the World of Outlaws with a fresh approach in more ways than one. Hoffman’s crew has a pair of new names, with Scott Fegter and Brayden Sebenoler joining Darin “D-Train” Townsend.

The other major change comes under the hood. Hoffman’s engines have previously come out of the Clements Racing Engines shop, but his three Volusia wins were powered by a Durham Racing Engines powerplant. Hoffman has no plans to abandon Clements, instead opting to bounce between two suppliers to keep his engine inventory as versatile as possible. It’s a strategy that has become more common in the Late Model pits in recent years, with the most notable example being Hoffman’s close friend, Jonathan Davenport.

“This is a brand-new [Longhorn Chassis], brand-new motor, first time with a Durham,” Hoffman said. “I’ve always ran Clements stuff, that’s what I ran at Sunshine [Nationals] was my Clements. We wanted to save this car for DIRTcar Nationals just because it was our freshest bullet, our freshest car. I just felt like this was more important than Sunshine was, and we were fortunate to run really well at Sunshine and then come here with a brand-new car. I unloaded this car at the Sunshine test and was really fast with it. Only ran three laps, but felt really good and really fast right out of the box. So, I was pretty confident coming into this week with this car and this package.”

Once DIRTcar Nationals race week arrived for the Late Models, Hoffman was entering his fourth-consecutive week on the Volusia property. He may not have competed in the nine nights of Modified competition at the event – aside from practicing Kenny Wallace’s car – but he was able to monitor track evolution night after night and listen to feedback from his Elite Chassis customers, which he credited with preparing him for whatever came his way when he got back behind the wheel.

“Every single night, I feel like they gave us something a little bit different,” Hoffman said. “Which is good, it’s what we expect, it’s what we want. We don’t want the same racetrack every single night. They did a good job. [Saturday], I just missed it a little bit and wasn’t quite good enough. All in all, the experience last week, adjusting on Modifieds and learning what the track does throughout the night definitely helped me for this week. At the end of the day, to win the Big Gator is a huge, monumental deal for me.”

With a month of racing at Volusia in the rearview, Hoffman will wrap up his winter trip to Florida with an entirely different challenge at Hendry County Motorsports Park for the inaugural Swamp Cabbage 100 (Friday-Saturday, Feb. 20-21). Like most drivers in this weekend’s field, Hoffman has never raced at Hendry County before, and he was also not present at last month’s open test session. Hoffman sees Thursday as the most important practice night of the season, as it will be his only chance to get up to speed at the track before defending his World of Outlaws points lead.

“I watched a little bit of that Modified [Speedweeks] race, and it’s interesting for sure,” Hoffman said. “It looks like a typical Florida racetrack as far as sandy, loose dirt, wheel spinning early in the night and then it looks like it does get slick later. But the wheel spin side is what worries me, I’m not very good in those conditions typically. We’ll just see what we’ve got. Our race car’s good, but it’s going to take a whole different package when you go there. So, I don’t really know what to expect.”

Hoffman and the rest of the World of Outlaws Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision are headed to Hendry County Motorsports Park for the Swamp Cabbage 100 (Friday-Saturday, Feb. 20-21). Get tickets in advance by clicking here.

Want to watch the World of Outlaws? Stream every race live on DIRTVision.