Finishing the Year in the Southeast - Nicholas Naugle Interview, Snowflake 100
Photo Courtesy of: Tanya Everett Photography
November 25th, 2023,
In the world of short track racing, few events capture the essence of competition and prestige like the Snowflake 100. As this year's annual spectacle race approaches, many eyes in Canada will be trained on the 08, and hopefully some new eyes have their attention caught in the process, as a dynamic driver from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, who has been making a splash in recent years in the racing circuit competes for the biggest race of his career.
A Promising Start
For many, Naugle first caught their attention behind the wheel of a Legend car. En Route to racking up wins locally for the Maritime League of Legends Tour, he also won abroad, such as at Wiscasset, Maine, where he consistently ran strong over numerous visits. The 2016 win was his strongest run at Wiscasset, juxtaposed by his debut on the East Coast International Pro Stock Tour (Then: Maritime Pro Stock Tour) ECIPST, where he ran 5 of the 12 race 2016 season schedule. Watching his contemporary #53 Cole Butcher capture his first series championship over 2nd and 3rd place runner-ups #89 Donald Chisholm, and #18 Darren MacKinnon, as Naugle failed to register a top-10 finish, and finished one race on the lead lap (he would come close on several occasions), Naugle put this in the rear view mirror quickly, re-collecting for another attempt.
2017 saw a significant increase in success, running 11 of the 12 race Pro Stock Tour schedule, he captured a top-5 and top-10s in close to half of his races, and perhaps most impressive of all, was his 2 races at Hickory, North Carolina for the Pro All Stars Series South (PASS SOUTH) division, where he finished 8th in both the prestigious Easter Bunny 150, and Mason-Dixon MegaMeltdown 300 against very large fields of really strong drivers. The Easter Bunny included names like: Kyle Busch, Christian Eckes (Snowball Derby winner as a teenager, and current NASCAR driver), Raphael Lessard, fellow Nova Scotian Cole Butcher who was having one of his early-defining moments and attention grabbing moments of his own, with a 4th place finish, and really a combination of some of the best racers from the region, as well as PASS at large: Matt Craig, Preston Peltier, Ben Rowe, and more.
In 2018 he continued improving, getting a top-10 finish in the New Brunswick 250 at Speedway 660 near Fredericton. He also made his debut that year in Florida at New Smyrna Speedway for Speedweeks, where he ran a 7 race Pro Late Model Series, grabbing several top-5s, and ran a couple of Super Late Model races during the same event. On the Pro Stock Tour side, while a win would elude him, he secured 3 top-5 finishes in the 12-race schedule, and 6 top-10s. 2019 saw him again improve these numbers, while his breakthrough win still eluded him, he had the same number of top-5s, and increased his season top-10 finish tally. His travelling ways would continue, as among other stops, he would return to Hickory, North Carolina to take on names like Josh Berry, Carson Kvapil, Brandon Setzer, and Tate Fogleman in the PRA Tour (not to be confused with CRA). He also had another top-10 at Hickory the same year in the PASS South Series.
Breakthrough
2020 marked a breakthrough for Naugle, as he not only won a feature in Florida in the Speedweeks Pro Late Model series, he backed it up at home with his first Pro Stock Tour win, taking place at Riverside, Antigonish, Nova Scotia. Of note, this happened on a 2-race COVID-shortened schedule, where he also had a podium in race 1, at Scotia Speedworld, just outside of Halifax, Nova Scotia. In the same year, Naugle grabbed 2 top-5s in 2 races at Petty International Raceway in New Brunswick, and had an attempt at the CRA Super Series Speedfest race in Georgia, at Watermelon Capital Speedway against top Super Late Model competition from all over America, including among them several top NASCAR prospects: Jack Dossey, III, Gabe Sommers, Travis Braden, Stephen Nasse, Bubba Pollard, Brian Cambpell, Jake Garcia, Corey Heim, and other top racers.
In 2021, Naugle had his best season to date in the Pro Stock Tour, with another win, again at Riverside, and 5 top-5s in the 9 race schedule. Presumably his reduced travelling was related to COVID. He ended that Pro Stock Tour season strong, with 3 podiums in his final 4 starts. While he went winless on the Pro Stock Tour in 2022 in 9 starts, he again had 5 top-5s, and 8 top-10s, but he would also score a Pro Late Model win in the CRA All Stars Tour at Anderson Speedway, Indiana, home of the Redbud 400. In the Super Late Model, he also scored top-10s at the famous Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway, and had another top-10 in the Pro Late Model at the high banks of Winchester Speedway, home of the All American 400 & Winchester 400 respectively. He also scored a best 5th place at the New Brunswick 250 at Speedway 660.
