An
impressive group of family, friends and Team members
assembled at Knoxville Iowa on June 1st to witness the induction of
Richard Hoffman into the prestigious National Sprint Car HOF
in Knoxville Iowa. Those of us who have the honor of counting Richard as
a family member or friend know that no one deserves this honor more than
him. He has dedicated the majority of his life participating, competing
at the highest levels and promoting the sport he loves with a passion.
It was an honor for us to witness this great moment in his and the
Hoffman Family's storied history. A video will follow in the upcoming
days. Now back to winning races and championships.
((More
on About Hoffman Racing Page)
Brady Bacon at Ocala 2013 with the "The Mean Green
69 Machine"
Racing Results
RESULTS FROM THE LAST WEEKEND OF 2013-PAS BUDWEISER
NATIONALS
The theme of the 2013 season continued
at Perris Auto Speedway for the conclusion of the 2013 season. Fast cars ,
good finishes, just a little short of the wins we look for every time we
hit the track.
Night 1 saw us with the 4th quick time at 16.398. Finishing 2nd in the 4th
heat gave us an upfront starting position for the A Main. It turns out
that the track was not conducive for passing, as the first 6 in the A Main
finished in that position after the 30 lap race. Night 1 was very
important for the second night as the top 6 in points from the night
automatically qualified for the A Main in night 2. We were tied with Tony
Stewart racing for 3rd-4th, which set us up nicely for night 2.
All we had to do night 2 was hot lap and run a 6 lap dash , to determine
the starting positions for the A Main. Brady had "a moment" in turn 3 and
after we all caught our breath, he finished 5th in the dash. The bottom
line in the A Main is that we just missed the set up a little. Brady drove
hard, tried time and again to get around the 32 car, but just could not
pull the pass off. The 5th place finish locked up 3rd place in the USAC
National Sprint Car points , our best in the past few years.
We feel everything will be in place for another run at it in 2014. More
details later!!! Thanks to our fans for your support and to our great
sponsors . February is right around the corner, see you in Florida!!!
RESULTS FROM CANYON SPEEDWAY 2013
The weather was absolutely "chamber
of commerce" type for both days we competed with the best from the USAC
National Sprint Series and the USAC/CRA Sprint Cars. The car count was
good at 30 cars both nights, about 12 cars came from the MidWest .
Amazingly we drew the 3rd qualifying pill both nights. Both nights the
track was very greasy early in the evening and the track got faster as
qualifying progressed . We had a fast car both nights and overcame the
track conditions the first night and qualified 6th quick. The second
night the track was much worse for early qualifiers. We ran a 14.2
qualifying (13.8 the first night), which was the same as the fastest car
in the last hot lap session. The 19th quick time put us in a big hole.
Night one saw another win get away
form us, more accurately taken away from us. After running 3rd in the
2nd heat, we started on the pole for the A Main. Brady dominated laps
1-20. No one really pressured him in those laps until we approached
lapped traffic. That traffic was really bad, running all lines on the
track and blocking the track. Brady negotiated several cars and
was working on another low in turns 1 & 2 when that car blew their RR
tire. Brady slowed to avoid contact when we were hit hard by the second
place car, so hard the car lifted off the ground. That car continued
contact by excellerating through us and spinning the car. Brady
restarted 22nd and ran hard to finish 13th.
Night 2 was doomed form the track condition when we qualified. Brady
won heat 3 by a wide margin with cars that out qualified us but could
not get close to us in the heat. Starting 17th, the track rubbered up
early in the A Main. One lane racing is no good for anyone. Brady was
able to negotiate several accidents and finish 11th.
The year finishes this coming weekend
in Perris California . We are excited to finish with a strong last 2
races.
RESULTS FROM THE "BURG" - LAST RACE IN THE MIDWEST FOR
2013
The crash we experienced at Eldora the
week before made for a long week for Rob and Dan. The car we crashed had
been the car we ran all year. Tough decisions had to be made on what car
would be the primary car and what car would be the back-up. The car Kyle
Larson ran in Iowa, converted back to a 4 bar car, the car that has been
the back-up all year, never on the track, or the new "show car" ? It was
decided to run the back-up car and make the former coil car as a back-up
in the 4 bar design.
The car was good in hot laps and of course drawing pill 1 wasn't an
advantage this night. We ended up 9th fastest in qualifying. A series of
unfortunate circumstances caused us to miss the heat race. We then started
3rd in the B Main and Brady quickly passed KT, got the lead and won going
away from the field. The car looked great.
