Opp, AL :: Stephen Nasse has been vilified within short track circles and on social media over the past 24 hours following his involvement in the massive second lap incident in the Rattler 250 on Sunday at South Alabama Speedway.
The 20-year-old immediately took responsibility for his part of tagging leader Anderson Bowen from behind, spinning both drivers and causing a third of the field to plow into the derailment. Nasse plans on reaching out to each of the drivers involved later this week to explain his side of what happened.
While Nasse admits that initiating contact remained his fault, he also believes that Bowen took an unlikely arc into Turn 3 and was forced to brake sooner than anticipated.
“It’s just really irritating that people think I would want to intentionally take Anderson out on the first lap and cause this huge crash,” Nasse said. “Those were not my intentions at all.
“My intent was to get a clean start and get to the bottom as soon as I could and ride it out. I didn’t care to lead the first lap or any lap except the last lap. When I got room to slide in behind (Bowen) I expected him to go into the corner like you normally would, but he kind of arced it in there and when he did, he was on the brakes earlier than I thought he would.”
Nasse says Bowen had every right to roll through the corner however he wanted as the leader, but the arc didn’t allow him time to properly avoid contact.
“I take full blame and responsibility for that,” Nasse said. “I’m sorry to Anderson and his crew for doing that. I have no problems with him and actually have a lot of respect for him as a driver.”
Nasse says he has personally reached out to Bowen but as of press time, they have not yet talked.
“I’m sorry to everyone who was involved in the accident there after the initial contact but I just want to make it clear that I wasn’t pulling some crossover move or trying to lead the first lap. I’ve raced long enough to have learned those lessons a long time ago.
“That doesn’t make me immune to making mistakes. All drivers make mistakes and that’s racing.”
Pollard Trying Something Different
Finding Bubba Pollard on the track Sunday afternoon was a little more challenging than usual as the defending Southern Super Series champion traded his usual No. 26 Super Late Model for a matte black No. 29 which was an entry filed in conjunction with Matthew Wragg and Josh McCoy.
The car was still prepared and maintained at the Pollard shop in Senoia, Georgia.
Pollard says the opportunity presented itself to bring on some additional partners and he hopes the decision will pay dividends throughout the course of a full season.
“Josh McCoy, Matthew Wragg and some guys from North Georgia wanted to get together and do something,” Pollard said. “So we’re going to see if we can make our race program a little better.”
The familiar JEGS No. 26 will still see track time this season but the number is yet to be determined while Pollard sorts out his infrastructure and race schedule for 2015.
Toyota Funding Increased Kyle Busch Motorsports Effort
Christopher Bell won the Rattler 250 driving the flagship No. 51 Toyota for Kyle Busch Motorsports. It was his second victory in five starts this season and both Bell and KBM are only getting started.
KBM has expanded its Late Model program for 2015 with both Bell and Kaz Grala running a full slate of Super Late Model races between them. Grala will also compete in the Martinsville and Myrtle Beach Late Model Stock events for the team.
This is a sizeable increase in races for the KBM team which has only run a handful of events over the past two seasons with Bell and Erik Jones. The reason is Toyota, who has increased its involvement in Late Model racing in the hopes of finding the next Erik Jones.
It’s no secret that Toyota regrets losing Kyle Larson to Chevrolet and Chip Ganassi Racing in 2013 and their increased investment is intended to ensure the next top short track prospect will make the jump to NASCAR under the Toyota banner.
Going Back South
Justin South didn’t get the results he deserved on Sunday in the Rattler, finishing 26th with a mechanical failure after having to race his way into the show on Saturday night. Despite the misfortune, he did earn the respect of new team Tracy Goodson Racing.
South rented the signature No. 1 for the weekend and performed better than the results indicated, drawing praise from both Tracy Goodson and crew chief Mike Garvey.
“He’s a fun guy,” Goodson said. “He’s really efficient and did a good job for us.”
Garvey agreed.
“He’s a good driver. I hope we can work together in the future.”
So what will it take? More than likely it will take South bringing some money or a sponsor as Goodson Racing transitions to a driver development team with Garvey switching from a driver to a mentor and crew chief role.
“Not sure, that I ain’t up to me,” South said about rejoining Goodson Racing.
However …
“That’s up to him,” Goodson said about South coming back to pilot the No. 1 in the future.
Hopefully they can work something out because South is a really efficient driver who can do a lot of things for a team like Goodson Racing. Unfortunately, the same problems that derailed South in his promising ARCA career is also holding him back in Super Late Models — an abundance of cash.
Southern Super Series Championship Standings
- Christopher Bell Ldr. (110)
- Casey Smith -5
- Chase Elliott -5
- Garrett Jones -5
- Anderson Bowen -6
- Daniel Hemric -8
- Stephen Nasse -13
- Ty Majeski -14
- Harrison Burton -14
- Augie Grill -36
- Kyle Plott -39
- Donnie Wilson -42
- Jeremy Pate -45
- John Hunter Nemechek -46
- Dalton Sargeant -48
- Johnny Brazier -51
- Cole Rouse – 54
- Denver Foran -60
- Dominique Van Wierengen -63
- Casey Roderick -64
- Cody Coughlin -68
- Ross Kenseth -70
- Bobby Knox -71
- Bubba Pollard -73
- William Byron -73
