Eddie Hoffman becomes the third driver to "Three-Peat" in ASA Late Model Series competition in 2008 by winning the Glass Breaker 125!
By Matt Prieur-ASA Late Model Series

Toledo, Ohio (Sunday, June 1, 2008): It’s a well-known fact that when Eddie Hoffman and the T.K. Racing Team pull their hauler into any pit area anywhere in the country, the Wheaton, Illinois veteran is widely considered the “one” to beat!

In ASA Late Model Series Northern Division Presented by GM Performance Parts competition, Hoffman is truly the man to beat and the 48-year-old proved once again that too win in the ultra competitive ASALMS North, you’ll have to go through him to do it!

For the third consecutive race, Hoffman steered his Lisa Thomas Salon Ford Fusion into victory lane after holding off a hard-charging Jesse Saunders, the 2007 ASALMS North Rookie of the Year, too win the Glass Breaker 125 on Sunday Afternoon, June 1, 2008 at Toledo Speedway in Toledo, Ohio.

It wasn’t easy for Hoffman though as a Lap 109 caution foiled an attempt at taking over the lead by Saunders who had pulled up next to the Prairie State veteran and the two stout pilot battled side by side before the caution flag came out!

“That caution saved us big time!” Hoffman said in victory lane after becoming the third driver in Overall ASALMS competition to start a 2008 season in one of the three ASALMS divisions to begin the season with three straight wins.

“Jesse was really strong and I thought we might be in a little bit of trouble. So I just held my line and he raced me clean. We beat him to the line and then the caution came out. I was thinking, wow that was close.” Explained Hoffman.

Once the green flag came back out, Hoffman wasn’t to be denied his third straight ASALMS triumph and fourth overall Feature Win of the 2008 season including his USPRO Cup Series win at Grundy County Speedway on May 25th.

With the Feature Win, Hoffman became the third driver this season to start an ASALMS division with three consecutive Feature Wins joining Sean Murphy who did it in the ASALMS Challenge Division and Jimmy Lang who accomplished the same feat in the ASALMS Southern Division.

Griffin McGrath and Brian Campbell lead a star-studded 32-car field to the green flag to begin the extended distance 125-lap Feature at the famed ½ mile high-banked paved oval located just across the Michigan / Ohio state line in Toledo, Ohio.

Campbell got the jump on McGrath heading into Turn One to take over the early race lead as the enormous field quickly settled into a rhythm. The first of eight cautions flew on Lap 12 when 15-year-old Brett Moffitt got into the back end of Bob Varney sending the Richmond, Michigan veteran into the Turn Three wall.

Moffitt was asked to go to the rear of the field while Varney took the long ride back to the pits on the back of the tow truck. On the restart, Campbell tried to pull away from the rest of the field, but ARP Bodies / Aluminum Racing Products Fast Qualifier, Eddie Hoffman was quickly picking his way through the field from his seventh starting spot.

Hoffman was in second by Lap 30 and chased Campbell all around the Toledo, Ohio speed plant. On Lap 46, Hoffman made the pass for the lead coming out of Turn Four as Jesse Saunders, who had caught the lead duo by that time, also followed Hoffman by Campbell.

Hoffman and Saunders tried to pull away from the pack as Hoffman tried to lose Saunders dicing through lapped traffic. A 62-lap stretch of green flag racing allowed Hoffman and Saunders to separate themselves from the rest of the field.

A caution on Lap 101 bunched the field back up and since it was less than 25 laps to go, the lapped cars were sent to the rear of the field to let the leaders sort out the outcome of the race amongst themselves.

On the restart, Saunders began his assault on Hoffman and after looking high and low for several laps, Saunders dove to the inside of Hoffman going into Turn Three on Lap 107! Several times Saunders tried to inch his bumper ahead of the Wheaton, Illinois veteran, but each time, Hoffman would beat Saunders to the line by a bumper or less.

That dreaded caution came out on Lap 109 forcing Saunders back behind Hoffman on the next restart. After another caution for contact between Campbell and defending ASALMS Northern Division Champion, Trent Snyder, who were battling for the final podium position, Hoffman tried again to pull away from Saunders on what would be the final restart.

Saunders ran out of time as the laps continued to count down as Hoffman slowly began pulling away and would go on too win his 13th Overall ASALMS Feature of his storied career and fourth overall triumph of the 2008 racing season!