In retrospect we should have left the car alone for the A Main. The
changes that were made caused the car to be tight in the feature and we
struggled trying to advance, finishing where we started 9th. A
disappointing night at our "Home Track".
Now we have a break before heading West for 2 nights in Arizona and 2
nights in California, to conclude the 2013 season. Our plans are to finish
strong!!!
RESULTS FROM THE 4 CROWNS 2013, THE "BIG E"
The theme of the 2013 season played out
at Eldora , "a fast car,running up front and bad racing luck". We were
very fast again, 6th in hot laps and Brady ran a blistering 2nd qualifying
lap, running on the fence and clocked in 2nd fast. Starting 6th in a very
stacked 2nd heat, Brady did a masterful job and transferring after a
fierce dual with KT.
The huge Eldora crowd was treated to a wild A Main. We stared 5th and ran
6th in the early going. Brady was running the preferred high line and
making progress , moving up to 3rd by mid-way through the race, which
featured numerous slide jobs throughout the field. We can speculate that
we would have finished 2nd or caught a break and won, but we will never
know. We had a comfortable lead over the 4th place car and we were closing
on 2nd place when the yellow we didn't need came out on lap 15. On the
restart Brady went high, a number of cars went low to pull a slide job and
we ran out of room and flipped in turn 2. Thankfully Brady was okay, not
so much for the car. The 24th place finish did nothing to help our title
hopes. We are still in the hunt and hope for a big win at our home track
(Lawrenceburg) this Saturday. This will be the last Midwest race of the
year. So get out and root The Mean Green Hoosier Tire Lykins Oil machine
to victory. See you there!!!
VP Marketing/Public Relations Hoffman Racing
twbigt69@gmail.com
513-284-1519
RESULTS FROM THE "HAUBSTADT HUSTLER" 14 SEPTEMBER 2013
One of the great mysteries in life , why
is the Haubstadt Hustler 50, 40 laps? Once we figured out how many laps we
were running we were okay, LOL. The format was not our usual USAC format
of qualifying and heat races. You drew a pill to determine which heat and
where you started in the heat. A point system was then used to determine
the top 6 starters in the A Main , they then redrew for the top 6 starting
spots.
We were in the top 6 in hot laps and drew a pill that started us in the
second row of heat 3. Seth Parker got away as Brady worked his way to the
second spot. The race went green to checkered . Brady caught the leader
and passed him on the last turn of the last lap. He is very good at that.
We accumulated enough points to be in the top 6 and Brady redrew number 5
, so we started there in the A Main.
The racing was torrid as the cushion became dangerous as Brady ran 4th ,
then 3rd in a long green flag run. The motor "cut out" twice in the A Main
hurting our chances at advancing further and competing for the win. Brady
did a masterful job working traffic and closed on the leaders. Our third
place finish marked the third time we finished on the podium in the last 4
races.
It was a good point night as we gained on both Clauson and Darland ,
cutting the deficit from 92 points to 56 to first place. Now on to one of
our favorite tracks for The 4 Crowns. See you there!!!
West Memphis- The Ditch Sept 7th
We were excited to visit The Ditch again
after our victory there last year. We had a store visit before the race in
Marion Arkansas for Mean Green at a Fred's store. Thanks to all the fans
for coming out and for Julie Delisle of CR Brands for helping us out. We
were once again the fastest in hot laps and looking forward to a great
qualifying time. We drew a late pill, big surprise, and on the "out lap"
before taking the green the car got into the 2nd turn wall and knocked out
the front end. The crew did a great job fixing the car, but a late pill
caused us to miss qualifying
and we had to start last in every event. We ran the heat race for points
and to check out the car. Starting 20th in the A Main Brady steadily
worked his way forward. On the way he had contact with a slower car which
eventually caused the RR to go flat. The crew did a great job getting the
tire changed and got Brady back out. Unfortunately we were a lap down and
the best we could do was a 10th place finish. The car was fast in the A
Main at times. Just a tough night to finish the trip and it made for a
long trip home. Looking forward to one of our favorite tracks, Haubstadt ,
see you there.
RESULTS FORM THE "TWIN RAZORBACK 40'S" 6 SEPTEMBER 2013
Last year we were rained out after hot
laps, qualifying and our heat race. Brady has run I 30 Speedway quite a
few times when he lived in Oklahoma. We were once gain quick in hot laps
and qualified 2nd . A second place finish in the 2nd heat should of had us
starting 5th in the A Main but one car failed to transfer through the heat
races so we started 6th. I 30 became very hard and slick by feature time.
