One of the biggest names and most polarizing figures in pavement Late Model racing is throwing his name into the mix for the CARS Tour championship in 2024, but in a Late Model Stock Car.

According to Matt Weaver’s Short Track Scene, Stephen Nasse will be competing full-time with the CARS Tour Late Model Stock Car division, going head-to-head with the likes of Carson Kvapil, Brenden Queen, Bobby McCarty, and Landon Huffman beginning at North Carolina’s Southern National Motorsports Park on March 9.

“We’re going to do a lot more of the Late Model Stock stuff,” Nasse explained over the weekend. “We’re planning on running the CARS Tour, the whole tour.”

Nasse made two starts in a Late Model Stock Car late in 2023, finishing 11th at the South Carolina 400 at Florence Motor Speedway, and fifth in a CARS Tour event at North Carolina’s Tri-County Speedway.

The Pinellas Park, Florida driver has two top five finishes and three top 10 finishes in three CARS Tour LMSC starts. Nasse does have four CARS Tour victories on his stats sheet, but those came with the now-defunct CARS Super Late Model Tour. 

Nasse told Short Track Scene that he has three main reasons for joining the CARS Tour. He’s enjoyed his few starts to date, he’s liked what he’s seen out of CARS Tour management in the past, and he believes the CARS Tour is trending in the right direction for the future.

“I think the series is going in a good direction. It’s got the right people in place to make it even more popular,” said Nasse. “It has a really big fanbase and I want to perform in front of as many fans as possible. That’s the CARS Tour right now. They are going to continue producing that product.”

Nasse will be driving a car that he owns and will have Chase Pistone as his crew chief in 2024. 

The CARS Tour will kick off its 2024 campaigns with a stand-alone event for the Pro Late Model division at Southern National Motorsports Park on March 2. The Late Model Stock Car division will kick off its season on March 9, also at SNMP. 

For the second year in a row the CARS Tour will see every Late Model Stock Car and Pro Late Model race broadcast live on FloRacing. Fans can subscribe to FloRacing by clicking here.