“We’ve been pretty fortunate this year so far, normally we start off good and then taper off a little bit in the middle of the year.” Explained Hoffman in his post-race interview in victory lane. “Jesse gave me a good fight, but I think he burned up his tires when we were side-by-side.”

“Hopefully we can keep this streak going next weekend at LaCrosse! That’s one of my favorite tracks! Heck I think they’re all my favorite tracks right now!” Laughed the 48-year-old. “We’ve got some good tracks coming up on the North schedule and we’ll see if we can keep this up.” He ended.

“That old man sure is fast!” Laughed Saunders as he granted a post-race interview in front of the Toledo Speedway crowd. “I tried to get by him and just about had him before that caution came out. After that, the car went away, so I just tried to hang on and stay on the podium. I knew Brian (Campbell) was back there and we needed a good finish!” He added.

“We’re doing pretty good with what we have. We don’t have any financial sponsors, but we have some great product sponsors and that’s keeping up going.” Continued the New Glarus, Wisconsin sophomore.

“We only have one car, but it’s a good one and hopefully we can get into victory lane here soon, maybe at LaCrosse. To finish between Hoffman and Campbell, though, I’d say we’ve had a pretty good day.” He ended.

After leading the first 45 laps, Brian Campbell would come home third as the ASALMS Challenge Division regular made another infrequent appearance in the ASALMS Northern Division.

“We had a good car early in the race, but then Eddie got by us, then Jesse, so we just tried to hang on as best as we could.” Explained the Wyoming, Michigan veteran. “Eddie is on another planet right now, and Jesse is going to get his first win here pretty soon. Now we’ll get ready for Berlin in the Challenge Division, I can’t wait for that race!” He added.

Medina, Ohio veteran, Jack Smith finished fourth ahead of Dave Gentile Jr., who earlier in the day finished second in the USPRO Cup Series 75-lap Feature to extend his points lead in that division!

15-year-old Brett Moffitt overcame his early race incident with Bob Varney to earn the Rookie of the Race honors with his sixth place finish as 18-year-old Alec Carll, Troy Hintzsche, Kyle Hayden from 24th, and pole-sitter, Griffin McGrath completed the Top 10. Joey King earned the Performance Concepts Hard-Charger Award with his 29th to 13th place run!

Earlier in the afternoon, Hoffman won his second consecutive ARP Bodies Fast Qualifier Award over the 32-car field with a 15.884 which measures out to 113.322 MPH. The Overall ASALMS Track Record is a 15.766 set by Hoffman in an ASALMS Challenge Division event back on April 21, 2007.

In the 25-lap GM Performance Parts Shootout, 19-year-old Steven Brooks won his first career ASALMS race when the New Lenox, Illinois driver took the lead from 16-year-old Jordan Dahlke on Lap 18 too win the GMPP Shootout.

Auckland, New Zealand native, Michael Pickens finished second while Dahlke, 16-year-old Chad Finley, and Joey King completed the Top Five.

Next up on the ASALMS Northern Division calendar is the third and final race of the three races in three weekends stretch as the ASALMS North contingent will make their first of two appearances of the 2008 racing season at LaCrosse Fairgrounds Speedway, located East of the Minnesota / Wisconsin state line in West Salem, Wisconsin.

The River Run 100 will headline the racing action at the 0.545 Mile Progressively Banked Paved Oval on Saturday, June 7, 2008.

Joining the ASALMS Northern Division in West Salem, Wisconsin will be the LaCrosse Late Models, who carry the sanctioning of the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series and will run Twin 25-lap Features! In addition, the LaCrosse Sportsmen and Wisconsin Vintage Cares will also be in action!

The River Run 100 Entry Form is <b>Still Available</b> and due at the ASALMS Home Offices in Lexington, Michigan by TODAY Monday, June 2, 2008 to avoid late fees.