If you were a bottom feeder it was very difficult to be passed, but you
had a hard time passing. If you took a chance and ran high, you took a
good
chance of being freight trained and loosing numerous positions. Brady
worked so hard and tried the high line several times to no avail. Running
5th in the late stages of the race he went high and it finally paid off in
the last turn of the last lap where he made a miraculous double pass to
finish 3rd. A great drive by Brady, a very intelligent drive to get the
best finish possible. If we had started up front, who
knows?
Great job of a 2-3 finish in the big race at Oskaloosa
Iowa. The race was shortened by 10 laps due to rain. Who knows what would
have happened. ESPN did a special on Kyle Larson which will air before a
NASCAR race in the near future. Great exposure for everyone connected
with the Team. They also interviewed Richard for the special. The link
below is to an amateur movie I put together with the little time I had
during the event. Hope you enjoy!!!
RESULTS FROM THE WEEKEND 30-31 AUGUST 2013
BURLINGTON IOWA
The long trip to Burlington was all done
on Friday, allowing the Team to sleep at home and be ready to go racing
for 2 nights. It has been a few years since we raced at Burlington's 34
Raceway. I remember it being hotter than you know what then and it was
again this year. They have not had rain in a month which makes the good
track the management gave us even more astonishing. Thanks for all you
hard work. We were 2nd quick in hot laps, and drew our typical late pill
and ended up 7th quick. Racing in the 1st of 3 heat races , Brady did a
good job working traffic and transferred to the A Main with a 2nd place
finish. Our good fortune came at another's bad luck as a car who out
qualified us did not transfer and we started on the pole. To say that
Brady put on a show for 14 laps would be an understatement. He was on a
rail , hitting his marks in every turn and stretching out to an almost 7
second lead. He was already lapping cars. Entering turn 2 the right wheel
came flying off the car as a result of a broken right rear axle. Brady was
not hurt nor any one in the pits. The axle had only 14 races on it so it
definitely was an equipment failure. It is always hard to accept giving
one away, Brady had them covered. However, the Team went right to the car
wash and up early the next morning to work on the car with a ton of work
,before a 5 hour trip to Terre Haute.
TERRE HAUTE INDIANA
The trip was smooth and we arrived at a very hot and
humid Action Track. Undaunted by the previous nights disappointing finish,
at one of our favorite tracks, we were very fast again. We qualified 4th
fast and transferred through the heat . As seems to be the case every time
we are at Terre Haute, weather was building with lightening and wind.
Thanks to the track and USAC for moving the program along. We started
inside the second row and on the initial start immediately got second only
to see the yellow fly. Brady did it again on the restart and the green to
checkered finish was on. Once again we had a great car with Brady getting
inside Jerry twice but could not pull off the pass. Tracy got by us at one
point when Brady got hung up by lapped traffic, but he motored by Tracy to
hold second place. It was a heck of a race , congrats to our friend Jerry
Coons Jr for the win and to Brady for one heck of a run. The great news is
that we are fast every night. We keep knocking on the door. We head to
Little Rock and West Memphis this weekend. We were fast at both tracks
last year and expect to come home with a sweep. See you there !!!!
SMACK DOWN 2 AT KOKOMO 2013
Smack
down 2 at Kokomo produced 3 nights of packed stands,great racing and
excitement once again. If you have not attended the first 2 years, I
definitely recommend that you attend in 2014.
We as a Team had a very fast car every night and good results. The first 2
nights were the regular USAC format and accumulated points to determine
the starting field for night 3 . We were among the fastest cars in hot
laps, being the fastest in 2 of the nights. We qualified 11th and 2nd in
nights 1 and 2. We also were really good in the heat races finishing 2nd
both nights. The feature also produced a very fast car, running up front
throughout. The track produced multiple lane racing. Brady searched around
the track every night for the fastest path for our car and did a great
job. Our 4th and 3rd place finishes in the A Main nights 1&2 make us 2nd
in total points for the Smack Down .
The unique format of night 3 takes the top 8 in points and matches them up
in a 1-1 battle for 3 laps which determines your starting spot in the A
Main Saturday. This is a lot of fun for the fans and the teams. We faced
Jon Stanbrough in round 1 and won by a significant margin. Round 2 saw us
loose to Chase Stockon , who won the pole. This put us in the 3rd starting
spot for the Smack Down. We ran in the top 4 all race with a good ,fast
car. Brady once again did a great job searching the track for the best
lane for our car in the 40 lap race. We got as high as 3rd and we thought
we crossed the finish line 4th . All electronic scoring devices has us
3rd, but USAC decided to over ride that finish with a visual finish of
5th, they say being passed by the 11 car at the line. A brief discussion
with USAC did not change their minds. So we were scored 5th.
