Jake Finch Survives Chaotic Baby Rattler 125, Wins for Second Straight Year

A chaotic finish led to a second consecutive victory in the Grasshopper Pro Late Model Rattler 125 for Jake Finch.

The Florida driver inherited the lead with eight laps to go after contact between Casey Roderick and Jett Noland as they battled for the top spot.

Finch then had to hold on to the top spot on a series of late restarts, including a caution inside of five laps to go when Colin Allman and Zack Dixon came together battling for the second position.

When the dust settled, it was Finch standing tall in victory lane for the second year in a row in the Pro Late Model prelude to the Rattler 250.

"This is so fun," said Finch in victory lane. "I love this racetrack and love the racing, obviously. I've had good success in the race. You've just got to know who you're racing around, keep your head on straight. That's the main thing. You've just got to think about what's going on, and I feel like I do that and put myself in good positions. That just happened to be one of them."

One of those "good positions" was riding behind Roderick and Noland as their battle for the lead raged on in the closing laps. Finch refrained from sharing his viewpoint of the decisive incident, choosing instead to focus on his excitement in returning the Ronnie Sanders Racing No. 18 to Baby Rattler victory lane for the fourth time.

"No comment," said Finch. "I try not to get myself into too much trouble. If people tune in to Racing America a lot and watch a lot of racing, they know what happened.

"Just don't really care too much about that, more excited for this Ronnie Sanders 18. It's super cool to be able to do it again."

Finch and Sanders joined forces for Pro Late Model competition at the onset of the 2024 season, winning last year's Baby Rattler as well as the Show Me the Money Series championship at Montgomery Motor Speedway. It's another successful start to the season for the veteran team owner and the young gun from Lynn Haven, Florida.

"He doesn't tell me too much," said Finch regarding Sanders. "The biggest thing he yells at me about is to stay calm. That was one of those scenarios, right? I was getting really flustered before that. I just tried to stay calm and put myself in a good position. When you drive this 18 car, you're expected to win. I've been lucky enough to be able to do that."

Just like one year ago, Nasse finished second to Finch in the "Baby Rattler." However, his path to the runner-up finish was much more eventful in the 2025 edition of the event. Nasse overcame an early mechanical issue, a couple of incidents, and even spinning to avoid Roderick's car after it spun sideways from the lead with eight laps to go.

Nevertheless, Nasse persevered to finish second, giving him momentum entering the UARA National Rattler 250. Allman recovered to finish third, followed by Jason Vail and Michael Hinde.

The $25,000-to-win Rattler 250 is scheduled for Saturday, March 15. Track and series officials are monitoring the potential for severe weather in the area surrounding the track on Saturday. They are moving forward with hopes of concluding Hardee's Rattler 250 weekend as scheduled, but have Sunday, March 16 available as an inclement weather date if necessary.

-Photo credit: Reid Scott, Liberty Racing Review

Grasshopper Pro Late Model Rattler 125 Unofficial Results