SALISBURY, N.C. – Nick Hoffman dominated the opening night of the fifth annual QRC Open presented by HMS Motorsport at Millbridge Speedway on Tuesday, topping the $1,000-to-win Outlaw division feature at the sixth-mile dirt oval.
Hoffman led 24 of the 25 laps from the pole to capture the win in the mini outlaw kart class dedicated to 500cc, two-stroke engines, beating out Tyler Seavey in a one-lap dash to the checkered flag.
The win was Hoffman’s second in a row during big-money race week at Millbridge, following on from his win in the 2017 edition of the Open.
“I saw five to go, and timing it out I realized I was going to hit lapped traffic, and I was like ‘Oh man, this is going to be bad,'” said Hoffman in victory lane. “My kart kept bogging down in (turns) three and four, and that allowed him (Wehrli) to get by me. I had to show my nose to the lapped car to get him off the bottom. I don’t know what happened to the (No.) 54 after that, but things worked out in our favor.
“When we went back green, I knew I just had to make one good lap to bring it home, and that last lap was the worst lap I think I made all night long,” Hoffman admitted. “Tyler tried to run the top to get by me, but we hung on. It was tough though, for sure.”
Hoffman’s toughest competition in the main event came from New York teenager Andrew Wehrli, who started fourth but moved up to second by the end of the second lap and kept the No. 1 Millbridge Speedway QRC honest for virtually the entire distance.
After running within half a second of Hoffman throughout the first half of the main event and hanging on to his position through multiple restarts, Wehrli pounced on an opportunity with three laps to go, when Hoffman encountered traffic and got hung up trying to lap the slower kart of Scott Hall.
When Hoffman dove low, Wehrli ripped around the outside to lead lap 23 and appeared to be on his way to victory lane and a four-figure payday.
However, Wehrli’s No. 54 SKE Chassis mount hit a rut in turns one and two that knocked the carburetor loose from the engine, causing him to slow to a stop on top of turn four as the white flag was being displayed to the field.
It marked a heartbreaking end to what could have been a breakthrough night for Wehrli, who has yet to win a premier class feature at Millbridge.
“We had a big run in (turns) one and two and it just bounced right off,” lamented Wehrli. “The car was really good tonight; Adam Welch and Kyle Beattie really got me hooked up. We’re going to get one this year … hopefully soon.
“I saw Nick bogging down and catching lap cars; and with them running the bottom as well, I knew if I ripped the top that I’d likely pass all of them, and that’s exactly what happened,” Wehrli noted. “The next lap, the carburetor fell off. I’m ready to whoop them tomorrow, now.”
After Wehrli’s car was cleared from the race track, Hoffman brought the field back to green and had to contend with Seavey, who took to the top groove in an effort to steal the victory away.
However, one lap wasn’t long enough to build the necessary momentum, and Seavey fell half a second short at the finish line.
Jesse Colwell, whose kart was heavily damaged during the Clash at the Creek on Monday night, rebounded less than 24 hours later to complete the podium.
Colby Horn and Nick Tucker followed in fourth and fifth, respectively.
In other feature racing, Sam Corry won the 20-lap Box Stock feature and picked up a $1,000 payday for his efforts.
Corry led all 20 laps from the pole and was never seriously challenged en route to his third win of the season. He beat runner-up Will Boprey by 3.719 seconds in the end.
Biscuit Williams, Trevor Cline and C.J. Sweatt completed the top five.
Landon Totherow collected his third win of the year in the Beginner Box Stock class during the program as well, leading 14 laps in that division’s 15-lap feature for the victory.
Totherow had to fend off a late challenge from Gavin Marlin, who took the lead on the 12th circuit in traffic, before claiming the hardware. He used a textbook crossover off turn two to reclaim the point and never looked back over the final three laps.
Brody Snyder and Coen McDaniel completed the podium, while Marlin faded to fourth and Ryan Zima finished fifth.
Tyler Seavey and Kyle Larson set the fast time for their respective flights of qualifying during two-lap Open division time trials Tuesday night.
For more on that portion of the program, click here.
The finish:
Nick Hoffman, Tyler Seavey, Jesse Colwell, Colby Horn, Nick Tucker, Tom Hubert, Blake Carrick, Jake Park, Brent Crews, Scott Chesterman, Renee Angel, Mark Pollardi, Scott Hall, Andrew Wehrli, Brian Hubert, Kyle Craker, Daniel Whitley, Casey McClain, Tanner Holmes, Holly Shelton.