You can download the River Run 100 Entry Form by clicking on the link provided: http://www.asalatemodelsnorth.com/pdfs/ent...lacrosse_01.pdf

Advance Tickets are still on sale at the ASALMS Home Offices in Lexington, Michigan for just $15.00. In addition, a $2.00 Off Coupon is available by clicking on the LaCrosse Fairgrounds Speedway Promotional Flier located at the link provided: http://www.asalatemodelsnorth.com/gfx/fliers/08LAX_01.jpg

ASA Late Model Series Northern Division Presented by GM Performance Parts Race #3 of 12
Toledo Speedway-Toledo, Ohio
Sunday, June 1, 2008

Glass Breaker 125 RACE RESULTS (UNOFFICIAL)
FINISH START CAR # / DRIVER / HOMETOWN TEAM / CAR LAPS STATUS
1 7 8 Eddie Hoffman/Wheaton, IL Lisa Thomas Salon/Ford 125 Running
2 6 87 Jesse Saunders/New Glarus, WI J.W.S. Racing/Chevrolet 125 Running
3 2 77 Brian Campbell/Wyoming, MI Boyne Machine/Ford 125 Running
4 3 28 Jack Smith/Medina, OH UB Machine/Ford 125 Running
5 10 6 Dave Gentile Jr./Elwood, IL Dream Factory Inc./Chevrolet 125 Running
6 11 5 Brett Moffitt ®/Grimes, IA Karl Chevrolet/Chevrolet 125 Running
7 9 66 Alec Carll/Grand Rapids, MI G.R. Developments/Chevrolet 125 Running
8 5 76 Troy Hintzsche/Malta, IL Winfield Solutions/Ford 125 Running
9 24 96 Kyle Hayden ®/Clio, MI Auto Pride Collision/Chevrolet 125 Running
10 1 64 Griffin McGrath/Cedar Rapids, IA McGrath Powersports/Chevrolet 125 Running
11 12 46 Landon Cassill/Fairfax, IA GoDaddy.com/Chevrolet 125 Running
12 15 88 Trent Snyder/Ironton, MN Performance Concepts/Chevrolet 125 Running
13 29 29 Joey King ®/Silvis, IL Adrian Carriers/Chevrolet 125 Running
14 18 38 Jerry Einhaus Jr. ®/Seneca, IL Chicago Regional Carpenters/Chevrolet 125 Running
15 22 55 Nick Neville/Mackinaw, IL Dixie Chopper Lawn Mowers/Chevrolet 125 Running
16 20 32 Jeremy Miller ®/Rockton, IL RaceTeamGear.com/Ford 125 Running
17 4 22 Chris Eggleston ®/Erie, CO Leary Racing Products/Ford 125 Running
18 32 33 Wes Griffith Jr./Frankfort, IL SteelDynamics.com/Ford 124 Running
19 13 25 Scott Rueschenberg ®/Mesa, AZ Desert Mountain Medical/Chevrolet 124 Running
20 28 42 Chad Finley/DeWitt, MI AutoParts2020.com/Ford 124 Running
21 31 54 Josh Lane ®/Algonquin, IL Racers Against Hunger/Ford 123 Running
22 17 15 Cody Smith ®/LaVernia, TX RTM Construction Company/Chevrolet 109 Running
23 14 2 Michael Bilderback ®/South Beloit, IL Bilderback Auto Parts/Chevrolet 109 Accident
24 25 105 Steven Brooks/New Lenox, IL Midwest Sign and Lighting/Chevrolet 109 Accident
25 26 30 Michael Pickens ®/Rockton, IL RaceTeamGear.com/Ford 106 Accident
26 21 17 Nick Bussell ®/Ionia, MI Boyne Machine/Chevrolet 103 Mechanical
27 30 555 Matt Barndt ®/Bethlehem, PA Galaxy Motors Auto Center/Chevrolet 99 Accident
28 27 37 Jordan Dahlke ®/Middleville, MI Manus Realty/Chevrolet 70 Accident
29 23 95 Derek Neville/Mackinaw, IL Lucas Oil Products/Chevrolet 30 Mechanical
30 19 31 Brent Brevak ®/Ashland, WI Suburban Accent Decals/Ford 29 Accident
31 16 23 Jimmy Weller ®/Liberty, OH Liberty Steel Products/Ford 23 Accident
32 8 116 Bob Varney/Richmond, MI Simonez Car Care Products/Chevrolet 12 Accident
® = 2008 Rookie of the Year Title Contender

Lap Leaders: 64 Griffin McGrath Pole, 77 Brian Campbell 1-45, 8 Eddie Hoffman 46-125.
Cautions: 8 for 0 Laps.
Time of Race: 1 Hour, 23 Minutes, 08.820 Seconds.
Margin of Victory: 0.492 Seconds.
ARP Bodies / Aluminum Racing Products Fast Qualifier: 8 Eddie Hoffman 15.884 = 113.322 MPH.
GM Performance Parts Shootout Winner: 105 Steven Brooks