9/26/2025
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Nick Hoffman Earns First Lucas Oil Victory at Brownstown
BROWNSTOWN, IN (September 26, 2025) – Nick Hoffman made his mark in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series record books on Friday night at Brownstown Speedway, becoming the 94th different winner in the series' 21-year history. Hoffman took the lead on lap 30 and narrowly edged out Brandon Sheppard at the finish line to win the $10,000 prize in the 4th Annual C.J. Rayburn Memorial.
Hoffman, the defending Hoosier Dirt Classic winner at Brownstown, won by just .081 seconds in one of the closest finishes in series history.
Sheppard finished second, with 10th-place starter Devin Moran rounding out the Big River Steel Podium in third. Moran was aiming for his third win in the last two years at Brownstown, as he has secured Victory Lane in the last two Indiana Icebreaker races.
Jonathan Davenport took the lead at the start of the race, leading the first nine laps until he had to pit under caution for a left rear tire flat. Sheppard then moved up as Moran and Hoffman made it a three-car battle for the lead, with Hoffman passing Moran for second on lap 14.
Hoffman then pressured Sheppard for the lead through heavy traffic while Moran was close behind in third. Hoffman was able to clear Sheppard on lap 30, and in the final 10 laps, he held on for the thrilling finish win.
Current championship points leader Ricky Thornton Jr. finished fourth, with Garrett Alberson rounding out the top five drivers.
In a race with three different leaders, Hoffman was the third and final leader after starting on the outside of row two for the 40-lap main event.
In Lucas Oil Victory Lane for the first time in his career, the modified standout turned late model stalwart finally broke through at one of his favorite racetracks as he collected his ninth overall win of the year.
“JD was in the lead there, and I just didn’t know where to be. I was just trying to play with him a little because Ricky was beside me, and I was trying to get around Jason Jameson. Finally, I cleared him, and then I could run where I wanted. Devin showed me his nose there, and he was able to get by me on that restart, which got me back on the outside. On a restart, our car was good. It was just about picking the right lanes, but I ended up losing at the end, and I reached a point where I couldn’t run where I wanted to. So, I started playing defense, and with Sheppy behind you, he’s probably the cleanest guy out there.”
Sheppard, who was aiming for his third career win at Brownstown, narrowly missed the victory as he searches for his first Jackson 100 win on Saturday night.
“I shouldn’t have given up the lead the first time. When I got to lapped traffic, I was really trying to charge hard through the middle to pass the lapped cars, and I think that’s where I made a mistake because most of us had soft left rear tires. So when I charged through that middle, I could just feel myself getting worse and worse, and I would slide from center off. I think I overheated my left rear tire there, and then I wasn’t as good when I got down on the bottom.”
Moran kept up his impressive runs at Brownstown over the last two seasons, coming from 10th to finish in third place.
“You always aim to be in victory lane. It was unfortunate for JD to get a flat, and I don’t really know what happened between Ricky and Hud, but it was unfortunate for those guys. Overall, it was a great night for us. I really thought we had a good car there at the end, and I was right behind those guys. It was a great points night.”
The winner’s Tye Twarog Motorsports, Longhorn Chassis is powered by a Clements Racing Engine and sponsored by NOS Energy Drink, Lonewolf Petroleum, C&W Trucking, Petroff Towing, Tri-Valley Equipment, VP Fuels, Bilstein Shocks, and Holdren Construction.
Completing the top ten were Josh Rice, Bobby Pierce, Tyler Erb, Clay Harris, and Daulton Wilson.
