Stephen Nasse made a late race pass on Casey Roderick to score the Super Late Model victory as a part of the third annual Short Track U.S. Nationals at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday night.
Nasse recovered from a loose wheel early in the race and reeled in Roderick in dramatic fashion during the closing laps to take the win. Nasse felt the loose wheel and decided to pit to correct the problem, but in doing so he gave up track position.
However, he charged from the back of the pack in an impressive 60-lap jaunt to retake the lead with four laps to go.
“We came from the back to the front and put on a great show for the fans,” said Nasse, who celebrated the victory with his parents and young nephew. “It was a great night for our family for sure.”
Nasse, who set a track record for quickest lap with a qualifying best of 14.526 seconds, said it is one of the biggest victories of his career.
“It’s right up there for sure,” the Florida native said. “I won last week at a track that’s five minutes from my house so that was a big one for my family, but winning here, it’s Bristol, baby, and that’s all you need to know.”
Roderick held on to finish second, while Steve Wallace, son of NASCAR Hall of Famer Rusty Wallace, was third. Josh Brock and Anthony Sergi rounded out the top five.
Nasse said he got an on-track visual assist from Wallace in the early laps when he and his team suspected that he had a loose tire.
“I felt a vibration and Steve came up beside my car and let me know that it was wobbling,” Nasse said. “Without his help we probably wouldn’t be here right now and would’ve had a wrecked race car.”
In other action, former NASCAR Truck Series champ Mike Skinner earned the Pro Late Model 100-lap victory after passing defending JEGS Pro Late Model Series champ Jack Dossey III on lap 42. From there he cruised to the victory.
Skinner avenged his Bristol loss from last year, where he tangled with a lapped car and crashed out of the race early after leading a bunch of laps.
Skinner, who won the pole with a quick lap of 14.939 seconds, nearly got collected in an early race crash after the field was inverted, but managed to avoid most of the mayhem. His No. 5 machine suffered minor damage to the brakes, but his team managed to put a band-aid on the problem during the two following cautions.
Once the car was repaired, Skinner started from the back of the field and put on an amazing driving display as he worked his way through the field, weaving through traffic on the high banks. Once he closed in and was clear of Dossey III, he pulled away from the field and marched to the checkered flag.
“I ran through the debris after that crash a few laps in and it tore the brake master cylinder off it,” Skinner said. “I just told the boys don’t panic and we’ll get it fixed. We were blessed with a couple of cautions right after that and they were able to get the thing back on there and I didn’t even want to look at it. I knew we had a fast hot rod and we’d be OK if we could get it back on the track.”
Prior to this victory, Skinner’s only Bristol victory came in a Truck Series race in 2005. Now, he has some additional Gladiator hardware to add to his collection.
“I love this sword,” Skinner said. “If Bristol Motor Speedway gave me a bottle of soda for winning a race I’d put it in my trophy case. That’s how much it means to me to win a race here.”
Jake Garcia finished third and was followed by Mandy Chick and Mason Keller to complete the top five.
In Street Stock, Barnes took the lead with 20 laps to go and never looked back, taking his third straight victory in this event. He started eighth in his No. 44 machine and worked his way up through the field. His car got better as the laps wore on and a late caution bunched the cars up for one final restart with five laps to go. Barnes got a great jump on the final restart and held off his father, Chuck Barnes,Sr. at the finish line.
“In the past Brett Hudson led all the laps and we came in at the end and took the win, but this year we tried to set our car up to run better the entire race and we were able to do that,” Barnes said. “It’s awesome to win here again, and to finish one-two with my dad makes it real special.”
Hudson finished third, Skeeter Crum was fourth and Jeff Lane rounded out the top five.
In Compacts, Gossar led all but three laps to finally grab a Gladiator trophy and sword at BMS. After contending for the victory the last two seasons, Gossar came up short both times. This time, he wouldn’t be denied.
“We finished second last year and ran well the first year here and should’ve won that one too,” Gossar said. “This is Bristol and it’s on every short track racer’s list of places they want to win. Our car was running great this weekend and we felt like we had a good shot at winning. We’ve been close here a couple of times, so it feels good to finally get it done.”
Justin Brown finished second and was followed by Todd Metz Jr., Terry Eaton Jr. and Gossar’s brother Trent, who completed the top five.
In the earlier transfer races, Shawn Smith won the 25-lap Street Stock B feature, Reuben Fetty claimed the 20-lap Compact C feature, and Jeremy Mitchell claimed the 25-lap Compact B feature.
