Hoffman Barely Edges Cannon for LM Victory

By Tony Baranek

Schererville, Ind (August 28, 2010) - In one of the closest finishes in Illiana Speedway history, Eddie Hoffman beat Jeff Cannon by 0.002 seconds to claim the late-model feature victory Saturday night.

The decision was reached more than an hour after the conclusion of the race, after discussions among track officials when it was discovered that the transponders in the two cars were not in the same location.

The win was Hoffman's fifth of the season at the half-mile ASA-sanctioned speedway.

"I looked over and I thought I had it," Hoffman said. "But I've said that three times before and I didn't have it."

Hoffman's journey to the front was a long one. Cannon got an early jump on the field and was able to take the lead from D.J. Weltmeyer on lap four. By the time Hoffman got into second place on lap 13, he was chasing at least a dozen car-lengths.

Lap by lap Hoffman, the night's fastest qualifier, was able to slowly reel Cannon in. But he was running out time, and no yellow flags were forthcoming.

"Well, everyone is tip-toeing now because of last week," Hoffman said, referring to the aftershock of a horrific 7-car wreck on Aug. 21. "I was hoping for a yellow and I didn't know if I'd get one.

"I wasn't killing it. I was trying to go smooth and steady in case we had a yellow so I'd have some tires."

He never got the yellow, but lapped cars played a big role over the final couple of laps. Cannon became boxed in at one point, and with the white flag about to wave Hoffman had suddenly worked his way onto his bumper.

Hoffman got inside of Cannon on the backstretch, and as they roared out of Turn 4 they were side-by-side as they headed for the checkered flag. They crossed the same way.

"I don't know what happened," Cannon said of the traffic situation. "I wasn't going to pinch (Hoffman). My spotter told me he was low, and I figured we'd just race to the line and see what happened."

The post-race consultation took more than an hour, after which it was announced that Hoffman was the winner.

Lost in the excitement of the near-photo finish was the best run of Dean Patterson's career. Patterson made several good passes, the last of which earned him third place. He held on during a late challenge by Bobby Gash.

"I didn't know I was even in third," said Patterson, who put his No. 64 back together after last week's wreck. "I just went around and did the best I could. Where were all the fast guys at?"

Chasing him, as it turned out. Last week's winner, Mike White, battled handling problems and settled for fifth place ahead of Dave Gentile and Len Nowosel.

Earlier, Cannon made it 10 limited late-model feature victories on the season, but this one didn't come as easily as many of the others.

Rita Fields was again impressive at the outset, winning a side-by-side battle with Joe Balser and leading until lap 8. Dennis Lyp was at the point for one lap, before Cannon jumped in front.

Cannon was soon joined, however, by John Nutley, who stayed with the points leader to the finish. The difference at the line was 0.365 seconds. Third went to Marc Hankosky, ahead of Lyp, Fields and Mark Ross Jr.

Matt O'Leary caught a huge break two laps from the finish of the Legends feature, when after being passed by Chris King the yellow flag came out before they could complete the circuit.

Reverting to the last completed lap for the restart, O'Leary was installed back in front, and this time he held off King, along with Garrett Goodwin, Allen Gauthier and Craig Mahoney. It was O'Leary's second win of the season, and his second in a row.

"I got lucky," O'Leary said. "Thank goodness that yellow came out because I was done for. I waited four years for this (a win) and now two weeks in a row? How does that happen? I don't know."

Eddie Wolf had more than just a victory over Craig Amptmeyer in the turbo stox feature to celebrate.

"My wife's (Amy) birthday is tonight and our son's is Wednesday," Wolf said. "She said I needed to win one. I've got to thank Rita Fields. She bought this car during the week and hired me to drive it. It's one (good) car."

Points leader Bill Serviss finished third behind Wolf and Amptmeyer, followed by Brian Kucaba and Jason McKown.

Mike Jucius and Helen Nester waged a tremendous battle in the pure stocks feature, with Jucius hanging on at the checkered flag. Jason Moorehead and Neal Kerner followed the leaders.

"That was probably one of the better features of the year, from my view," Jucius said. "It's just so hard to hold her off. I was using the lapped traffic to block her a little bit."

Paul Fusko was tops in the bandolero main.

SUMMARY
Late-model
Fast time: Eddie Hoffman (19.814).
1st heat: 1. Jeff Cannon, 2. D.J. Weltmeyer, 3. Hoffman.
2nd heat: 1. Keith Tolf, 2. Len Nowosel, 3. Curt Tillman.
25-lap feature: 1. Hoffman, 2. Cannon, 3. Dean Patterson, 4. Bobby Gash, 5. Mike White, 6. Dave Gentile.

Limited late-model
Fast time: Jeff Cannon (21.205).
1st heat: 1. John Nutley, 2. Cannon, 3. Paul Zolodz.
2nd heat: 1. Joe Balser, 2. Rita Fields, 3. John Sojer.
25-lap feature: 1. Cannon, 2. Nutley, 3. Marc Hankosky, 4. Dennis Lyp, 5. Fields, 6. Mark Ross Jr.

Legends
Fast time: Chris King (17.551).
1st heat: 1. Matt O'Leary, 2. King, 3. Mark Van Drunen.
2nd heat: 1. Michael Martin Jr., 2. Tony D'Ambrose, 3. Casey Martin.
25-lap feature: 1. O'Leary, 2. King, 3. Garrett Goodwin, 4. Allen Gauthier, 5. Craig Mahoney, 6. Cory Conner.

Turbo stox
Fast time: Bill Serviss (17.786).
1st heat: 1. Chris Woodall, 2. Craig Amptmeyer, 3. Serviss.
2nd heat: 1. Tony Meier, 2. Pat Ligue, 3. Ben McKown.
25-lap feature: 1. Eddie Wolf, 2. Amptmeyer, 3. Serviss, 4. Billy Jarrells, 5. Brian Kucaba, 6. Jacob McKown.

Pure stocks
1st heat: 1. Neal Kerner, 2. Jason Moorehead, 3. Kevin Sisk.
2nd heat: 1. Mike Jucius, 2. Chris Czaszwicz, 3. Helen Nester.
15-lap feature: 1. Jucius, 2. Nester, 3. Moorehead, 4. Kerner, 5. Mike Gerike.

Bandoleros
Feature: 1. Paul Fusko, 2. Justin Van Drunen, 3. Paul Zolodz IV.

For more information, call the speedway at (219) 322-5311 or go to www.illianaspeedway.com.

The track is located at 7211 Lincoln Hwy on U.S. Highway 30, about two miles east of U.S. Highway 41 or five miles west of Interstate 65.