Stephen Nasse (left) and Bubba Pollard (center) won the final two Southern Super Series points paying races of the season over the weekend at Five Flags Speedway, while Giovanni Ruggiero (right) took home the 2023 Southern Super Series championship. Photos: Mobile International Speedway/Facebook (left, center), Wilson Motorsports/Twitter (right)
Stephen Nasse and Bubba Pollard closed out the 2023 Southern Super Series season by scoring victories at Five Flags Speedway over the weekend.
Meanwhile, Gio Ruggiero took home the series championship at the end of the race weekend.
On Friday night, Nasse passed Pollard late in the running of the penultimate race at the half mile asphalt speed plant. From there, Nasse pulled away from the field to score the victory.
It marked the 11th career series victory for the Pinellas Park, Florida speedster, but his first of the 2023 season.
“It’s been a while,” Nasse said. “It has been a rough season. But, I knew if we could get somebody like Anthony (Campi, car owner) to help out with great cars, we could still compete for wins.
“The car wasn’t its best and I tried to give away a couple times. Bubba (Pollard) was great on restarts. Thankfully, I was able to sneak back by him. It’s gonna be one heckuva party tonight.”
Nasse led nearly 20 laps in the first half of the race only to lose it to Pollard on a restart. Nasse reclaimed the lead 16 laps from the finish and was quickly in the wind. Pollard finished second, with Jackson Boone in third, Jeremy Doss in fourth, and Hunter Robbins in fifth.
On Saturday, Bubba Pollard bettered his result by one spot.
The Senoia, Georgia racer drove to the victory, his third on the Southern Super Series season.
Pollard started third and sat second for 20 laps until getting around Jackson Boone on lap 63. He survived one caution with ease and went on to record the win.
“We were terrible (Friday),” Pollard said. “We got behind in practice. So, we worked on it today and changed everything to find what we liked. Now, we’re back to where we’re used to being.
“It was a good race and a great weekend. I wanted this one bad. We haven’t won much here in recent years, and this is a place I love and call home.”
Hunter Robbins finished in second, with Boone in third,
Gio Ruggiero finished in fourth, clinching the Southern Super Series championship for 2023.
“It’s awesome,” he said. “These guys work so hard. It’s our first full year in a Super Late Model and we pulled off a championship.”
Jake Finch finished in fifth.
While the Southern Super Series 2023 points paying season may be over, the tour will return to action in non-points competition on Saturday, November 11 for the All American 400 at Tennessee’s Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway. Visit SouthernSuperSeries.com for more information.
Five Flags Speedway will return to racing with the biggest asphalt short track race weekend of the year, the 56th annual Snowball Derby, which runs November 30 through December 3. For details, visit 5FlagsSpeedway.com.
Southern Super Series
Five Flags Speedway – Pensacola, FL
Race Results – September 22, 2023
1. 51N-Stephen Nasse
2. 26-Bubba Pollard
3. 7B-Jackson Boone
4. 44-Jeremy Doss
5. 18-Hunter Robbins
6. 21-Travis Braden
7. 69-Michael Hinde
8. 08H-Jace Hansen
9. 54-Matt Craig
10. 51F-Jake Finch
11. 22-Giovanni Ruggiero
12. 20-Jesse Love
13. 33W-Daniel Webster
14. 67-Colin Allman
15. 63-Kole Raz
16. 15-Jordon Riddick
17. 23-Billy VanMeter
18. 17-Eddie MacDonald
19. 58-John Aramendia
20. 08-Tony Elrod
21. 33-Dustin Smith
22. 14-Michael Atwell
23. 112-Augie Grill
24. 84-Sheflon Clay
25. 2-John Bolen
26. 98-Lee Tissot
27. 50-Jett Noland
28. 5-Dawson Fletcher
29. 97-Terry McMahan
Southern Super Series
Five Flags Speedway – Pensacola, FL
Race Results – September 23, 2023
1. 26-Bubba Pollard
2. 18-Hunter Robbins
3. 7B-Jackson Boone
4. 22-Giovanni Ruggiero
5. 51F-Jake Finch
6. 51-Stephen Nasse
7. 54-Matt Craig
8. 44-Jeremy Doss
9. 21-Travis Braden
10. 69-Michael Hinde
11. 63-Kole Raz
12. 2-John Bolen
13. 33-Dustin Smith
14. 33W-Daniel Webster
15. 22H-Ryan Herbert
16. 15-Jordon Riddick
17. 23-Eddie VanMeter
18. 08-Tony Elrod
19. 67-Colin Allman
20. 98-Lee Tissot
21. 97-Terry McMahan
22. 17-Eddie MacDonald
23. 20-Jesse Love
24. 08H-Jace Hansen
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