BATTLE OF TITANS: Nick Hoffman Wins Unpredictable Titan Machinery Showdown at Norman County Raceway

“The Thrill from Mooresville” bests Devin Moran and Brandon Sheppard in a 50-lap dogfight to win the inaugural Feature in Ada, MN

ADA, MN (June 29, 2024) – Nick Hoffman continues to win Feature races with the World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Models in spectacular fashion. 

The Mooresville, NC driver had to survive a leader’s curse and claw his way to the lead against a stout field of Late Models to score his fifth Series Feature win of 2024 at Norman County Raceway. 

Beginning the 50-lap Feature from outside the front row, Hoffman had to play second fiddle to Brandon, FL driver Kyle Bronson as he took command of the early portion of the race. 

Hoffman fell back to seventh while Oakwood, IL driver Bobby Pierce and Marshalltown, IA driver Ryan Gustin stepped up to challenge Bronson for the lead. 

Then, on Lap 24, Bronson blew a right rear tire while racing Pierce for the top spot, evaporating his chance to win the Feature. 

Then, three laps later, Pierce lost his motor while leading and pulled off the track to bring his night to a disappointing close. 

The struggles with the leaders continued as Gustin suffered mechanical issues on the restart and pulled off in Turn 1. 

The three leaders suffering problems opened the door for Dresden, OH driver Devin Moran to inherit the lead with 23 laps to go. Hoffman moved back to second and four-time Series champion Brandon Sheppard moved into the final podium spot. 

Using his familiar bottom-line tactic, Hoffman got to the bumper of Moran as lapped traffic approached the two leaders. 

When Moran got stuck on the bottom line, Hoffman swapped to the high line to take the Feature lead, sneaking his way through traffic as Moran was relegated to a fight with Sheppard for second. 

A caution with two laps to go set up a green-white-checkered finish at the Ada, MN facility. Hoffman fired off the way he needed, leading the last two laps to win the inaugural Titan Machinery Showdown at Norman County and score a $15,000 payday. 

“I got a couple of gifts there with those guys falling out,” Hoffman said. “It sucks for them, I was back to seventh at one point and I was getting frustrated there, but eventually the track came back to me. When you get back there, you feel like you’re screwed and can’t get back to the lead, but it all played out there and it was pretty good. I found the middle lane there and could start hammering on it. I was able to drive by (Devin) there. 

“I was definitely worried because I hit a piece of debris with about eight to go, then the caution as you take the white flag definitely sucks there. It got the wheels turning of what I need to do to block a slider and still carry enough speed off the corner. The racetrack came in better than I think a lot of us expected, but it was a fun place to race.” 

Moran finished second to Hoffman after one last gasp to steal the win. The Double Down Motorsports No. 99 pilot is ready to try and get his third Series triumph of 2024 on Sunday at River Cities Speedway. 

“My team makes sure I have a great car underneath me,” Moran said. “It was unfortunate to see Bobby, Kyle and Gustin have those issues, but I feel like we got some work to do. We didn’t have near enough of a good race car, so we’ll have to work on it and hopefully be better in (River Cities) tomorrow.”

Sheppard completed the night’s podium, viewing the improvements his team can work on while continuing to lead the Series points by 14 points over Hoffman. 

“We were OK,” Sheppard said. “We had a good balance so we could race with everyone there. The restarts were our weakest point there, so we need to work on that. All in all, the track was awesome there, it raced about as good as it could have, I believe. Another good night, just need to keep plugging away and keeping to work at getting better.” 

Chatham, IL driver Brian Shirley picked up the fourth-place finish and Robeline, LA driver Cade Dillard took the last spot in the top five to move back to third place in the championship standings. 

RECAP NOTES: 

Dirt King Simulator Hottest Hot Lap: Brandon Sheppard 

Simpson Quick Time Award: Kyle Bronson 

Heat Winners: Nick Hoffman, Blair Nothdurft, Ryan Gustin 

Last Chance Showdown Winner: Dustin Strand 

Bilstein Pole Award: Kyle Bronson 

Fox Factory Hard Charger: Cody Overton 

Up Next: The World of Outlaws CASE Late Models go across the state line to Grand Forks, ND to finish the June swing of the Heartland Grand Tour at River Cities Speedway on Sunday, June 30. Grandstand gates open at 3 p.m. (CT), with Hot Laps at 6 p.m. For more information on the event and the 2024 Series schedule, CLICK HERE. 

