By the end of the Ken Hyatt Memorial 142, literally every driver that took the green flag had been involved in an incident but the one that crossed the last two off the list is ultimately what sent Stephen Nasse to Victory Lane and earned his family team $20,000.
This was a messy, messy race slowed too many times to count for various crashes, spins and mechanical failures. By 18 laps to go, only Jon Guy and TJ Decaire hadn’t been involved and every lap had been led between them.
Then this happened …
That is Decaire spinning Guy for the lead. He did not ‘tap out’ and thus, both went to the back. Nasse inherited the lead at that point and held off Nicholas Naugle over the remaining 18 laps to win the UARA National season opening event.
“I can’t say enough about Rex and Jon Guy and the whole family there,” Nasse said on Ultra Broadcasting about the Hyatt family, whose car he drove some last year. “It’s a shame for them to lose a grandpa like that … and father … and I really hate it for them.
“And I’ll definitely be back driving their car at some point this year. I’ll tell you what, what a race, these short tracks will wear you out. I think I spent too much time at the Hard Rock last night. I might have had a little bit too much to drink but they had me working in that car and I just can’t say nothing about my guys.”
Remember that when Nasse won the Snowball Derby in December, he did so driving for Anthony Campi Racing.
“It’s kind of emotional for me,” Nasse said. “You know, this is my family team and my dad has been working hard. Chris Cater. Chris Burton, big Tom, Mark and Jimmy. Wayne. We have struggled, struggled, struggled. To get a big one like this feels great.”
Who didn’t feel great was Guy, and writing the words, doesn’t do justice how he felt about Decaire after the race.
The implication, of course, is that if Guy could have caught Decaire, he would have crashed him.
Beyond the finish, only seven cars of the 21 that started finish, and everyone was involved in something once. Even Nasse was spun once by Adam Briggs on Lap 38, but Briggs tapped out and went to the rear and gave the Derby winner his spot back.
By Lap 81, only 13 cars were running. On Lap 85, Colin Allman suffered a mechanical failurr running third. On Lap 88, Jared Irvan drove into the back of Cody Stickler and both were out. Dylan Bigley broke on Lap 118.
That was just a tiny snapshot of all the carnage and chaos, but through it all, Nasse drove from a B Main to Victory Lane in an embattled family car and collected $20,000 in the process.
UARA Ken Hyatt Memorial 142 Auburndale Speedway February 28 2026
Matt Weaver is the owner and founder of Short Track Scene. Weaver grew up in the sport, having raced himself before becoming a reporter in college at the University of South Alabama. He also has extensive experience covering NASCAR, IndyCar and Dirt Sprint Cars.