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Race Summary
4th Annual CJ Rayburn Memorial presented by Jackson County Visitor Center
Friday, September 26, 2025
Brownstown Speedway | Brownstown, IN
Allstar Performance Time Trials
Fast Time Group A: Jonathan Davenport | 13.152 seconds (Overall)
Fast Time Group B: Tyler Erb | 13.589 seconds
Penske Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 49-Jonathan Davenport[1]; 2. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[2]; 3. 96-Tanner English[3]; 4. 32-Bobby Pierce[5]; 5. 6-Clay Harris[7]; 6. 60-Dan Ebert[8]; 7. 1G-Devin Gilpin[6]; 8. D48-Derek Groomer[9]; 9. 18D-Daulton Wilson[4]; 10. 29J-Jordan Wever[11]; 11. 2ND-Jacob Leitzman[12]; 12. 7-Justin Smith[10]
Summit Racing Products Heat Race #2 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 12-Jason Jameson[2]; 2. 58-Garrett Alberson[3]; 3. 22F-Chris Ferguson[5]; 4. 76-Brandon Overton[4]; 5. 57M-Camaron Marlar[1]; 6. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[7]; 7. 4-Cody Mahoney[8]; 8. 18-Trevor Landrum[6]; 9. 32C-Chad Stapleton[10]; 10. 22X-Matt Boknecht[9]; 11. 48J-Justin Wethington[12]; 12. 93X-Zak Blackwood[11]
Cool-It Thermo-Tec Heat Race #3 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 1-Brandon Sheppard[4]; 2. 71-Hudson O'Neal[2]; 3. 99-Devin Moran[5]; 4. 93-Carson Ferguson[3]; 5. 20-Tyler Neal[9]; 6. 16J-Justin Rattliff[7]; 7. 01-Tyler Erb[1]; 8. 4G-Bob Gardner[8]; 9. 11C-Tyler Collins[10]; 10. 41-Quentin White[12]; 11. 29-Evan Harrell[11]; 12. 111-Max Blair[6]
Simpson Race Products Heat Race #4 Finish (8 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): 1. 9-Nick Hoffman[1]; 2. 11R-Josh Rice[4]; 3. 22*-Drake Troutman[2]; 4. 79-Donald McIntosh[6]; 5. 1Z-Logan Zarin[9]; 6. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain[5]; 7. 93L-Cory Lawler[3]; 8. 71D-Don O'Neal[11]; 9. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[10]; 10. P3-Steve Peeden[8]; 11. 22C-Derek Campbell[12]; 12. (DNS) 24-Jared Bailey
Fast Shafts B-Main Race #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 6-Clay Harris[1]; 2. 60-Dan Ebert[3]; 3. 57M-Camaron Marlar[2]; 4. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[4]; 5. 1G-Devin Gilpin[5]; 6. 18D-Daulton Wilson[9]; 7. D48-Derek Groomer[7]; 8. 29J-Jordan Wever[11]; 9. 18-Trevor Landrum[8]; 10. 4-Cody Mahoney[6]; 11. 22X-Matt Boknecht[12]; 12. 32C-Chad Stapleton[10]; 13. 2ND-Jacob Leitzman[13]; 14. 7-Justin Smith[15]; 15. 48J-Justin Wethington[14]; 16. 93X-Zak Blackwood[16]
UNOH B-Main Race #2 Finish (10 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 01-Tyler Erb[5]; 2. 16J-Justin Rattliff[3]; 3. 20-Tyler Neal[1]; 4. 4G-Bob Gardner[7]; 5. 1Z-Logan Zarin[2]; 6. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain[4]; 7. 93L-Cory Lawler[6]; 8. 11C-Tyler Collins[9]; 9. 71D-Don O'Neal[8]; 10. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[10]; 11. 41-Quentin White[11]; 12. (DNS) P3-Steve Peeden; 13. (DNS) 29-Evan Harrell; 14. (DNS) 22C-Derek Campbell; 15. (DNS) 111-Max Blair; 16. (DNS) 24-Jared Bailey
4th Annual CJ Rayburn Memorial presented by Jackson County Visitor Center Feature Finish (40 Laps):
Pos - Start - Car # - Competitor - Hometown - Pay
1 - 4 - 9 - Nick Hoffman - Mooresville, NC - $10,000
2 - 2 - 1 - Brandon Sheppard - New Berlin, IL - $5,600
3 - 10 - 99 - Devin Moran - Dresden, OH - $3,500
4 - 5 - 20RT - Ricky Thornton Jr - Chandler, AZ - $2,800
5 - 7 - 58 - Garrett Alberson - Las Cruces, NM - $2,500
6 - 8 - 11R - Josh Rice - Crittenden, KY - $2,300
7 - 13 - 32 - Bobby Pierce - Oakwood, IL - $2,200
8 - 18 - 1 - Tyler Erb - New Waverly, TX - $2,100
9 - 17 - 6 - Clay Harris - Jupiter, FL - $2,050
