HOFFMAN LOOKING FORWARD TO ANOTHER OKTOBERFEST RACE WEEKEND
Veteran driver to compete in the Dick Trickle "99" and picking up the ASA Late Model Series North Championship this weekend
 
By: Kevin Ramsell
WEST SALEM, WI (Oktober 1, 2008) - Eddie Hoffman always looks forward to the Oktoberfest Race Weekend.  This year he will try to win a championship and also compete in his first Dick Trickle "99" event.
 
The Wheaton, IL driver has had a lot of success La Crosse Fairgrounds Speedway in West Salem, WI.  He won the NASCAR Elite Division events in 1998 and 1999 and last year took home the ASA Late Model Series North win. 
 
Hoffman will be back to defend his win this year and at the same time try to hold off Jesse Saunders by winning the ASALMS North championship.  Hoffman will be coming into the Saturday night feature event with a 93-point lead.
 
"We are leading the points and we need to finish that one off.  We got behind a little bit last week, so that is the important one and we are going to pull out the super late model at least Friday night and see how that goes," Hoffman stated.  "We haven't won the main championship in a while, but we won the North race last year, so at least we still have an idea of how to get around there.  So that's fun and important."
 
Last year, Hoffman simply dominated the 100-lap event.  For him, it was redemption for his run in 2006 where he also led by was passed in the late going by Landon Cassill, who went on to win and now is competing in the NASCAR Nationwide Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.
 
"I try to put that out of my mind," Hoffman said with a chuckle.  "Landon is a good kid and a good driver and yeah we just didn't have at the end.  We had a yellow and he got us, I didn't quite protect enough, so it was a little bit of redemption.  But Landon got me some tickets to a couple of NASCAR races this year, so he is back on my good side."
 
While the ASALMS North event on Saturday will be his primary focus, he will also compete in the Dick Trickle "99" on Friday night, "I heard it was pretty cool and it sounds like fun so we are going to go ahead and do that this year."
 
Trickle will be at the event and will serve as a pit reporter on Friday night.
 
When asked about what kind of strategy it takes to go into event that is broken into three 33-lap segments, Hoffman thinks it may work in his favor.  "I think it's going to fall towards me, which is that I am not usually that hard on the car or tires, but you have to be a little bit conservative and still get all you can get without killing the car.  That is about really the only strategy I know of, I don't know what else to do.  Maybe I will know more when I get there on Friday."
 
If things go well for Hoffman on Friday night, it may be possible that he will also compete in the American Speed Association Midwest Tour Oktoberfest 100 on Sunday, giving him another chance at picking up the "big one" that he first won ten years ago this weekend. 
 
For Hoffman, Oktoberfest is one event he never misses, "Before you even go, you look ahead to when it is next year, because that is how far ahead you are looking at Oktoberfest," Hoffman stated.  "They usually have it planned that far out and its something that you know you are doing every year.  Its rock solid, it's a rock solid weekend.  It's big for the McKarns which means it's big for everybody and that is what it's really all about.  You have your choice of races; you can run your tail off for three days or run just a couple.  It's pretty cool."
 
For more information on the 39th Annual Oktoberfest Race Weekend, please visit the official website at www.oktoberfestraceweekend.com.
The 39th Annual Oktoberfest Race Weekend will take place on Oktober 2-5, 2008 at La Crosse Fairgrounds Speedway in West Salem, WI.  For more information, please visit www.oktoberfestraceweekend.com.