Stephen Nasse's First Derby Ends With Encouragement

A Top 15 Run on the Lead Lap is a Good Start for a Derby Rookie

Making the show is half the battle, the other half is being

around at the end.  Stephen Nasse did both at the 44th

Annual Snowball Derby at Five Flags Speedway (FL) in his

first Snowball Derby start.  Although the results do not

show the effort or how strong they ran, it's not like the

16-year-old teenager to be down on his luck.  A

14th-place finish to him means they can just be better

next year.

"We never really got the car where we wanted it at all

weekend," said Nasse.  "We qualified 15th, which is not

bad at all for my first Snowball Derby.  We missed it a

little big somewhere.  All weekend were just weren't

where we needed to be with the car for it to be

strong.  We had a good run in the middle of the race

and got up into the top 10, but ended up failing back

after the pit stop."

This was the first trip to the Florida Panhandle for Stephen Nasse, who plans on coming back in 2012 to run some Blizzard races in preparation for the 45th Annual Snowball Derby.  On one's first trip, drivers are often surprised how different the track can be on race day.

"It was very different and the track got better during the day," said Nasse.  "We were riding towards the end of the lead lap and nightfall was coming, but we still didn't pick up grip like we would normally expect to do."

Nasse's season comes to an end after an impresvie run in 2011.  He hopes to turn the strong runs into victories in 2012.  

"It was a great year and we got some big wins," said Nasse.  "We were going for a top five in the Winchester 400 and we got wrecked.  We got a top 15 at the Derby and were on the lead lap.  Won the Red Eye, won the Easter Bunny 150.   Won some poles.  It was a great year and we learned a lot for 2012."

Stephen Nasse will start 2012 with a trip to New Smyrna Speedway (FL) where he will defend his Super Late Model Red Eye 100 title.  The victory in 2011 got things kicked off for his season and he hopes to do it again on January 7th.     

Stephen Nasse at his first Snowball Derby.