SPECIAL REPORT: JEFF HOFFMAN LEAVES A LEGACY IN RACING
by Brian Spaid

September 13, 2003 

                Many race car drivers never achieve true success behind the wheel.

                Jeff Hoffman was a natural.

In fact, the Franklin redhead became a legendary driver in DIRT Modified racing. Semi-retired for the last two seasons, when Hoffman died on Sept. 5 at the young age of 36, he left a legacy as the best driver of his generation.

In his late teens, Hoffman developed a desire to race cars. After coaxing his parents, he started racing Pure Stocks at Tri-City Speedway in 1987. On May 9, in one of his first races, he won the feature. In a 1999 interview, Hoffman recollected the win with fond laughter.

“That win is one of my most memorable. All the other cars either dropped out or crashed. I was the last one on the track and they awarded me the victory.”

By the end of that season, Hoffman captured five feature wins in the Pure Stocks. Three came at Sharon Speedway and two at Tri-City before the Venango County oval closed its doors for nine seasons. In addition, Hoffman and his father, John, purchased a DIRT Modified chassis from veteran Lou Blaney. With the help of Les Myers of Reno, Hoffman entered the world of DIRT Modified racing.

At first the transition was slow. The first three seasons found nothing in the win column. However, Hoffman was honing his skills as a driver and mechanic. He became skilled in tire selection, setups, shocks and torsion bars.

On June 9, 1991, Hoffman won his first career DIRT Modified feature at Sportsman’s Speedway in Knox. There is an old saying in racing that the first win is always hard to get, and the ones thereafter come easier. For Hoffman, it was more than easy. It was natural.

Over the next 11 years, Hoffman accumulated a total of 89 DIRT Modified feature wins. His most prolific track was Sportsman’s. He earned a career high 36 wins at the one-third mile oval as well as track championships. He gathered 19 wins and a track title at Marion Center Speedway in the early 1990s. He earned nine career wins at Challenger Raceway in Jacksonville. Two wins came at Lernerville Speedway. He also garnered single wins at Sharon, Expo Speedway, Raceway 7 and Hickory Speedway.

Then, in 1996, Tri-City reopened and Hoffman established a new home for success. That season, Hoffman won six times, but lost the track title to Brian Fink by one point.

The following season, Hoffman split his time between asphalt Late Models and DIRT Modifieds. The Late Model program was his dream. In that same 1999 interview, Hoffman explained the reason for the move and its results.

“Running asphalt is where you need to be if you want to move into the big leagues of auto racing, like NASCAR Winston Cup. I ran the Late Models with the idea that it would be my one and only shot at moving toward that goal. I wasn’t happy with my performance and realized that our team suffered.”

By 1998, Hoffman realized he needed to be back in the DIRT Modifieds. He resumed winning on a regular basis. In 1999, he lost the track title at Tri-City again. This time, it was by a margin of 10 points to Brian Swartzlander.

The 2000 season saw Hoffman turn his focus to the ill-fated USNA Modified circuit. He had little success, and it started to wear on him. Some of that frustration was vented when he chased and captured the BRP Modified Tour title. However, a controversial point discrepancy with Rodney Beltz left them tied for the title, and Hoffman seemed to become a little more bitter about racing.

After USNA folded, Hoffman was back at Tri-City in 2001 and he seemed happy again. He chased the track title for the third time in his career. Once again, however, he lost to Brian Swartzlander. This time, the margin was 14 points. Two late-season rainouts in a row never gave him a chance to race for his first Tri-City title.

Little did anyone know that Hoffman’s victory on July 1, 2001, would be his final one at Tri-City. It was the 19^th of his career at the track and he celebrated it in victory lane with his two sons, Arron and Eric. Overall, he scored 45 top five finishes at Tri-City. He remains third on the all-time win list behind a first-place tie between Blaney and Ed Lynch Sr.

He won two more times that season. He captured a BRP Modified Tour win at Sportsman’s on Aug. 12. Then, on Oct. 28, he won the final feature of his career at Challenger’s Fall Fest.

During the next two years, Hoffman gradually started to sell off his race team. He backed out of racing as tried to overcome other challenges in his life. He was missed at the Tri-City by many local fans that loved to cheer on their hometown favorite. When he grabbed a one-race ride in Steve Solari’s DIRT Modified this past season, the fans cheered to see him back on the track. They all thought it was a new beginning.

The sad reality of Hoffman’s death hit home last Friday night at Tri-City. There will never be a chance for him to finally win that elusive Tri-City championship. There will be no more high fives in victory lane. No more wide smiles with checkered flags and glimmering trophies. All that is left are the memories.

Yes, indeed, Jeff Hoffman was a natural.