2023
In 2023 Naugle did a lot of travelling, heading to Southern Alabama for the prestigious Rattler 250, Florida for Speedweeks, Georgia for Speedfest, and races at home in both the new local touring series Super Late Model Series (SLMS), where he ran the most races for a Nova Scotian, and another full-time schedule on the Pro Stock Tour. He had a career-best season on the Pro Stock Tour, with a win at both Riverside, and Scotia Speedworld. Through his first 5 starts, he was one of the hottest drivers on the tour, outside of a 9th place finish, he had 2 wins, and 2 2nd place finishes. Good fortune at the IWK 250 contributed to a 2nd place finish, before bad luck struck at Petty in the following race, where an accident that he had no way of avoiding transpired around him, forcing an early exit. He followed his 2nd at the IWK up with a 3rd place finish at the Summer Clash 250 at Scotia Speedworld, leading laps along the way. Through the season, Naugle would find himself going through several cars due to wrecks, and unbeknownst to him, despite throwing the kitchen sink at his car trying to find out what was wrong, it would turn out that he had been racing for some time with a damaged rear housing. Finally resolved late in the year, his finishes through the second half of the season couldn’t keep up with the blazing pace he set during the first half.
Snowflake 100, part of Snowball Derby Weekend
The Snowflake 100 is the biggest Pro Late Model Race of them all. With origins tracing back to the 1980s, and officially being named in 1999, Gary St. Amant won the first iteration. After a string of first-time winners over a 10-year span, including a young #18 Hunter Robbins in his first tenure in the famous Ronnie Sanders ride, the next 5 years were exchanged between #112 Augie Grill, and #9 Chase Elliot, with Augie winning twice, and Chase 3 times. Augie would later win his 3rd to tie for the most wins in the race’s history, while Bubba Pollard and Derek Thorn would each have their name etched into the trophy twice. John Hunter Nemechek took a win as a teen on his way to NASCAR as well, along with a Derby victory, and in 2022, Casey Roderick won it in remarkably low visibility. Penascola is well known for it’s dew that settles in during the evening, but this race was as close to being called off for fog as it could get, without happening. As Naugle prepares for the Snowflake 100, his focus will be on harnessing the experience and skills he has honed over the years. The race is a test of raw speed and skill, and Naugle is no stranger to such challenges. His recent trip to partake in early practice laps at the track are indicative of his commitment to excelling in this prestigious event.
If you had to pick, was there a win that was bigger for you? Between your CRA Pro Late win, your first Pro Stock Tour win, or your New Smyrna Speedweeks (Florida, NASCAR sanctioned) Pro Late win?
I'd definitely say it was that first one at New Smyrna, it got the ball rolling for us. It was kind of the first realization of 'we can actually do this', we can make this happen. It seemed like it took us forever to get that first one, but once we had it, the ball started rolling, and we started winning more and more. It was big for our team, and an awesome feeling; especially on a big stage like that.
I knew that everyone at home was watching it, but it was so much bigger of an audience than just that, it was big for us. I love going back there, it's been hit or miss there for us, but it's always a great time. I look forward to it every year with my team, it's the way we start our season off, and get to spend a little time down in the sun. Keep the ball rolling: I try not to spend too much time out of the seat over the winter, I like to stay sharp.
You ran the Pro Late portion of Winchester 400 weekend in 2022, what was it like, your first laps around the fast high banks of Winchester?
That was a weird experience for me. We went there, and I just could not figure the place out in practice. It's just that fast, that it's almost hard to understand. We ended up having to go in the Last Chance Race, and it was about half way through that race when it clicked how I needed to race the place, how I needed to run it. At that point, it was game on. It was pretty awesome, I had a lot of fun running the race. We had some adversity to overcome, but we figured it out, and it was a lot of fun. I'd love to go back there sometime, it's like no other place you've ever been to.
You're going through the corner there at 130 something Miles per Hour, barely lifting (throttle) in a Pro (Late Model) car, running up against the outside wall, you're just not used to it. The car feels completely different, it's not loaded on the front-end really, it's slidey and loose, you're up there staying in the throttle running door-to-door to guys, and everyone's so tight - aero(dynamics) becomes a big factor there.
It's crazy the amount of load the cars see there, you have stuff breaking there that you wouldn't even think of. But it's just because there's so much load on the cars through the corners, it's more stress on the parts than what's normal.
