ROSSBURG, Ohio (June 7) — Nick Hoffman’s mantra heading into Saturday’s Dream XXXI was to stay out of the unforgiving concrete wall at Eldora Speedway, making sure he’d have the opportunity to grab a $100,000 payday.

Now that Georgia-Florida Speedweeks have come and gone, I've decided to evaluate 15 top Dirt Late Model drivers — specifically the top six in points on last year’s national tours and three wild cards picks — from the popular wintertime series.

Dirt Late Model racing's indoor spectacle, the Castrol Gateway Dirt Nationals at The Dome at America’s Center, takes over Downtown St. Louis for the eighth running of the mega event this week.

The driver that swept through last year’s Sunoco North-South 100 action at Florence Speedway with three consecutive Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series wins won’t be sweeping this year’s crown jewel weekend, but Bobby Pierce of Oakwood, Ill., was a single position shy of Thursday’s second semifeature victory in an eventful 25-lapper that saw him fall back as far as 18th.

It’s not too often the best drivers in Sprint Car and Dirt Late Model racing compete together on the same nightly program.

Winning Thursday night’s 25-lap preliminary feature to kick off the Castrol Gateway Dirt Nationals certainly excited Nick Hoffman. But it didn’t satisfy him.

As Nick Hoffman stood amid dozens of closed, parked trailers in the quiet convention center pit area of The Dome at America’s Center in St. Louis, Mo., on Wednesday night, he wistfully thought of the Castrol Gateway Dirt Nationals that would begin in less than 24 hours.