Hoffman Wins, But Bobby Pierce Is WoO LMS King Yet Again
Nick Hoffman (9) leads Ryan Gustin Friday at The Dirt Track at Charlotte. (KR Poole Photos)
By Jacob Seelman, SWN News Editor
CONCORD, N.C. (Nov. 6, 2026) – Nick Hoffman did all he could Friday night at The Dirt Track at Charlotte, but it wasn’t enough to stop Bobby Pierce’s World of Outlaws Late Model Series coronation.
Hoffman led all 35 laps on night two of the Dave Smith Motors World Finals, easily outdistancing his nearest challengers en route to victory, but Pierce logged a 10th-place finish to mathematically clinch his third championship in four years with the Outlaws.
It was still a heartwarming victory for Hoffman, though. The Mooresville, N.C., resident grew up attending early races at Charlotte in the grandstands before beginning his driving career, and has wanted for years to add a World Finals win to his trophy case.
Friday night, he finally got that chance, doing so in his final weekend with Tye Twarog Racing before moving over to become the full-time dirt late model driver for Spire Motorsports in 2027.
“I have a couple great memories of sitting in those grandstands watching Scott Bloomquist win the Colossal 100 here,” Hoffman recalled. “And then Jimmy Owens was so good. Hell, there was one year that Jason Feger came down here and put on a show running above the cushion. That’s one thing tonight, they did a hell of a job to turn this racetrack around.
“If you would have told me four or five hours ago that it would turn out like this, I would have called you a liar. Pretty wild that it got slick and didn’t get rough.”
Ryan Gustin kept Hoffman honest for most of the 35-lapper, hovering roughly a second back of the NOS Energy Drink No. 9, but could never muster enough steam to offer a serious challenge despite having several chances on restarts after caution flags.
Jonathan Davenport eventually surged past Gustin on the final green flag with four to go, launching from fourth up to a second-place finish after originally starting 10th on the grid.
Davenport took the checkered flag 1.684 seconds behind Hoffman.
Gustin completed the podium ahead of Thursday winner Ricky Thornton Jr., whose pursuit of an eighth-straight dirt late model victory ended in fourth.
Chris Madden crossed the finish line fifth, followed by Dallon Murty, Max McLaughlin, Brandon Sheppard, Tyler Erb, and Pierce.
With Pierce’s 57-point edge going into the final day of the season, Saturday’s show-up points are enough to prevent Hoffman from overhauling him for the title.
The World of Outlaws Late Model Series concludes its 2026 season during Saturday night’s Dave Smith Motors World Finals finale, with a 50-lap feature paying $25,000 to win.
Broadcast coverage begins at 3:30 p.m. ET, with every lap of action streamed live via DIRTvision.
The finish:
Feature (35 laps): 1. 9-Nick Hoffman [1]; 2. 49-Jonathan Davenport [10]; 3. 19R-Ryan Gustin [3]; 4. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr. [18]; 5. 44-Chris Madden [6]; 6. 13-Dallon Murty [4]; 7. 8M-Max McLaughlin [11]; 8. 1S-Brandon Sheppard [13]; 9. 1-Tyler Erb [8]; 10. 32-Bobby Pierce [12]; 11. 74X-Ethan Dotson [25]; 12. 9M-Tim McCreadie [19]; 13. 114-Jordan Koehler [15]; 14. 81F-Jadon Frame [16]; 15. 5-Drake Troutman [20]; 16. 58V-Daulton Wilson [26]; 17. 28-Dennis Erb Jr. [27]; 18. 40B-Kyle Bronson [9]; 19. 6-Hudson O’Neal [7]; 20. 8-Kyle Strickler [17]; 21. 14-Trey Mills [2]; 22. 5J-Braden Jones [14]; 23. 19-Dustin Sorensen [28]; 24. 1Z-Logan Zarin [30]; 25. 11-Austin Smith [23]; 26. 16-Ben Watkins [24]; 27. 5W-Ethan Wilson [21]; 28. 11R-Josh Rice [22]; 29. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain [29]; 30. 22-Chris Ferguson [5].
