Carson Brown Goes Back-to-Back, Wins Sunshine State 200 at Five Flags

A strong start to the 2026 season continued for Carson Brown on Saturday, winning the ASA STARS National Tour Sunshine State 200 at Five Flags Speedway.

Brown is now two-for-two with the Appalachian Sucker Punch ASA STARS National Tour to start the 2026 season. The New London, North Carolina native also won the Clyde Hart Memorial at New Smyrna Speedway in February.

Taking the lead early in stage two, Brown and his No. 81 Anthony Campi Racing entry dominated the second half of the 200-lap contest at the half-mile in Pensacola, Florida. He also held off Kyle Steckly, Cole Butcher and others on a spree of late restarts.

Stephen Nasse's car slowed off the pace with 15 laps to go, ending a long green-flag run in the final stage of the race. That led to several incidents on the ensuing restarts, but Brown fended off the challengers and stayed out front for the victory.

"It's been a very good year," said Brown in victory lane. "Just a big thank you to Anthony Campi Racing, the whole crew, ebb Logistics for being here. Oh, man, that was a rough one. They tried to take it like always, give them props for that, but I'm glad we could fend them off, there.

"We restart every single time, right? The last few restarts always go rough. Nobody really knows how to restart in between 10 laps to go. It definitely got rough. I kind of expected it, but it was definitely rough.

Steckly finished second, rebounding from a 13th-place finish at New Smyrna. His No. 22 ultimately could not challenge Brown, but the late cautions offered him a chance to battle for the win.

"We were just lacking a little bit of drive there that last run," said Steckly. "I gave it everything I had, that's for sure. It was a lot of fun. That 81 car was just a little faster than us the last couple of runs. A really good day, good points day, led some laps.

"There's a lot of people back home watching that I wish could be down here for a good run. We've been needing this. Hopefully, we can keep working and build on this momentum and chase down the 81 in Dominion."

Cole Butcher's focus has been in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, where the Canadian is embarking on his rookie season with ThorSport Racing. An off weekend for the series offered Butcher the chance to return to Super Late Model competition, where he won the ASA STARS National Tour championship one year ago.

Butcher finished third in the No. 44 Bob Lyon Racing machine, a strong showing while adjusting to some of the latest changes in the Late Model world.

"It was great, it was good to be back in the Super," said Butcher. "These ST and F45*s, we're just trying to get used to them, but I think we're trending in the right direction. We tried some stuff this weekend that seemed to be okay. We've just got to get a little bit better.

"We're all here to win, right? I don't have anything to lose other than a wrecked race car. We tried to make something happen, but the 81 was just really good all weekend. Congratulations to them. We've just got to get better and kick their ass."

Fellow ThorSport Racing NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series competitor Jake Garcia finished fourth, while Jade Avedisian rounded out the top five.

Dustin Smith qualified on the pole for the event, but Steckly took the lead on lap 24. Smith regained the top spot on lap 58 and won the first stage.

The Alabama driver was in position for a top-five finish, but was one of several drivers collected in an incident with five laps remaining during the rash of late cautions.

The ASA STARS National Tour returns to action at Dominion Raceway on Sunday, April 26th, in the ebb Logistics 250 presented by Cornerstone Homes.

-Photo credit: Daniel Vining

Sunshine State 200 Unofficial Results