When it comes to talking about a track championship that hasn’t yet been clinched, Eddie Hoffman doesn’t bite very often.
So it went Friday night at Grundy County Speedway when I asked him about his big points lead and seemingly imminent eighth late model title.
I tried to get Eddie to smile about it by suggesting that the White Sox, at 24 games below .500, had a better chance of catching the leaders in the AL Central than anybody at Grundy did of catching him.
“Are they really 24 under .500?” Hoffman said. “Yeah, well, we want it. But I don’t know that we should be smiling yet. We still have a little ways to go.
“I don’t need the headache. I have enough headaches to think about or worry about a championship. We’re not chasing titles. We’re chasing races. We’re chasing wins. And we’re coming out there to try and have fun, and compete, and learn.”
And then he smiled.
By the numbers?
With four points nights remaining, Hoffman leads James Lynch, who’s in second place, by an 827-752 margin. Jim Weber, in third place and a contender since the start of the season, fell out Friday after breaking a motor during practice.
In simple terms, you have to like Hoffman’s chances.
I think he does, too.
“The last year or two, we have been off a little bit,” Hoffman said. “But I think we have it back going right, which is important to me. That’s the challenge.
“At the beginning of the year, the 76 car (James Lynch) was the fastest car for a few weeks. Larry Schuler was fast for a few weeks. And Jim Weber. And Blake Brown. We’ve got good cars here.”
Hoffman was the all-around champion Friday night in the Frank Welch Memorial Twin-30s by finishing in first and third place.
He won the first race with a brilliant pass of Scott Tomasik on the final lap. It was Hoffman’s second feature win of the season.
In the second race, Hoffman finished third behind winner Nathan Kelly and runner-up Anthony Danta. He was fortunate to narrowly miss an early race wreck that saw D.J. Weltmeyer and Lynch ride the wall. Both drivers were uninjured.
For Kelly, it was his first victory since 2021. His biggest challenge came late, when Hoffman chose to start outside of him on a restart.
Hoffman’s choice didn’t really surprise Kelly.
“Yes and no,” Kelly said. “I mean, he’s Eddie. He’s the best that’s ever done it here. I don’t think he’s scared of nothing here.”
Kelly held him off using a move he learned from Hoffman.
“Yeah, Eddie pulled moves on me where he liked to hold me out on the outside as long as possible,” Kelly said. “I used it on him, and I got a really good run on the straightaway.”
This time, “the best that’s ever done it here” didn’t get it done. But whether he wins his eighth title or not, Hoffman is already established as the all-time king of Grundy County Speedway.
When he won his seventh track title in 2021, Hoffman passed his father, Ed Hoffman Sr., who had six. Brett Sontag ranks third all-time in late model track championships with five.
Hoffman’s 152 feature victories, meanwhile, is by far the most by any driver in track history. Schuler is second with 78.
At age 63, Hoffman doesn’t seem to be slowing down. We talked about mileage.
“Is there anything left in the tank — yes,” Hoffman said. “Is there a lot? I don’t know. I seem to get motivated by some people here. I like to get motivated and have a purpose to go after something.
“After the last year or two, it was a matter of let’s get this on track and let’s win some races.”
()
