By Clayton Johns
BARBERVILLE, FL – February 22, 2017 – The DIRTcar UMP Modifieds concluded their portion of the 46th Annual DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia Speedway Park on Tuesday night. Ten feature races over the course of seven days produced plenty of thrilling action and culminated in Nick Hoffman earning his second straight Big Gator as the DIRTcar UMP Modified Nationals champion.
Here are some of the more interesting facts and figures to come from a week of action at the World’s Fastest Half-Mile.
1 – Number of points separating Big Gator champion Nick Hoffman of Mooresville, NC from second-place finisher Jacob Hawkins of Fairmont, WV. Hoffman won the championship 489 points to 488.
2 – Wins by Jacob Hawkins at the 2017 DIRTcar Nationals. Hawkins won the first and last UMP Modified features.
3 – Drivers who raced all 15 nights of the DIRTcar UMP Modified Florida Tour for Deep South points, including the DIRTcar Nationals (Kenny Wallace, Kyle Strickler, Shon Flanary)
4 – First time DIRTcar UMP Modified winners at the DIRTcar Nationals (Jacob Hawkins, Will Krup, Jonathan Taylor, JE Stalder)
18.121 – Fastest qualifying time of the week, set by Brian Ruhlman of Clarklake, Mich. on Sunday, February 19.
19 – Number of States plus one Canadian province represented by DIRTcar UMP Modified drivers.
27- Drivers who earned top-five finishes in 10 features.
30- Number of different UMP Modified winners at the DIRTcar Nationals since 2011. Six different drivers won at the 2017 edition.
36- Car number of Kenny Wallace, the only driver who competed in all 15 DIRTcar UMP Modified Florida events
67- Highest single-night car count (Friday, February 17).
76- Drivers who entered in at least one night of DIRTcar UMP Modified competition at 2017 DIRTcar Nationals.
523- Total laps of competition for the DIRTcar UMP Modifieds over 8 days including qualifying, heat races, B-Mains and features.
$5,000- Nick Hoffman’s payday for winning the 30-lap Big Gator championship on Monday night.
The 46th Annual DIRTcar Nationals continue on Thursday, February 23 with the World of Outlawas Craftsman® Late Model Series and Super DIRTcar Series Big-Block Modifieds. Hot laps will start the on-track activities at 6:00pm.
Fans that have purchased tickets in advance can use Wednesday night’s tickets as a credit toward one of the final three nights of DIRTcar Nationals. For more information about DIRTcar Nationals visit www.DIRTcarNationals.com or call 844-DIRT-TIX. Follow DIRTcar Nationals on social media: @DIRTcarNats on Twitter and Facebook.com/DIRTcar.