Stephen Nasse was once considered one of short track racing’s rising stars before pneumonia set his career back. Now, the 20-year-old from Pinellas Park, Florida, often criticized for his aggressive driving style, is more determined than ever to win.
Nasse, who was racing in the Pro Cup Series, was considered one of the rising stars in the sport two years ago. Then, in the summer of 2013, a bout with pneumonia set him back physically and set his racing career back. He was hospitalized for a few weeks and bed ridden for over a month. During that time, he lost a lot of weight, a lot of muscle and, more importantly, his driving edge.
“I came down with pneumonia, stuck in the hospital for about three weeks and just bed ridden after that for another month or so after that, so about a couple months of sickness,” Nasse said. “Ended up losing a lot of weight, lot of muscle, a lot of power. I had to come back, do a lot of testing to build my strength back up. Now, we’ve been struggling. I was one of the up-and-comers and now I’m like a go-or-go-homer. I don’t know, it’s just racing. This sport’s money driven. It’s something we don’t have a lot of. We have enough to do what we’re doing now for a long time but I don’t have enough to move up to the next level and that’s the same story for a lot of the guys that I run with.”
Prior to his pneumonia, Nasse had scored a victory in the prestigious Red Eye 100 Super Late Model race at New Smyrna Speedway (Florida), won a race at the World Series of Asphalt at New Smyrna and finished second in the Rattler 250 in Alabama. His star was rising. Even after his return following his bout with the illness, Nasse looked like he’d be just as good when he scored three victories in the 2014 World Series of Asphalt at New Smyrna – but things starting going downhill from there. Now, Nasse is trying to get back in the win column.
“We’re working hard with DLP Motorsports and Stephen Nasse Racing and all the guys, trying to get the cars a lot better,” Nasse stated. “I feel like we’ve gotten big gains on it. I think I’m getting back in my rhythm. I think me and Buggy Pletcher, we’re working better again together. I had a setback with the Adrian Carriers when I went to their team and that deal fell through and that put a hole in our season. Buggy Pletcher picked up other rides which is understandable because, you know, we separated. So, I had to wait for his rides to be over with but now he’s done and back on our car 100 percent so hopefully that will lead us back in the right direction but only time will tell.
“Like I said, we’re just now getting back into testing rhythm. I think that will help us out a lot. We’ve done a lot of testing in the past, especially after I got sick. I just hate to use that as an excuse forever so I just want to get back with it.”
Despite his early success in 2014, Nasse has not been the same since his hospitalization. Nasse says there are a multitude of factors in his lack of success since his bout with pneumonia but certainly feels some of it rests on him as a driver.
“I definitely say some of it’s me,” Nasse commented. “It took a toll on my body. Pneumonia, I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy. It was a tough time in the hospital, a lot of hours, a lot of nights with no food, nothing to drink, a lot of mental stress. I’m just now bouncing back from that completely. Again, you know, it’s the lack of testing too. We missed a lot of track time from being sick. It put a big hole in our program. I think now we’re starting to catch up, we’re getting our testing program back on top of things. We’re working and seeing what we’ve got. It’s a brand new car. We have another brand new one on the way. We’re building new stuff and making progress. It’s like I said time will be the tale.”
Since coming back, Nasse has been criticized by some of his competitors for being too aggressive at times. A lot of that criticism was amplified after an incident in the second lap of the 2015 Rattler 250 at South Alabama Speedway (Kinston, Alabama) when contact from his front bumper triggered a massive accident taking out several contenders. While Nasse doesn’t feel he was entirely at fault over the incident in the Rattler, he has no apologies about being aggressive on the track.
“You know I’ve definitely seen a pretty aggressive side of me that I didn’t really notice before the pneumonia and everything,” Nasse explained. “A lot of that’s drive and determination too and some is being mistaken for aggressiveness. We’re racecar drivers, you know, not steering wheel holders. We’re supposed to get up on the wheel and drive. I came to win the races just like everybody else. If I have to move somebody to win a race, so be it, I’ll move them. I don’t care if it’s the Lord himself out there. I will do what I have to do to win a race and I don’t want anyone to forget that and I expect the same thing from my competitors. Nobody comes to finish second. So, I mean, I definitely think I’ve gotten more aggressive.”
Nasse had said after the Rattler that the incident was not intentional in an interview with RACE22.com’s Matt Weaver. He again spoke about that race, saying that, while he shares some blame for the incident, it was by no means an intentional incident.
“The deal with the Rattler, that was just a misunderstanding where I thought Anderson was going to lift and where I was planning on it the first couple laps,” Nasse remarked. “I’ve been doing this for 16 years now. I know what I did was a mistake but it wasn’t intentional like a lot of people think it was and whoever thinks it was intentional is just ignorant and they should probably stay away from the racetrack because they don’t know what real racing is and obviously never been behind the wheel before. Me and Anderson talked about it and it’s all said and done. I apologize to the guys for all that and I’ve already paid my dues. But hey, I’ve been wrecked more times than I can count on both of my hands on the first lap of a race before and you didn’t hear me crying about it so.”
Even before the incident in the Rattler, drivers felt that Nasse had been more aggressive this season than in the past. Nasse didn’t dispute that he has been aggressive on the track.
“I need to win,” Nasse clarified. “Like you said, at one point in my time, I was on top of it and I was coming through winning races here and there and now we’ve kind of fell off. That’s nothing against my team. Probably a little more on me than anything but we’re getting back on top of our program and I’m going to be as aggressive as I need to be to win the race. Like I said, I’ll move anybody to do it. I’m not scared to.
“If they want to talk about it after, they’re more than welcome to come talk about it. Most of the time after a race, you don’t ever see the drivers you get into it with. All they want to do is come to you when you’re on the track and try to cry about it then but after the race, they don’t ever come talk about it. That’s just immaturity in my eyes. Be a man and talk to me about your problems after and we’ll see if we can come to a conclusion and, if not, so be it, next race you can get me back.”
This season, Nasse has been competing in the Championship Auto Racing Series (CARS) Super Late Model Tour where he has struggled to find success on the track. He has, however, managed to entertain fans mainly due to his thrilling battles with former Snowball Derby champion Steven Wallace.
“I guess it’s just a Steve and Steven thing,” Nasse mentioned. “Steve’s a great guy. He’s a great racecar driver. I enjoy running with him. He’s a little rough on the edges sometimes but so am I. After the Rattler and getting into things with somebody, I realized I make mistakes. I try to be a lot smarter about things and not get too excited in the seat. Steven, he’s shown a lot of maturity in the seat. He used to be one of those guys you don’t know if you messed with him if he’s bound to wreck you the next corner. Now he’s gotten a lot racier and so have I. A lot more patience.
“It’s a lot more fun with me and him racing and being about equal so far. We’ve been struggling in the CARS Tour. A lot of good competition so me and him have been sitting back in 10th or 12th position fighting. Don’t get us wrong, we have fast racecars and I’m sure me and him will both be back up front here soon. We’re good buddies and we enjoy racing together. Sometimes things get a little rough but that’s how things go.”
Nasse’s next race will be in the CARS Tour Super Late Model series at Southern National Motorsports Park on May 30th. He tested at Southern National on Monday with hopes of getting th car dialed in for the race.
“We’re trying to get some testing down here for it and we’re a little bit off right now but it’s so hard to tell because who knows what the track is right now. I’m pretty sure they had a race here [Sunday night] so who knows what the conditions are and we won’t know what we have until race day so we’ve got a couple weeks to see what happens.”