We are still within striking distance of 1st in points, heading for
Burlington Iowa this Friday and Terre Haute on Saturday. See you there.
A GREAT DOUBLE EFFORT BY THE MEAN GREEN
LYKINS OIL HOOSIER TIRE HOFFMAN TEAM, OSKALOOSA IOWA 2013
Running
two cars is always a challenge for a one car team. In this case it
required : 1) a new car assembled 2)transporting 3 Mean Green cars to
Oskaloosa, requiring an extra truck and trailer 3) Extra mounted and
unmounted tires, 39 total 4) extra fuel and 5) extra help, thanks to my
partner August Hoffman our buddy Cowboy Wolffrum and Dan's cousin Tony .
If you are asking yourself why , well who would pass up on a driving team
of our regular Brady Bacon and a returning 2 time winner of this event
Kyle Larson ? Not the Hoffman Team. It was lots of work, but worth every
hour of it. The
format was different than our regular one, 2 qualifying races and the A
Main lined up by points from the qualifying events. When you run 2 cars
the night mare is having both cars in the same qualifying races. Yes of
course it happened. It went from a night mare to a thrilling dual of Mean
Green cars ,( in a race loaded with the top cars),the class of the race,
and putting on one heck of a race. Kyle won, but not without a tremendous
effort by Brady.
It seems we always have bad weather for this race and this year was no
exception. With storms surrounding the track, the second qualifying race
was scrapped and after a delay for rain the A Main was run. Kyle started
3rd and Brady 6th. Numerous yellows and a red flag caused the officials to
call therace official after
20 laps when rain returned. Before this the racing was torrid , with the
Mean Green cars running 2nd and 3rd . Wow, we were fast. Both Brady and
Kyle were putting on a show. Did we have anything for the winner Jon
Stanbrough, we will never know, no excuses Jon beat us, but the additional
10 laps would have been interesting. The 2 Mean Green Lykins Oil Hoosier Tire Hoffman cars were on the podium,
2nd & 3rd. Thanks to Brady and Kyle for supreme efforts.
One
thing is for sure. The Hoffman Team left Iowa proud, with our eye on the
next race and the bigger picture. Great job Team !! We will remember this
one for a long time. Put this one in the long storied history of Hoffman
racing.
FYI, ESPN shot a special on Kyle Larson to be aired on the network in the
near future. In car camera and an interview with Kyle and the double Hall
Of Famer included. Tim Waechter
VP Marketing/Public Relations Hoffman Racing
twbigt69@gmail.com
513-284-1519
THOUGHTS ON THE
2013 INDIANA SPRINT WEEK
First of all , thank you to all the fans
that packed the tracks each and every night . All of us on the team enjoy
talking to the fans , we even met some fans form England. A special thanks
to our friends Dennis Alderson and Bob Schmidt for their friendship and
constant encouragement , even when things are not going well.
ISW is a grind. USAC Teams are not set up like the Outlaws, who are on the
road all year. I am so proud to be a part of such a great race Team. If
you haven't noticed, we are not the youngest Team in the pit area. I can
assure you that no one works harder or is more dedicated than Hoffman
Racing. An example is the turn around time at Putnamville after we broke
the drive line during the 4th heat. It is a race team's night mare to
break in the 4th heat, with little time before the B Main. Not only did we
make the B Main, but we rallied for a 6th in the A Main.
Hoffman Racing finished 2nd in ISW points, with 3 podium finishes.
Highlights for us included a 3rd at The Burg in front of our sponsors,
friends and Richard's employees at ReMax, a 3rd at The Action Track and
Bloomington.
Brady drove his tail off , giving us everything he had. We believe that we
learned a few key things that bodes well for us the rest of the year. We
are back to 4th in National points, within striking distance . We hope to
make it 3 in a row at Oskaloosa Iowa. See you there!!!!
July 20th
Haubstadt, IN - rAIN oUT / BRADY TOOK RUNNER-UP SPOT FOR THE WEEK!
SUMMARY COMING SOON!
JULY 18TH AND 19TH - MIDWAY THROUGH SPEEDWEEK WITH TERRA
HAUTE AND LINCOLN PARK ARE IN THE BOOKS
Terra Haute was a breakthrough in a week
of struggles. There is just no other track like it, big wide and things
can get quite wild. Brady qualified the "Mean Green" Mopar machine 8th.
Transferred in the 4th heat giving him a front row starting spot. The
first 26th Brady ran 2nd behind Kevin Thomas and could stay with him but
not reel him in. Once they got into traffic it was a different story.
