Following a rather decent P9 finish to end his 2023 Cup Series campaign, denying the champion, Ryan Blaney, a clean pass, Ross Chastain has started his 2024 adventure with a late-model return. The Trackhouse Racing star kicked off the year with a return to Pro Late Models in the Protect Your Melon—Buckle Up SpeedFest at Crisp Motorsports Park in Cordele, Georgia. He got behind the Rackley W.A.R. #25 equipment to get back to his old late-model racing days at the Watermelon Capital Speedway.

However, after almost a decade, Chastain was quickly reminded of who the boss was around here in the Late Model scene as his childhood rival, Stephen Nasse, showed him his place. Reacting to his loss to his long-time rival, Ross Chastain gave his thoughts on racing against the best of late-model racing, also relaying how it felt to be back on the late-model scene.

Here’s how the late-model superstar fended off Ross Chastain

“I was having flashbacks,” said Chastain, who was up against his old rival in the Late Model extravaganza on January 19th. However, his winning hopes were quickly squashed by the late-model superstar Stephen Nasse, who edged him to second place to take home the win. The CRA/JEGS All-Stars Tour Pro Late Model portion of Protect Your Melon: Buckle Up SpeedFest at Crisp Motorsports Park rekindled some short-track memories for Ross Chastain as he went up against his former rival, Nasse.

Ross Chastain led a few laps until Stephen Nasse took over, taking charge in lap 64. While the former had fun racing against his former rival and spinning off the track into the backyard, Stephen Nasse wasted no time, holding on to the lead and fending off the competition to come home victorious. Reflecting on his Late-Model return and his duel with his old foe, Chastain was asked, “Was it neat to race him again here in this setting?”

To which he said, “Well, I was having flashbacks we started in the fast kid division way back in 2006, 2007 and it was either he would win and then they’d put him in the back for the next week the winner had to start at the back and then I’d win and I’d have started back to him. He traded a lot of wins and wrecked a lot of race cars too but yeah, clean and green today. He made his life decision of being the best late model driver and he’s done that and he’s one of the best and I made my decision and to come back and be competitive with him.” 

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Chastain gets real about the Rackley equipment he had while lauding Nasse for his win

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Racing against each other on short tracks across Florida, Ross Chastain and Stephen Nasse have a bit of history between them. While one took off into the NASCAR world, the other stayed back and continued to chip away at his late-model career. Nasse’s victory was spectacular, given he had to charge back despite starting 12th to beat his fellow Sunshine State driver Ross Chastain for the win.

Stephen Nasse has developed an uncanny ability to finish races on a high note, irrespective of where he starts the race from. With his rival taking the top spot, Chastain could manage only the second spot. He later shared his thoughts with RacingAmerica.com about his #25 car, saying, “This Rackley W.A.R. team had about a sixth-place driver today. I have not raced any car that drove like this in my life. I raced here a long time ago, and I grew up driving Pro Late Models. They didn’t drive like these. They didn’t drive this good.” 

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“It’s funny that all this time later in life, Stephen and I are racing for the win. I grew up racing against him. We’ve crashed each other more times than I can count. I know he was super-fast at the beginning of the race. We got by him on that restart. When he got back to me, I couldn’t run the bottom, let alone at his pace,” said the #1 Trackhouse Racing driver, reflecting on his day while he praised his rival and late-model king, Stephen Nasse.