Nasse Holds Off Roderick For Blizzard Series Victory at Five Flags

Stephen Nasse held off Casey Roderick to win the second round of the Deep South Crane Blizzard Series on Friday night at Five Flags Speedway.

Nasse already had two wins in 2024 in Pro Late Model competition, coming at SpeedFest at Cordele Motor Speedway and in the Show Me the Money Late Model Series at Montgomery Motor Speedway. Now, the Florida driver has his first Super Late Model win of the year.

The victory is a special one for him, coming in the family-prepared No. 51 after making a handful of starts in Anthony Campi-prepared Super Late Models.

Nasse admitted he’s had doubts about the family’s Super Late Model program, but any questions were answered with Friday’s win.

“I’m just so proud of my dad and my guys,” said Nasse in victory lane.” Tom, Mark, everybody that puts a hand on this thing, Greg. They just work so hard, and it’s really starting to show off. To come out here and be able to hold off Roderick like that, I tell you, he made me work for it.

“We’ve been really strong in the Pro car. My dad and everybody there has just been working so hard, man. I won’t lie, I didn’t really have much faith in it. I’ve been a big doubter. Hard work does pay off, and we’re here to show it right now.”

The win also puts Nasse in position for a potentially lucrative weekend. Friday night’s race is part of an ASA Southern Super Series doubleheader weekend, with teams headed to Mobile International Speedway on Saturday.

Along with the $10,000 payday to win on both nights, there is a $5,000 bonus on the line from Family Funeral & Cremation if a driver can sweep the weekend. The ball is now in Nasse’s court for that bonus.

“That’d be a nice weekend, for sure. It takes a lot of money, a lot of time, a lot of effort to do this. These wins add up and mean a lot. Hopefully we can get one tomorrow night.”

Casey Roderick charged late to get into the second position and contend for the win, but ultimately needed more laps to challenge Nasse. Roderick hoped to score the victory on Friday and dedicate it to Team Platinum’s Myna Burba after the passing of her husband.

“We just ran out of time there,” said Roderick. “I was struggling with being a little tight the whole race. I needed a long run to show what we had there. All those cautions at the end were holding me up a little bit getting me going. It took about four or five laps for the car to get going good.

“Miss Myna, she’s been very good to me the last couple of years. She’s had some family dealings the last few days, her husband passed away, and we’re thinking about Dave there. I was hoping to get a win for them tonight. Just came up one spot short.”

Dawson Sutton completed the podium after an impressive showing. Sutton set quick time in qualifying and led laps en route to the third place finish.

“This Rackley WAR team brought me a great car this weekend,” said Sutton. “Came up a little short in the race, but I got my first pole. Overall, it was a good learning weekend. I can’t thank the team enough. P3 is pretty good with a flat tire.

“I’m learning every race that we go to. It’s really just a learning experience.”

Nasse took the lead with 40 laps to go in the event, passing Sutton for the top spot. Nasse led comfortably when a mandatory caution waved with 13 laps to go after 50 consecutive circuits of green flag racing.

Prior to that, the last yellow flag flew on lap 37 for an incident collecting Bubba Pollard and Sean Hingorani. Both drivers were in the top five before the incident in turn three.

Cole Butcher, winner of the Sunshine State 200 in March to start the Blizzard Series, ran into issues of his own while leading early in the event. A flat right-front tire sent his No. 28 Wilson Motorsports entry into the turn four wall.

“The right-front tire just gave out,” said Butcher. “I think that was the best car I’ve ever had here at Pensacola, it’s a shame. We’ll move on to Mobile tomorrow. I can’t thank my guys enough.”

Fans can watch Saturday's ASA Southern Super Series event live on RacingAmerica.TV and TrackTV.com.

-Photo credit: Jason Reasin Photography

BLIZZARD SERIES #2 UNOFFICIAL RESULTS