Brady was all over Thomas. The final laps were a 3 way shoot out until
Darland hit the wall on the white flag lap. The race ended with a 3 wide
finish with Brady making the podium in 3rd.
Lincoln park started very well as Brady
was 4th quick in a 50 card field. Disaster hit in the first lap of the
heat race as the drive train failed putting the team in a controlled
panic! They were able to replace the drive train from the motor back
including the rear end in time for the "B" main. The transfer was made and
Brady started 8th. Lincoln Park did not provide as much passing and when
the checkers flew Brady brought it in 6th. Cudos to the crew for getting
the car repaired with record high temperatures adding to the challenge. We
are off to Bloomington and Tri-State for the last 2 nights and then a well
deserved break for everyone.
INDIANA SPEEDWEEK SO FAR JULY 12 THRU 14TH
Two words "struggle and
persistence" come to mind as I look back at the first 3
nights of Indiana Speedweek. At the "Gas City" opener Brady qualified the
car 5th quick giving us a great start to the evening. The first head comes
and a car got sideways in front of Brady and he could not miss his nerf
bar. Brady may have helped the car recover, but in the process bent a bar
in the front end of the "69" and we missed the transfer. In the time
between the heat and the semi was spent trying to get the old bar off and
replaced. You know you are in trouble when you have your biggest hammer
out and it is not getting the job done. Time for the torch and the bar was
replaced. Brady's time put him on the pole for the semi and he held the
position for the transfer. The car would just not handle in the main and
it was a great effort by Brady to bring in home 12th. So it was off the
the "Bull Ring" at Kokomo where Brady Qualified 2nd quick. Made the
transfer in the 2nd heat finishing 2nd. The car handled great until late
in the race and it was all Brady could do to finish 13th. Off to our home
track, Lawrenceburg. Our best night to date. Fourth quick, 3rd in the heat
and the "A" as well. The car was still not working as well as we would
like in the latter laps of the race. We are now off to the the famed
"Terre Haute Action Track" we high hopes for balance of the contest.
RESULTS FROM LINCOLN PARK SPEEDWAY, PUTNAMVILLE IN. 4
JULY 2013
Our Country's birthday turned out to be
a night to forget for the race team. We pulled another pill that had us
going out very late, 36th out of 41 cars. A few adjustments were made
after hot laps, a rear bar and stagger among them. There wasn't much to
hold on to in the track, so we ended up 15th. Starting inside of row 2 in
the heat race, the car showed promise. Brady was able to run high and
low, he looked very racy and we were optimistic going into the A Main.
No excuses we just "missed it" in
the A Main. The inside row didn't take off and we dropped 5-6 positions
which Brady made up. But as the track continued to dry we dropped in the
field. Brady tried every line to no avail. One lap in turn 4 he did
everything but spin it out, loosing numerous positions. The 18th place
finish was a real body blow to the team after such a great win in
Michigan. Next up is the most important part of the schedule, Indiana
Sprint Week. We will be ready and Brady will be hungry. See you in Gas
City!!!
JUNE, 22nd BRADY BACON DELIVERS A RECORD SETTING "82nd
USAC NATIONAL VICTORY " TO THE "MEAN GREEN 69 TEAM" TONIGHT AT I-96
SPEEDWAY IN ODESSA MICHIGAN.
We
knew Brady was going to bring us a trip to Victory Lane soon, we just did
not know where. He has done a tremendous job so far this year not only
finishing races, but most of them in the top 5. The story starts at Terre
Haute where a tremendous rain storm came in after Brady practiced well and
set a 4th quick qualifying time. We had to load up in a hurry as the wind
was blowing and rain was coming in buckets canceling the nights race. The
next morning we decided we better pull the car out and clean some of the
mud off of it and in the hauler. This proved to be a good move on our part
as we could hear noise from the rear end when we pushed it out. We decided
to change the rear end which resulted in another good move as we found
stripped teeth off the gears. This would have put us behind the 8 ball
finding this out in hot laps in Mich..
We
practiced well at I-96 and was the fasted car in hot laps. Brady then set
a track record at 17.846 that held till one of the last cars to come out
slid in just under that time. Brady finished 4th in his heat to make the
transfer to the "A" The invert for the "A" put us in a 5th starting spot
(I believe) and by lap 10 Brady had the car in contention. On lap 15 Brady
took the lead from Clauson and after a couple of yellows for flat tires (a
scary thing when you are leading) Brady kept a commanding lead until the
checkers flew. The crew and driver did a fantastic job in bringing this
record Win to the "Mean Green 69 Machine.
FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Brady
Bacon, 2. Bryan Clauson, 3. Tracy Hines, 4. Dave Darland, 5. Robert Ballou,
6. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 7. Hunter Schuerenberg, 8. C.J. Leary, 9. Matt
Westfall, 10. Chase Stockon, 11. Nick Drake, 12. Steve Irwin, 13. Joe
Bares, 14. Tyler Courtney, 15. Dusty Shriver, 16. Jay Steinebach, 17. Dick
Mahoney, 18. Gregg Dalman, 19. Mark Strpko, 20. John Watson. NT
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-2 Clauson, Laps 3-10 Thomas, Laps 11-14
Clauson, Laps 15-30 Bacon.
Please note that we will have the
car at the Tylerville Road Kroger this Wed the 26th next to Ryan Newman,
who will be signing autographs.
THE HOFFMAN TEAM ADVENTURES ON THE EASTERN STORM 2013
The Eastern Storm has not been kind to
us over the years and unfortunately this year was no exception. The
fans in Pa. are the best, enthusiastic and so very welcoming. We look
forward to the trip every year. Our affinity for drawing very poor
pills continued on the Storm. The stands were packed and we
put on great races. We look forward to next year .
Grandview started the Storm as it has
in past years. The track slowed up considerably during qualifying and
Brady did a good job qualifying 8th and winning heat 4 easily. The 9th
place finish in the A Main was disappointing , but Levi and Darren
Clayton put on a heck of a show for the fans.
The following night at Path Valley was
a victim of the tropical storm that swept through the East Coast .
Friday was an off night so the crew had some down time. Dan and Rob
turned a few laps at a go kart track and managed to keep the right side
up. Friday we were thrilled to tour the Eastern Museum of Motor Racing.
The volunteers' who run the museum are the best. The personal tour we
got was so informative. Our thanks to all the volunteer staff and
recommend this museum to all our race fans. Donations keep it going.
The
next race was Saturday at a favorite track of ours, Port Royal. We felt
that the track owed us one after leading 27 laps the year before and
crashing out. A late draw again hurt our
qualifying time and 13th quick was no indication of how fast a car we
really had. Brady was dominating heat race one and took the white flag
when the drive shaft broke on the car in turn 2. The crew pulled off a
heroic effort in changing rear ends and drive shaft in time for the B
Main. What a great job!!! Brady again dominated the B Main for a win.
A quick turn around for the A Main had Brady starting 12th. He put on
a show ,moving to the top 5 without the benefit of a yellow. That
yellow flew on lap 24. Brady got 4th at the line to earn the Hard
Charger award. We have to qualify better to start toward the front and
we will crack the winner's circle. Great job by Brady and the crew.
A new track was up for the last night,
Susquehanna Speedway. The night started out with fast time in hot laps
and even with a late draw , 3rd quick
time. The car didn't sound right when it came in after hot laps. Rob
and Dan looked at the motor and without time for a deep analysis we had
to qualify. They then found a throttle shaft broken necessitating a
motor change. Now 2 nights in a row major work had to be done in a
short period of time. The crew accomplished the motor change in 20
minutes or so, got the car pushed to start and we were ready for the 3rd
heat. Brady made short work with most of the field but could not pull
of the pass for the win. We just plain "missed it" in the A Main.
Starting 4th we dropped steadily on a slick
track without much to grab on to and
finished 10th. A tough way to end the week.
A long drive home over night was
made longer with the 10th.
Now on to one of our favorite tracks,
Terre Haute for the rescheduled rain out and then to Lake
Odessa Michigan 21 and 22 June.
BLOOMINGTON MAY 17 , ANOTHER FAST CAR
AND GOOD RESULT
We drew another pill which at the time
seemed like it could be detrimental to posting a good time in
qualifying. We were among the fastest cars in hot laps. Rob and Brady
kept up with the track , watching early qualifiers , we made a few
last minute changes in stagger and set fast time at 11.597. This put us
starting outside row 3 in the first heat. The track was pretty much
blocked in the early laps. Brady was patient and made one heck of
a move going from 5th to 2nd and transferring to the A Main.
Weather was a concern all night as
rain was all around the speedway. The Bloomington folks and USAC did a
great job moving the program along. Brady moved to 4th early in the A
Main. He tried all lines in every corner of the track, you have to"
pass them where they aren't". Brady got past Chase
Stockon on lap 14 for 3rd place when a
red flag flew and we had to give the position back. There was some very
tight racing the second half of the race and we got nipped at the line
finishing 5th. We had another fast car, Brady drove patiently but
aggressively and we were just a bit off again.
