9/27/2024
Five Flags Speedway
Nasse Eyes First Career Blizzard Series Title; Championships Up for Grabs for PLMs, Crown Stocks
Nasse Eyes First Career Blizzard Series Title; Championships Up for Grabs for PLMs, Crown Stocks
By Chuck Corder
5flagsspeedway.com reporter
Stephen Nasse was headed to Pensacola a day earlier than usual.
The Late Model driver wasn’t leaving anything to chance Wednesday morning with Hurricane Helene barreling through the Gulf Coast. The Big Bend, where Helene is expected to come ashore, is 3 hours north of Nasse’s native Pinellas Park and more than 3 hours east of Five Flags Speedway.
Local forecasts Saturday are completely clear and perfect weather is expected for the Harvesters Credit Union Night of Champions No. 2—the famed half-mile asphalt oval’s season finale. Nasse will eagerly arrive with eyes focused on securing his first track championship at Five Flags in Saturday evening’s Deep South Cranes 100. The 29-year-old carries an 11-point lead against Casey Roderick in the last of four Deep South Cranes Blizzard Series races this season for the Super Late Models.
“Five Flags is one of those tracks I’ve been fortunate at,” said Nasse, who has seven career Blizzard Series feature victories, including April’s 100-lapper. “When it comes to beating guys like Bubba (Pollard) or whoever it does say a lot because there’s a lot of good cars in this series.
“I’ve been super blessed up there. It has one of the best fan bases—one of the more rowdy ones, as well. I like hanging out with them after races. It’s all about connections and making good friends, who are also good fans. Every time I go, I love every minute of it.”
The Blizzard Series and its championship isn’t the only thing up for grabs Saturday night. A pair of 16-year-olds will battle to be crowned the Allen Turner Hyundai Pro Late Models track champion. Carson Brown leads Seth Christensen by just 14 points. In the ever-popular Story and Bleich Roofing Crown Stocks division, Doug Thorpe Jr. holds a 19-point lead against Braeden Kitchen heading into their 25-lap feature.
Gates open at 4 p.m. Saturday with an autograph session set for 6:30 and racing slated to start at 7:30. Admission is $20 for adults; $17 (seniors, military, students); $5 (children 6-11); free for kids 5-and-under.
While Roderick is currently chasing Nasse in Pensacola, the Georgia native—who lives in Mississippi these days—has a nearly insurmountable lead for the Southern Super Series championship, which will also be decided Saturday. Erasing his double-digit deficit to Nasse would deliver Roderick his first in what could be an unprecedented hat trick of championships for one season.
Roderick, the only driver to win Blizzard Series and Allen Turner Hyundai PLM Series championships in the same season, hopes to add to his three Blizzard Series track titles (2015, 2016, 2018). He has two PLM championships (2017, 2018).
Nasse hopes to prevent the coronation of his rival. Few have been better in the 2020s at Five Flags than Nasse. In 35 career Blizzard Series starts, he has 17 top-fives and 25 top-10s to go with those seven wins. He’s learned the best way to get around Pensacola’s high banks is to bide his time early in the race and pick his spots to pounce.
“Sometimes people get impatient around that place and that bites them,” Nasse said. “Me, I’ll sit back, relax and let them start coming to me. That’s when I really start going to work. You can’t go in there and force things. You have to be patient and things have to go your way. No matter how good your car is, there’s always a challenger.
“Sure, I’d prefer to qualify up front and make it easy,” he continued. “But I also like to put a show on for the fans and let the race play out the way it is. The main, No. 1 thing is to win the race. No. 2, I want to put on a show for the fans. I wanna make my racing exciting. It takes patience and persistence.”
And it’s paid off. Nasse has one win and two runners-up in 2024. He knows he’s in prime position but is hyperaware of past heartbreak in locking up the Blizzard Series championship.
Pollard edge Nasse by one point for the 2022 crown, as the race wasn’t decided until that year’s Night of Champions.
“This is one that slipped outta my hands,” Nasse said. “That year, I felt like we did just about everything we could do to win the championship but ended up short. This year, I’m hoping we don’t let it slip away.
“But if it does, so be it. I’ve still got the Snowball (Derby) to look toward. But I do want to win the championship. It’s something I’ve had on my list for quite a while. It definitely would be a nice championship to mark off.”
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