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For one day last season, Iowa native Caleb Adrian appeared poised to contend in his first Snowball Derby start.

Adrian, then 22, caught the eye of his competitors when he claimed the fastest lap of Thursday’s opening practice session and followed with another fast lap in the second session to establish himself in a contender. However, when qualifying came around on Friday the Derby newcomer struggled, qualifying outside of the top 30 and failing to clinch his way into the race on speed.

Adrian ultimately raced his way into the event by claiming third in the last-chance qualifier, but never established himself as a contender. The race rookie ultimately finished a 18th, four laps behind the leaders.

While it fell short of the expectations set by the speed of Adrian’s No. 29 Super Late Model early in the week, the newcomer’s debut result was impressive in the sense that he ran a clean race in one of late model racing’s most challenging events.

One year later, Adrian is poised to return to 5 Flags Speedway, where he hopes to once again draw focus and respect from his competitors.

After a 2015 season that saw starts throughout the Midwest in multiple series including the ARCA Midwest Tour, Adrian has seen a quiet 2016. Adrien’s entries have been infrequent, with most coming in the Iowan’s home state at Hawkeye Downs Speedway.

Adrian’s most noteworthy run of 2016 to date came in June’s McGrath Auto Clash at the Downs. Making a rare start in his No. 29, Adrian proved to be a contender in the Big 8 Series race, leading the field to the white flag. However, contact with fellow local Michael Bilderback left the Walcott native in the wall, while Bilderback went to victory lane.

“He just left-reared me and spun me out. That’s all that happened,” Adrian said to The Gazette’s Jeremiah Davis at the time. “I raced him clean in the past, he had raced me clean and I had respect for him. But I lost it all for him today.

Since then, Adrian’s been quiet, racing occasionally in the Dublin City Pub Inex Legends occasionally but otherwise lying dormant.

That will all change this weekend at 5 Flag Speedway, when Adrian joins a list of 70 teams in Pensacola, Fla., in hunting for late model’s biggest prize.

Aaron Bearden is a contributing writer for Short Track Scene. Having grown up watching NASCAR and IndyCar, Bearden began following short track racing during his high school years before starting a blog about racing in college. A writer for Frontstretch and Motorsports Tribune, Bearden also covers NASCAR, IndyCar and other forms of open wheel racing.

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