If you can’t make it to the track, you can watch all the action live on DIRTVision. 

SQUIRREL FINDS A WIN: Brian Shirley Returns to World of Outlaws Victory Lane at River Cities
Shirley topped Devin Moran and Max McLaughlin to lead all 40 laps for his first Series win of 2024

GRAND FORKS, ND (June 30, 2024) – Brian Shirley’s climb back to the top of the podium with the World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Models is complete.

Leading all 40 laps at River Cities Speedway, the Chatham, IL driver had to endure threats for the lead from Dresden, OH driver Devin Moran and Mooresville, NC driver Max McLaughlin to score an emotional eighth career Series win at the Grand Forks, ND bullring.

“Shoot… Truthfully, I’m emotionally happy,” Shirley said. “I’m happy for all the hard work that my team, my car owner, a lot of hard work and money put into this operation, and we haven’t been getting the results that they deserve. At the end of the day, I give everyone a little bit of gratitude for their work. It’s definitely humbling and rewarding.”

Beginning the Feature from the lead after getting $100 for drawing the Bilstein Pole Award, Shirley immediately took command of the Feature by running down low and making speed off the corners to create a bubble between the second-place running Moran.

Once lapped traffic played a factor, Moran snuck up to the back bumper of Shirley to make a pass but began to deal with a battle for his second-place spot as McLaughlin caught up to the back bumper of the Double Down Motorsports No.99 as Moran began to run the high line of the track.

With Moran and McLaughlin caught in a dogfight, Shirley drove his Bob Cullen Racing No.3S away from the two drivers as he sliced his way through the pile of slower cars in front of him.

It looked like a surefire win for Shirley until a caution with two laps to go forced a green-white-checkered finish.

On the restart, “Squirrel” blasted off from Moran and McLaughlin as he completed his commanding return to Victory Lane for the first time in 2024.

“You’re always nervous when you’re leading,” Shirley said. “These guys are the best in the business. And with two laps to go, the last thing you want to do is mess up and not win. But we led the whole thing. I feel like I knew what I had to do, put in two solid laps and luckily it led us to victory.”

Moran finished with his second consecutive podium finish of the weekend with the World of Outlaws Late Models after using any and every opportunity laid out for him to steal the win.

“I got to (Brian), but you couldn’t get a run through (Turns 1 and 2),” Moran said. “The bottom was definitely the dominant line. I was trying to make the high line work and through Turns 3 and 4, but there wasn’t enough up there so we got stuck around that bottom and bounced through the holes. All in all, a second-place finish is a good run and move on to what’s next.”

McLaughlin crossed the checkered flag in third to cement his first career points podium with the Series. It’s another sign of his performances trending in the right direction.

“(Moran) and Shirley were pretty good, but I thought I was even better than them,” McLaughlin said. “I started rolling the middle pretty good, I got to Devin, forced myself through the middle of a hole behind him, and about flipped. After that, I had to be a lot more cautious. It’s a good night, almost got Devin on the green-white-checkered there. I think we’ve been making good calls lately, with GR and Tyler working good on the setups, D-Train’s doing great with tires, everything’s been clicking and it’s a lot of fun. I’m really excited to see what the second half of the season brings.”

New Berlin, IL driver Brandon Sheppard finished fourth to extend his Series points lead to 30 markers over Nick Hoffman. Marshalltown, IA driver Ryan Gustin rounded out Sunday’s top five.

RECAP NOTES:

Dirt King Simulator Hottest Hot Lap: Max McLaughlin

Simpson Quick Time Award: Cody Overton

Heat Race Winners: Devin Moran, Ryan Gustin, Max McLaughlin, Brian Shirley

Last Chance Showdown Winners: Kyle Bronson, Tyler Peterson

Bilstein Pole Award: Brian Shirley

Fox Factory Hard Charger: Kyle Bronson

Up Next: The World of Outlaws CASE Late Models complete the Heartland Grand Tour with their return to Deer Creek Speedway for the NAPA Auto Parts Gopher 50 on Thursday-Saturday, July 4-6. Thursday begins with fireworks to celebrate Independence Day, Friday has Dylan Scott performing at the track, and then Saturday night’s grand finale Feature will pay $50,000 to the winner. For more information about the event and the rest of the 2024 World of Outlaws CASE Late Models schedule, CLICK HERE.

If you can’t make it to the track, you can watch all the action live on DIRTVision.