What won the race: Winning an early duel with fellow front-row starter Josh Rice, Nick Hoffman of Mooresville, N.C., led all but two laps of Friday's Dustbuster 40 at MRP Raceway Park for a $7,000 victory on the Valvoline American Late Model Iron-Man Series. Driving for Ohio-based Tye Twarog Racing, the World of Outlaws Case Late Model Series regular took the checkers 1.860 seconds ahead of the pole-starting Rice, who won last year's unsanctioned Dustbuster 40.

Quotable: "I felt preptty good there and Josh was on a little bit harder tire," Hoffman said. "He showed me a nose and I kind of had to hustle again to get away from him. And then I had to get pretty aggressive in lapped traffic a couple of times there, just to make sure I got a little bit of a gap. Our car was good. Kinda of tweaking on things trying to get better racing against them (World of Outlaws) guys."

Key notes: Hoffman's previous Iron-Man tour victory came July 22, 2023, at Atomic Speedway near Chillicothe, Ohio. ... Pole-starting Josh Rice led laps 2-3. ... A single lap-12 caution slowed the action. ... Fifteen drivers completed 40 laps. ... Among drivers failing to make the starting field: James Rice, Nathon Loney, Henry Hornsby III, Gregg Haskell, Avery Taylor, Carson Brown, Nick Kurtz, David Webb, Dustin Nobbe and Rob Anderzack. ... The tour moves to Atomic on Saturday to conclude the weekend doubleheader.

On the move: Tyler Collins of North Vernon, Ind., started 10th and finished seventh.

Winner's sponsors: Hoffman’s Tye Twarog Racing Longhorn Chassis is powered by a Clements Racing Engine and carries sponsorship from NOS Energy Drink, C&W Trucking, Petroff Towing, Tye Twarog Performance Parts, Lonewolf Petroleum, Haulin’ Haskells, Tri Valley Equipment Sales, Allgaier Performance Parts, Bilstein Shocks, Eibach Springs, Lincoln Smith Racing and KBC Graphix.

Points chase: Before Moler: 1. Rusty Schlenk (438); 2. Ryan Missler (369); 3. Rod Conley (362); 4. Seth Daniels (351); 5. Devin Shiels (325).

Current weather: Clear, 73°F

Car count: 49

Fast qualifier: Josh Rice

Time: 12.622 seconds

Polesitter: Josh Rice

Dash winner: Blake Creech

Heat race winners: Josh Rice, R.J. Conley, Nick Hoffman, Jason Jameson,  ,  ,  ,  

Consolation race winners: Seth Daniels, Pete Crum,  ,  

Provisional starters: Rod Conley, Steve Duderstadt,  ,  

Next series race: July 20, Atomic Speedway (Alma, OH) $5,000