The Dirt Track at Charlotte
Hoffman's advice gives J.D. lift at Charlotte
By Kevin Kovac
DirtonDirt senior writer
Nick Hoffman's younger son Roxsen joined Jonathan Davenport in victory lane. (joshjamesartwork.com)
CONCORD, N.C. (Nov. 7) — Jonathan Davenport needed help. His good buddy Nick Hoffman was happy — thrilled, even — to provide it.
The result? A dramatic shift in Davenport’s trajectory during the Dave Smith Motors World Finals finale at The Dirt Track at Charlotte. | RaceWire
After seeking and receiving insight from Mooresville, N.C.’s Hoffman midway through Friday’s program, Davenport, 43, of Blairsville, Ga., went from an also-ran 14th-place finish in Thursday’s opener to a 10th-to-second run in Friday’s feature and, finally, a dominant flag-to-flag victory worth $25,000 in Saturday’s 50-lap finale.
“So I just asked him pretty much one question,” Davenport said of his interaction with Hoffman, “and he answered it for us and kind of turned our weekend around.”
When asked what technical advice Hoffman offered to put him on a winning path, Davenport joked, “I can’t tell you that.” But Hoffman wasn’t shy about going into a little detail. In fact, the 34-year-old World of Outlaws Late Model Series regular seemed to almost relish the opportunity to recount the episode. He was, in a way, giddy to have the great Davenport, a driver he holds in the highest of esteem, asking for his assistance.
“He’s helped me so many times, you know, so I enjoyed it,” Hoffman said.
Despite his sparkling history of success at the 4/10-mile Charlotte oval — eight World Finals victories entering this year’s 19th edition, including a triumph in last year’s finale — Davenport wasn’t his usual self in a middling opening-night outing and didn’t feel his Double L Motorsports Longhorn Chassis was especially strong as he finished second in a Friday heat race. So he looked to Hoffman, who was a serious contender in Friday’s 35-lap feature before settling for fourth and beat Davenport to win Friday’s fifth heat.
“I was up in the NOS (Energy Drink) suite, hanging out, watching I think it was the B’s or something, and (Missouri racer) Gordy (Gundaker) texted me and was like, ‘Hey, J.D. needs help,’ ” Hoffman recalled. “And I was like, ‘OK,’ so I come down here (to the pits) and (Davenport’s) like, ‘Man, can you help me out?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, what you got?’ He’s like, ‘What right-front (shock and spring) are you running?’ ”
Hoffman’s Tye Twarog-owned operation was parked right next to Davenport in the pit area — the friends often pit side-by-side — and Hoffman went right to his Longhorn Chassis No. 9.
“So I unbolted (the shock and spring) off my car and brought it over into his trailer,” Hoffman said. “We smashed the shock and spring, the whole setup, so he could just see. He typically runs a lot of different right-front stuff than I do but we just do it in different ways, but we drive very similar — there’s a million ways to skin the cat to get the same outcome.
“I showed them what I was running, and he built the same exact thing for the feature last night,” he continued. “We share a lot of things together and work together a lot, so for once, I felt like I was able to help him.”
Hoffman led every lap of Friday’s feature off the pole to collect a $15,000 victory, but he made sure to keep tabs on Davenport’s progress from the fifth row.
“I’m out front leading and then I seen him pop up on the board in fifth,” Hoffman said. “At that point I was kind of relieved because I was like, ‘Man, I don’t want to steer him in the wrong direction and screw them up.’ But once I seen him in fifth, I was like, ‘All right, he’s not bad.’
“And then he’s fourth, third, and on that last restart (lap 31), he’s in second. I was like, ’S---.”
Hoffman thought he might have not only helped Davenport bring his car to life, but given him the combination to beat him. Davenport ultimately wasn’t able to challenge Hoffman, but Hoffman noted that he had an agreement with his pal if the race happened to come down to the two of them.
“We made a deal that if I helped him last night, if he passed me, he had to pass me on the outside,” Hoffman said with a smile. “So we’ve been joking all day that during that race, for the last five laps he was in second, I was looking over my right shoulder all the time just to wait for him to pass me on the outside.”
Davenport confirmed the pact with Hoffman.
“Yeah, I could only pass him on the top,” Davenport said. “So I was trying to figure out when I was in third last night for that restart, I’m like, do I want to sail this thing around the cushion and just try it one time? But then obviously (Ryan) Gustin was having a flat, so we got by him (for second) and then Nick kind of got away from us. I never did really get the urge to do it after that because he got so far away, but I thought it would have been cool anyway.”
Davenport seized the initiative back from Hoffman on Saturday, outgunning his pal to win the second heat and controlling the feature’s entire distance. Hoffman started ninth and climbed up to seventh before spinning with Chris Madden of Gray Court, S.C., on lap 28 when they collided between turns three and four while lapping Tristan Chamberlain of Richmond, Ind., then rallied to salvage a ninth-place finish following a pit stop.
Hoffman was frustrated with his performance but also consoled by Davenport’s success.
“It’s cool that I was able to help him for once and get him at least pointed in the right direction on that thing,” Hoffman said. “Obviously it parlays a little bit into his success tonight.”
Davenport agreed while thanking Hoffman for his forthright assistance.
“We do share notes. We’ve done it for a couple of years now,” Davenport said. “When he struggles a little bit, I help him, and when I was struggling, thank goodness he helped me.
“These newer (Longhorn) cars are just a little bit different, and when we came here and tested (two weeks ago) the racetrack was totally different, more like it was tonight, honestly, and I was having to go a little bit one way that I don’t normally do and I just never could get back enough really. I guess they experimented a little bit more than we did and he hit it right before we did.”
Hoffman had an inkling that Davenport was feeling good about his prospects for Saturday when he received a late-night text message.
“You’re laying in bed last night, and those heat race lineups (for Saturday) come out and he sends it to me,” Hoffman said of Davenport.
Noting that they were be sharing the front row of the second heat, Hoffman said Davenport wrote, “You better get that carburetor tuned up,” and he punctuated the text with a playful middle-finger emoji.
“So then we have to line up together in the heat race and he beats me into turn one,” Hoffman said. “It’s just the way it goes.
“But it’s all fun,” he continued. “You got to have buddies on the road, you know? We’ve been very close, and I was glad I was able to get (a win) last night, and if anybody else could win, I’d want it to be him, so I was glad he could get that one tonight.”
Davenport’s victory was his ninth in World Finals competition, making him the event’s all-time wins leader. He could credit Hoffman for boosting him toward that record-setter — and he said the two of them were going to savor their back-to-back triumphs with some post-race revelry at Hoffman’s nearby home, which includes a racing-themed bar and rec room that Hoffman calls Blue Deuce Tavern.
“We’re going to go there and hang out,” Davenport said. “I didn’t get to do it last year. I had to go home. I got Rachel (his wife) to come along this year, so we're going to go over and hang out. We’re gonna get this stuff loaded up, go over and have a good time.”