You're no stranger to racing in Florida, but this is your first time at Five Flags in a Pro. You did run a Blizzard Series Super Late Model race there once, but things didn't come together in probably the way that you'd like. You got to run practice laps already, how was that? And what are you thinking, as the race weekend comes closer, when the full atmosphere is there?
I only got a handful of laps around the place, it wasn't a very good go. But this will be my first time in a Pro car around there. We went down and tested there a week ago, it was an eye-opener for me, it was a lot more fun running around that place like that. Getting the cars close, it was a ball. I hate to say it, about the Super race, but we didn't end up there with the gear that we needed.
I'm excited to get down there, I've never been down there for a Derby. I've just heard what's it like, and if nothing else, I'm excited to get down there for the week, and experience that environment, and how different it is going to be. I know it's going to be a high-pressure situation, lots of cars trying to go for very few spots. It's going to be different for sure, and I'm looking forward to it.
You've had some experience over the years, both in a Legend and in a Late Model running some pretty big races, including at Hickory, and the Rattler 250 at South Alabama. In fact, staying out of trouble and being there at the end, allowed you to have a strong finish at Nashville against a really elite field at the North/South Super Late Model Challenge. At the Snowflake, you will have a few fellow Canadian names with you, including Jarrett who you race with often at home. Does it feel a bit like you're taking a piece of home along with you to the race?
I've raced down here with Cole and them before, it's definitely neat. It definitely adds another layer to it, is the best way to put it. At the end of the day, you always want to beat the other guy from home. But if nothing else, we're all just there trying to do the best we can. They're just another driver, but it is nice to have some familiar faces around. It makes you feel just a little less like you're the one who stands out.
It's definitely neat, like me and Jarrett (also entered in the Snowflake 100) have raced with each other literally from Bando(lero) days, and up. It's nice to have a little bit of familiarity, when you're racing against them. A big thing down here: you don't really know the other drivers, you don't really know what to expect. So when you get around someone and you know how they race, it just kind of gives you that bit of relief, you know what's going to come. At the end of the day, once you strap on that helmet, I personally don't see names, or numbers, they're just cars at the end of the day. It's just whatever's in-between you and being in the lead. It's not so much a grudge thing, or anything along those lines, because like I said, they're not numbers, they're not names, they're just cars.
[Author suggests how it is likely that anything that takes your attention away from the race itself, including conflict is probably not helpful for the final goal]
Exactly, we spend too much time working on these cars, getting ready through the week, and too much heart and soul to really go out there and not give 110% to go and win the race. Sometimes things happen on track, you really just need to go and sort your head out, and go out, and just know that you're still just trying to go to the front of the field. You're not trying to go out there to try and get someone back, or this and that, you're just there trying to go to the front. You just need to keep your head on your shoulders, and know what the end goal is. Because once you lose focus on that, it makes it very hard to get it back.
What can you tell us about Brycon?
Brycon Racing started probably 10 years ago now. My father and I started in Bando racing, just as a hobby. And then we got into the Legend car racing, and we had some good help with us, with Dennis Lambert coming down here and getting to race a bunch, and race against some really high class cars, and beating some really high class cars. It just helped us excel, and it just kind of snowballed over the years, and became this Late Model team and my father and I run, and we've definitely built ourselves a fairly big team is the best way to put it. I know lately I've been enjoying helping a few of the younger drivers come up through a lot, doing a little bit of Driver Development, doing what I can. But still maintaining focus on pushing this team further and further every time. It's really just a family run team, it's made up of me, and a bunch of people who just volunteer their time, that are family friends of ours, that make it possible for us to come out and have fun every week.
Anyone else you want to shout-out?
I gotta thank my mom, my dad, and my girlfriend. We spend so many hours in the shop, and they put up with it so that we're able to do it. I gotta thank my entire crew, they dedicate all of their time that they can, and week-after-week, they keep showing up. Hah, I know I'm hard to deal with sometimes, but they still put up with me, and I'm very thankful for that. And I have to thank all of my sponsors: I gotta thank Brycon Construction, Archibald's Drilling & Blasting, Mobil 1, Mcdonald Automotive, Keltic Air Serivces, and Conway Customs, all of those guys on the car, they help us out immensely, and they are the reason we're able to continue doing this.
Naugle's journey from local tracks in Nova Scotia, PEI, and New Brunswick, to the high-pressure environment of the Snowflake 100 is a story of passion, family/friend support, perseverance, and unrelenting ambition. A strong performance at this event could open new doors and usher in a new chapter in his racing career, as he continues to build upon years of progress at home.
As the engines roar to life and the lights go green, Nicholas Naugle will be more than just a participant; he will be a contender, ready to etch his name in the annals of racing history.