We can not think of a better place for
victory #1 for 2013 than one of our favorite tracks, Terre Haute. See
you there!!!
Tim Waechter
VP Marketing/Public Relations Hoffman Racing
twbigt69@gmail.com
513-284-1519
RESULTS FROM TRI-STATE SPEEDWAY, 11 MAY 2013
Tri-State is always a racy joint,
and this evening was no different. With Brady last fall, we had a heck of
a run in the A main, so we were optimistic going into the evening. We drew
a good pill for once, 16, and were third quick in hot laps. The track was
still "coming in" when we qualified and our time was good for 9th quick,.3
off quick time. Starting outside row 2 in the first heat, Brady found a
blocked track with every groove he tried to pass, finally cleared a
competitor and finished a comfortable3rd and transferred. As always the
track crew reworked the track for the A Main. The crew decided on a
relatively large stagger change from what we had been running during the
night. We caught a break when 2 cars failed to transfer through the heats
and we started outside front row for the A Main. The stagger change made
for a car tough to turn for the first part of the race. So much so that
Brady spun the car out in turn one a few lapsinto the feature event. The
car came to life as the race went on and Brady was making good progress
through the field when he was caught up in a mess caused by cars in front
of us. The left side nerf bar had to be pulled off the left rear tire .
Mid way through the race an open red flag enabled the crew to make minor
changes and the car got really fast for the second half of the race. A
10th place finish is remarkable considering that Brady had to start last 2
times. Brady and the Team never gave up, kept fighting and remained in 4th
place in the National standings. On to Bloomington on Friday. See you
there!!!
Tim Waechter
VP Marketing/Public Relations Hoffman Racing
twbigt69@gmail.com
513-284-1519
4-26&27-13 GAS CITY/PUTNAMVILLE WEEKEND APRIL
Fast race cars continued the 2013
Hoffman theme at Gas City and Putnamville. Our bad luck with pill draws
continued at Gas City. However the track was still very fast when we went
out 3rd last. Brady's first lap was good for 6th quick and the second lap
looked like it could have been faster until the car biked in turn one and
flipped. The crew immediately began to prepare the back up car, if needed,
before the wrecked car hit the pit area. The damage was 90% in the front
end and tail tank of the car. The decision had to be made immediately to
sub the back up or fix the wrecked car for the heat race. The USAC rule is
that if you sub a car after the event has begun, you start last in at
least your first event. Richard and Rob made the correct decision to fix
the car. The crew did an unbelievable job in a short period of time,
putting a fast race car back on the track for the heat. Brady did a great
job feeling out the car in the heat, but was not able to transfer. The car
looked good in the B main finishing second and transferring. Since we
missed the transfer in the heat, we started 8th in the A Main. It was wild
with 3 red flags. We had a very good car, but no good enough to run with
KT JR. The 6th place finish, while not what we want, wasn't bad after the
issues the entire team faced. It was a good points night, as we moved to
3rd in points, only 6 out of the lead. Below find links to two videos of
the flip. One from the grandstands and one from an on car camera, produced
and edited by August Hoffman. (On Car
Camera)(Video
from the Grand Stands)
Our worst case scenario played out at Putnamville. Get the car muddy, also
in this case wrecked again, and get rained out. We were fast again, went
out late again in qualifying, and Brady did the job by ending up P5.
Starting 5th in the first heat, Brady got a good start, running low got to
turn 3& 4 low, got a launch and got run into. Cars higher on the track
collided, came down on Brady , Brady got up in the air after running over
a left rear, and blew out the rr tire. The crew got it changed and sent
Brady back out only to discover other problems as a result of the contact.
The car was fixed and ready , but persistent rain caused cancellation of
the event. USAC did award qualifying points. Next week on the road to
Missouri and Nebraska.
Tim Waechter
VP Marketing/Public Relations Hoffman Racing
twbigt69@gmail.com
513-284-1519
4-20-13 COLD, RAIN/SNOW MIX WINS AT ELDORA
4-06-13 AN EXCITING FINISH AT OUR HOME TRACK, CAME
UP JUST A LITTLE SHORT (Video
Highlights)
If we could just figure out this
pill draw!!! In Florida the two nights we drew a low
number,
the track was an ice skating rink. At The Burg we drew a high number which
turned out to be problematic . We were 7th quick in hot laps even though
we were in the 4th group. By the time we hit the track to qualify, 33rd
out of 39 cars, the track had slowed up considerably. Our 12th quick time
was no indication how fast we were and how well the car was handling.
