Nasse Finally Gets Redemption With Snowflake 100 Win

PENSACOLA, Fla. – Stephen Nasse said in advance of Saturday night’s Allen Turner Hyundai Snowflake 100 at Five Flags Speedway that he’s never been a prolific qualifier, but he’s always confident in his racing ability.

That statement was proven true after 100 laps of pro late model racing at the historic half-mile paved oval, as Nasse roared from the 24th starting spot to claim his first Snowflake 100 victory in eight tries.

Though it took Nasse more than half the race to officially lead for the first time, he was all but untouchable once he got into clean air, leading 42 of the final 44 laps and crossing the finish line 1.635 seconds clear of runner-up Matt Craig.

Even still, however, Nasse admitted he wasn’t ready to celebrate until he was well past the flagstand.

“Man, I’ll tell you what … Matt had me a little worried there at the end,” Nasse said in victory lane. “He had a little better car than I thought for a while … but we had enough when it counted, and it feels so good to be standing here celebrating.

“I had a good time and that was some incredible racing. Three wide for the lead … it got crazy out there, didn’t it?” Nasse added. “I’m just glad I could come away with the win.”

What originally appeared to be settling into a calm race – with a 25-lap run starting the proceedings before the first caution – turned into a catastrophe through the middle stages.

The race’s eight yellow flags, three of which led to red flag stoppages for track cleanup, all came in an 18-mile span between the 25th and 61st laps, including a red for track repairs in turn one on lap 55.

As all that developed, restarts became key to Nasse’s second half success. He lined up on Craig’s right side for a lap-57 green flag and used the momentum from the high side to nip ahead at the flagstand.

While Nasse and Craig battled, however, polesitter Dylan Cappello roared to the inside of both of them in turn one to lead the 58th circuit as a multi-car incident erupted in turn three, eliminating Jake Finch and Derek Thorn in the fifth caution of the night.

That allowed Nasse to again rip the top groove on the next restart at lap 59, nipping back to the lead before a second massive crash – this time on the frontstretch – led to the second red flag with 40 to go.

Nasse maintained the lead as the control car when racing resumed before the scariest crash of the night erupted with 39 laps left.

In that incident, Casey Roderick launched into the air after Travis Braden spun in turn four and washed Kaden Honeycutt’s car up into the path of Roderick’s machine. The force of the contact sheared the left side sheet metal down

In all, eight cars were eliminated at that point and at least four more drove off with some form of damage. Only the 20 cars able to continue from there ultimately made it to the checkered flag.

After the lap-61 chaos, the Snowflake ran uninterrupted the rest of the way, with Nasse pulling away steadily and Craig unable to do anything besides watch the longtime late model veteran drive into the night.

“Our car was really good on the fire off, and the 11 (Cappello) stayed with me early … but maybe I pushed the right front (tire) too hard a little too soon? I’m not sure, honestly,” said Craig, who led a race-high 49 laps, when asked what the difference between his car and Nasse’s might have been.

“This piece was not good at all in practice, and we just kept tuning on it to get in contention. So close … but not bad for a car that was pushed to the back of the race shop for most of the year.”

Pendergrass, Ga., teenager Seth Christensen completed the podium in his Snowflake 100 debut, trailed by two more well-known short track aces in Spencer Davis and Cole Williams.

Michael Hinde, Dustin Smith, Carson Brown, Colin Allman, and John Bolen closed out the top 10.

After starting on pole, leading the first eight laps, and contending up front for the first half of the race, Cappello’s night came undone by a restart violation just before the last caution that relegated him to the tail of the lead lap. Cappello was only able to get back to 11th from there.

Of note, Bubba Pollard barely locked in on qualifying and was never a factor, falling out after just 44 laps and finishing last in the 36-car field – his first-ever last place finish in the Snowflake 100.

Meanwhile, Saturday’s domination was redemption four years in the making for Nasse, Pollard’s longtime rival.

It was Nasse who took the checkered flag first in the 2020 edition of the Snowflake 100, only to be penalized before the victory interview was ever completed because of his bump-and-run move coming to the finish that sent Pollard spinning into the wall.

That night, Nasse left with no Snowflake trophy and a career-worst 22nd place event result.

Fast forward to this night, and there was no wiping the smile off the Pinellas Park, Fla., native’s face.

“They aren’t taking this one from me,” Nasse affirmed, once in victory lane and again when his No. 51 officially cleared post-race technical inspection.

“This feels damn good, and I hope everybody enjoyed the show.”

The results:

1. Stephen Nasse, 2. Matt Craig, 3. Seth Christensen, 4. Spencer Davis, 5. Cole Williams, 6. Michael Hinde, 7. Dustin Smith, 8. Carson Brown, 9. Colin Allman, 10. John Bolen, 11. Dylan Cappello, 12. Kaden Honeycutt, 13. T.J. DeCaire, 14. Nick Loden, 15. Zack Dixon, 16. Brandon Lopez, 17. Jarrett Butcher, 18. Travis Braden, 19. Chase Pinsonneault, 20. Anthony Bello, 21. Casey Roderick, 22. Conner Jones, 23. Jett Noland, 24. Luke Baldwin, 25. Jeremy Miller, 26. Augie Grill, 27. Jimmy Renfrew Jr., 28. Hudson Bulger, 29. Sylas Ripley, 30. George Phillips, 31. Derek Thorn, 32. Jim Wall, 33. Jake Finch, 34. Vito Cancilla, 35. Jason Vail, 36. Bubba Pollard.

Lap Leader(s): Cappello 1-8, Craig 9-56, Nasse 57, Cappello 58, Nasse 59-61, Craig 62, Nasse 63-100.

Laps Led: Craig 49, Nasse 42, Cappello 9.