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Nasse in Campi Car Wins Friday Blizzard 100

Happy Marriage: Nasse, Anthony Campi Racing Team Up to Capture American Welding Society 100

By Chuck Corder
5flagsspeedway.com reporter

No one was happier than Stephen Nasse on Friday at Five Flags Speedway.
Well, except for maybe that couple who tied the knot earlier in the night. Admission into Night 1 of the Night of Champions season finale at Five Flags was quite a bargain: A pair of closely contested features and a closely connected couple. Kelly Jerrel and James Coffee of Nashville were betrothed before the first green flag dropped Friday. Super Late Model royalty Bubba Pollard served as best man in what was, perhaps, the first wedding the famed half-mile asphalt oval has hosted on a race night.

Turns out there was more than one love affair brewing Friday night. Nasse coupled up with Anthony Campi Racing just days ago and the pair had a memorable first date. The Pinellas Park hotshoe made a buttery smooth pass of Pollard late and pulled away from the rest of the 29-car field to capture the American Welding Society 100 in the Deep South Cranes Blizzard Series.
Nasse’s win was his sixth career Blizzard Series win and his 11th overall in the Southern Super Series. The grin plastered across his face while he was still in the seat of the ACR No. 51 told a story of relief and exuberance.
“It’s been a while,” a subdued Nasse said in Victory Lane. “It has been a rough season. But, I knew if we could get somebody like Anthony to help out with great cars, we could still compete for wins.
“The car wasn’t its best and I tried to give away a couple times. Bubba was great on restarts. Thankfully, I was able to sneak back by him. It’s gonna be one heckuva party tonight.”
Nasse led nearly 20 laps in the first half of the race only to lose it to Pollard screaming down the high side on a restart. Nasse reclaimed P1 16 laps from the finish and was quickly in the wind. Pollard finished runner-up and Jackson Boone rounded out the podium.

Blizzard Series points leader Jeremy Doss extended his margin with a fourth-place finish. The Upper Lake, Calif., driver also collected a Snowball Derby prize package valued at $7,000 thanks to recording the best average finish from Friday night and his win at the Kioti Tractor 100 during the PepperJack Kennels Twin Blizzard in July. The American Welding Society 100 was a makeup from that same weekend when the second night was rained out.
“It’s cool to be running up front,” said Doss, who thanked his team for helping him contend.
He goes into the Deep South Cranes 100 with a 34-point lead against Hunter Robbins, who was fastest (16.491 seconds) in qualifying. The SLMs close the curtain on the regular season tonight alongside the Allen Turner Hyundai Pro Late Models, who will also race 100 laps, and the Modifieds of Mayhem (50 laps).
Pollard, who boasts a record 23 career Blizzard Series victories, hopes for a bounce-back tonight after acknowledging he didn’t have his best despite the second-place finish Friday.

“We struggled all day today,” he said. “And we weren’t that good during the race either. We were a little too free, and we tried to make the most of it. (Five Flags) is tough. We missed it a little tonight. We’ll keep working on it.”
Nasse hopes to keep working with ACR. Both parties weren’t sure how long the partnership would last when they hooked up earlier this week. Those uncertainties seemed to have been resolved after Friday night’s performance.
“We’ve had some good runs here, but we had been struggling with our own program,” Nasse admitted. “Anytime Anthony brings cars to a track, they’re fast. Luckily, (ACR) had a seat open up. And I’m here to take advantage. Hopefully, we can click off more wins to cap the season.”

Story & Bleich Roofing Crown Stocks
Hunter Lambert proved patience pays off Friday night at Five Flags Speedway.
The Pensacola driver, who has competed in nearly every division at Pensacola’s high banks, kept pace with Adam Salter from the drop of the green flag until opportunity presented itself on the final lap of the Story & Bleich Crown Stocks 20-lap season finale. When lapped traffic left Salter with nowhere to go, Lambert darted to the front. He collected his second Crown Stocks victory of the season despite a streak of smoke following Lambert to the checkered flag.

“That was a crazy race,” he said. “Definitely, a lotta cars made it really hard getting through traffic. I have to give it up to Adam Salter for not roughing me up. My power steering locked up on that last lap and I didn’t think I was gonna make it back around.”
Salter finished second and Ryan Maxwell collected third-place honors.
Ryan Bleich’s fifth-place finish was more than enough to clinch the inaugural Crown Stocks track championship.

“This is a great feeling,” he said. “I can’t thank my guys enough. I couldn’t do it without them. We couldn’t be happier with way season turned out.”
As he did throughout this season, Bleich dedicated the track crown to John Story, his business partner’s father who passed away earlier this year.

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