We started outside 2nd row in heat 4 and Brady quickly settled into 2nd
place. An oil leaking Ballou won and we finished a comfortable 2nd
transferring to the A Main.
During the night the crew made numerous stagger, spacing of rear tire, and
one gear change to stay up with the track. The Burg reworked the track
before the A main and made for a very racy track. After starting 11th in
the A main , Brady early on tried several lines around the 4 turns. Brady
thought that the low line would come in and it did. In the last 15 laps
Brady shot up through the field after many hard fought passes. Brady was
3rd after a late race yellow and after the green dropped he was in 2nd,
running low and getting a great launch off turn 4. It looked like we had a
great shot at a win, when another yellow flew. We had to go back to third
and the green , white ,checkered finish saw one of the best at the new
Burg lay out. The third place finish was disappointing after our shot at a
win, but we will take it and move on. Now in 4th place in the points ,
just 19 out of the lead. Great job Brady and the entire crew. See you at
the Big E.
Tim Waechter
VP Marketing/Public Relations Hoffman Racing
twbigt69@gmail.com
513-284-1519
Video from Ocala W/Visit from Kyle Larson........
THE 2013 SEASON STARTS OUT WITH FAST
CARS AND A FAST DRIVER AT OCALA
We
had a win or two in mind when we arrived at Ocala for
practice night and the 3 nights of racing. We were fast all
night during practice, in the top 3 most of the night. We
knew we were fast and Brady is the driver to take us to our
10th championship this year.
Night one we qualified on a good track,
going out about mid way
and ran a second fast time of 14.204. Brady started 6th
in the second heat and did what he needed to do by
transferring to the feature. We started 6th in the A
main, fast cars started up front and the chase was on.
Lapped cars became a big issue quite early in the race.
Brady did a great job of navigating what was a blocked
track several times and was running down Mr Clauson and
Darland as we ran out of laps, finishing third.
Nights
2 & 3 had the same theme, an early draw, a
slimy/slippery track to qualify on and a big hurdle to
overcome. Good thing we had a full crew to scrape clay
off the car (photo below on right) Night 2 the track was
so slimy that we qualified 20th, yet ran a lap of 14.0
by winning heat race 4(fast time was 13.8 in
qualifying). Brady put on the show of the night moving
from a 20th starting position to a 6th place finish. It
sure was fun and exciting to watch, Brady won the hard
charger award for moving up 14 positions on a track
where a pass in not easily executed.
Night
3 saw a repeat scenario on a similar track in
qualifying, Brady finishing 12 quick. Brady again
dominated heat race 4(ran another 14.0 lap, fast time in
qualifying was 13.9) and starting 12th in the A main.
Brady came home 7th this night, again
executing some great passes.
Thanks to Brady and the crew for a first class effort
every night. We all enjoyed an extended period of time
with Brady and Xia Xianna and we are excited for the
rest of the season.
2-22-13 OCALA SPEEDWAY 6TH PLACE FINISH AND HARD CHARGER AWARD
In Florida it is usually not
good to pull a early pill for qualifications. It sure proved true tonight
as and we paid the consequences with a 20th quick time. It did not deter
Brady and he went out ad made the transfer by winning his heat. In the
feature he improved 14 positions in 30 laps to finish 6th and win the hard
charger award.
2-21-13 OCALA SPEEDWAY 3RD PLACE FINISH IN SEASON OPENER
Brady Bacon sets 2nd Quick time it
Qualifications. After making the transfer from Heat 3
with a 4th pace finish, he brought the Mean Green "69" home
3rd in the A main. Full recap later.
TEAM OWNER RICHARD HOFFMAN HAS BEEN
SELECTED AS A 2013- INDUCTEE IN THE SPRINT CAR HALL OF FAME
It
is with much team pride that we announce that our team owner Richard
Hoffman has been selected to be inducted in to the National Sprint Car
Hall of Fame for 2013. Richard joins his late father "Gus" as the 2nd
Member of Hoffman Racing to be inducted in the:
Owners-Mechanics-Builders-Manufacturers-Car Sponsors Category.
Richard truly fits the bill in this category as he has preformed each one
of these duties over the years and still does. Richard is never afraid to
get his hands dirty, from paint prepping the cars at the shop, to scraping
mud off after wheel packing, Richard is always there. (Hall
of Fame Anouncement)
Brady Bacon to Pilot the "Mean Green"
#69 in 2013
PURSUING UNPRECEDENTED USAC NATIONAL PRINT CAR CHAMPIONSHIP # 10
