The Dirt Track at Charlotte

Hoffman seeking to cap Twarog deal with flourish

November 4, 2026, 9:26 pm

By Kyle McFadden

DirtonDirt staff reporter

Nick Hoffman in his Tye Twarog-owned car at Charlotte. (joshjamesartwork.com)

CONCORD, N.C. (Nov. 4) — Historically speaking, Nick Hoffman’s 2026 campaign on the World of Outlaws Late Model Series will go down as one of the finest in the tour’s modern era. Eight wins. The first driver to reach 40 top-fives in a single season. Only three finishes outside the top 10. His 4.31 average finish is better than 16 of the last 22 series champions.

The trouble? Bobby Pierce has put up otherworldly numbers — including 20 victories in 49 features to date — that have left Hoffman facing a mountainous climb entering this week's 19th Dave Smith Motors World Finals at The Dirt Track at Charlotte. | RaceWire

With three races remaining in the championship chase, Hoffman trails Pierce by 76 points — a deficit that's mathematically within reach if Hoffman catches lightning in a bottle and bad luck strikes Pierce. But the margin is steep enough that even three victories might not be enough without significant trouble for the defending champion.

"I seen that stat, too, which is great, but it's also a kick in the nuts," Hoffman, speaking before Wednesday's qualifying program, said of his average finish ranking among the best in series history. "It's like, man, what could have been? It's helped my program. It's excelled me as a driver, racing against (Pierce). But damn, it's frustrating when he wins 20 races.

"I enjoy the competition. It just shows that we got to get better, as me as a driver and also on the setup and everything. As dominant as he is, we've been right there at his heels the entire season. So it says a lot about our program.

"As far as the points deal, I'll just go out here and try and win races and see what he does," Hoffman added. "I feel like our car's good enough to win races."

While the championship remains mathematically possible, Hoffman’s motivation extends beyond the points standings.

Before moving to NASCAR-affiliated Spire Motorsports at the Dec. 3-5 Gateway Dirt Nationals, Hoffman has just five races remaining in his tenure driving for Tye Twarog, the Coshocton, Ohio, car owner who gave him his first full-time Dirt Late Model ride in 2023.

And he's determined to make the most of those final opportunities, hoping to add another signature victory to a farewell tour already highlighted by September's World 100 triumph at Eldora Speedway — a victory that sent Twarog and his team into a state of euphoria, with the celebration carrying on in the Eldora pits until at least 5 a.m.

"I'm trying to give him the best farewell. If he's going to be done, if he's going to keep digging, great," Hoffman said during an Oct. 3 interview at the Pittsburgher. "Like I said in multiple interviews, I don't want to lose car owners out here, but I'm trying to do my best to make them proud."

If anything, Hoffman's impending departure has only strengthened his resolve to finish the season strong, determined to prove that Twarog's equipment and operation belong among the best in Dirt Late Model racing.

"I definitely didn't want anybody to get that announcement at the World and then think that I fell off or I didn't care anymore, or I gave up or whatever," Hoffman said. "I'm still putting my best foot forward, and my guys are working their ass off. We're trying to do everything we can to win any of these races."

There's perhaps no better place to do that than Charlotte, a racetrack just down the road from his Mooresville, N.C., home where he's consistently been competitive but has yet to win in a Super Late Model.

"There were a couple things I wanted to do this year: win the World, win in Charlotte and at the Dome," Hoffman said Wednesday. "So this is next on my bucket list. … This place means a lot to me, being right down the road, and all my family will be here. Some of my closest friends and stuff like that.”

The first five months of the season had plenty believing Hoffman could dethrone Pierce. He left Georgia-Florida Speedweeks with a 10-point advantage, and the championship lead changed hands nine times over 16 races from March 13 at Volunteer Speedway in Bulls Gap, Tenn., through May 27 at Marion Center (Pa.) Raceway.

Hoffman was still within nine points after his $100,057 victory at Mansfield (Ohio) Speedway on May 30. But Pierce then won 11 of 17 WoO races from June 12 through Aug. 28, stretching his championship advantage to 129 points.

Hoffman, meanwhile, went winless over those same 17 races despite recording eight podiums, 12 top-fives and 15 top-10s, with a 5.53 average finish. It was the kind of consistency that would keep most drivers in a championship fight, but it was no match for Pierce's relentless winning pace.

And Hoffman's rare off nights proved especially costly. In his only three finishes outside the top 10 all season — 13th at Marion Center Raceway, 12th at West Virginia Motor Speedway and 18th at Cedar Lake Speedway — Pierce won twice and finished fourth in the other, outscoring Hoffman by a combined 78 feature points.

That's two more than Pierce's entire championship advantage entering World Finals.

The Cedar Lake setback was especially crushing. Hoffman led laps 15-67 of the USA Nationals before an apparent steering issue contributed to his tumble to 18th, while Pierce went on to win — a 36-point swing on that night alone.

Hoffman has since trimmed the championship margin to 76 points, but the title began to feel out of reach during September's two-race stop at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55. Pierce overcame a difficult opening night to finish second, then recovered from a crash to finish fifth the following evening — all while Hoffman swept the weekend.

"That was like my last dagger, like the nail in the coffin," Hoffman said during the Oct. 3 Pittsburgher. "I'm like, fine, it's just meant to be for him. I'm gonna run second. It's just the way it goes. As far as the points go, I pretty much cut my losses. It is what it is. I just wasn't good enough through the middle part of the season as he was."

Hoffman acknowledged Wednesday that Pierce's midsummer surge ultimately proved too much to overcome.

"It just should have been a little bit better through that midpoint of the season, where he really got on a run and I was just kind of there," Hoffman said. "I don't know how many times we changed the point lead. We were within five points for so long, and then I went through a little bit of a drought there."

For all the frustration of falling short in the championship, Hoffman hasn't lost sight of what he and Twarog have accomplished.

"If I wouldn't have won a single race all year, I still won the World," Hoffman said. "I'm fine with it. I know Tye is, too."

Now comes the final stretch. After Charlotte's three World Finals features, Hoffman and Twarog will conclude their partnership Nov. 13-14 at Senoia (Ga.) Raceway during the FloRacing Night in America finale.

Hoffman still hasn't decided whether he'll race with the WoO for a fifth consecutive season or debut on the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series next season, saying Wednesday he's "literally 50-50" until he can compare both schedules.

But those decisions can wait until Hoffman has given Twarog everything he has. For now, he's focused on delivering one more memorable victory for the car owner who gave him his first full-time opportunity in Dirt Late Model racing.

Another World Finals trophy might not change the championship standings enough to matter. But for Hoffman and Twarog, it would mean plenty.

"It would be cool for him, just how big the magnitude of this race is,” said Hoffman, who turned the fastest lap overall of Wednesday's qualifying program in the first round of time trials and clocked in fifth-fastest in Round 2 group (Pierce timed 15th- and 18th-fastest). “It obviously doesn't pay the biggest. We were able to win two $100,000s this year, but just sentimental value. The toughest field you'll see all year. It just would be really cool, especially for me, to finally end this deal on a high note.”