10 - 23 - 18D - Daulton Wilson - Fayetteville, NC - $2,000
11 - 16 - 79 - Donald McIntosh - Dawsonville, GA - $1,700
12 - 3 - 12 - Jason Jameson - Lawrenceburg, IN - $1,400
13 - 15 - 76 - Brandon Overton - Evans, GA - $1,200
14 - 1 - 49 - Jonathan Davenport - Blairsville, GA - $1,000
15 - 19 - 60 - Dan Ebert - Lake Shore, MN - $950
16 - 24 - 22 - Daniel Hilsabeck - Earlham, IA - $925
17 - 9 - 96 - Tanner English - Benton, KY - $900
18 - 12 - 22* - Drake Troutman - Hyndman, PA - $875
19 - 22 - 20 - Tyler Neal - Paragon, IN - $850
20 - 21 - 57M - Camaron Marlar - Winfield, TN - $825
21 - 14 - 93 - Carson Ferguson - Lincolnton, NC - $800
22 - 6 - 71 - Hudson O'Neal - Martinsville, IN - $800
23 - 11 - 22F - Chris Ferguson - Mt. Holly, NC - $800
24 - 20 - 16J - Justin Rattliff - Campbellsville, KY - $800
Race Statistics
Entrants: 48
Victory Fuel Pole Sitter: Jonathan Davenport
MD3 Lap Leaders: Jonathan Davenport (Laps 1-9); Brandon Sheppard (Laps 10-28); Nick Hoffman (Laps 29-40)
Hellraizer Jacks Halfway Leader: Brandon Sheppard
Wieland Feature Winner: Nick Hoffman
Margin of Victory: 0.081 seconds
Coltman Farms Racing Cautions: Justin Rattliff (Lap 2); Tanner English, Drake Troutman, Chris Ferguson (Lap 7); Hudson O’Neal, Daniel Hilsabeck (Lap 7 restart); Carson Ferguson (Lap 9), Carson Ferguson, Jonathan Davenport (Lap 12)
Series Provisionals: Daulton Wilson; Daniel Hilsabeck
Fast Time Provisional: n/a
Emergency Provisional: n/a
Track Provisional: n/a
Big River Steel Podium Top 3: Nick Hoffman, Brandon Sheppard, Devin Moran
Penske Shocks Top 5: Nick Hoffman, Brandon Sheppard, Devin Moran, Ricky Thornton, Jr., Garrett Alberson
PEM 4th Place Feature: Ricky Thornton, Jr.
DMI Rearends 5th Place Feature: Garrett Alberson
Wilwood Brakes Lucky 7th Place Feature: Bobby Pierce
Wehrs Machine 11th Place Feature: Donald McIntosh
Deatherage Opticians Lucky 13th Place Feature: Brandon Overton
MD3 24th Place Feature: Justin Rattliff
Hoker Trucking Hard Charger of the Race: Daulton Wilson (advanced 13 positions)
MD3 Most Laps Led: Brandon Sheppard
Sunoco Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Brandon Sheppard
Midwest Sheet Metal Spoiler Challenge Point Leader: Ricky Thornton, Jr.
O’Reilly Auto Parts Rookie of the Race: Donald McIntosh
Pro Fabrication Headers Fastest Lap of the Race: Jonathan Davenport | Lap 1 | 14.420 seconds
Slicker Graphics Slickest Move of the Race: Devin Moran
Fresh Roof Hard Luck Award: Jonathan Davenport
Outerwears Crew Chief of the Race: Daniel Clarke
ARP Engine Builder of the Race: Clements Racing Engines
Miller Welders Chassis Builder of the Race: Longhorn Chassis
Dirt Draft Fastest in Hot Laps: Brandon Sheppard | 13.3475 seconds
Time of Race: 33 minutes 39 seconds
Big River Steel Chase for the Championship Presented by ARP Point Standings:
Pos - Car # - Competitor - Hometown - Points - Pay
1 - 20RT - Ricky Thornton Jr - Chandler, AZ - 8305 - $499,850
2 - 99 - Devin Moran - Dresden, OH - 8235 - $302,349
3 - 49 - Jonathan Davenport - Blairsville, GA - 8195 - $412,700
4 - 71 - Hudson O'Neal - Martinsville, IN - 8140 - $355,600
5 - 1 - Brandon Sheppard - New Berlin, IL - 7405 - $250,425
6 - 58 - Garrett Alberson - Las Cruces, NM - 7310 - $193,150
7 - 76 - Brandon Overton - Evans, GA - 6935 - $158,400
8 - 18D - Daulton Wilson - Fayetteville, NC - 6365 - $130,125
9 - 93 - Carson Ferguson - Lincolnton, NC - 6080 - $106,550
10 - 79 - Donald McIntosh - Dawsonville, GA - 6060 - $95,800
11 - 22 - Daniel Hilsabeck - Earlham, IA - 5795 - $85,975
12 - 60 - Dan Ebert - Lake Shore, MN - 5585 - $87,325
13 - 6 - Clay Harris - Jupiter, FL - 5395 - $78,950
14 - 93L - Cory Lawler - Hanover, PA - 4700 - $52,025
Article Credit: James Essex
Submitted By: Jeremy Shields
