Connect with us

The 2016 Snowball Derby cannot be discussed without mentioning what happened after the checkered flag flew in the 2015 edition.

After celebrating in victory lane and claiming the Tom Dawson Trophy, Christopher Bell’s No. 51 Toyota from Kyle Busch Motorsports was disqualified in post-race inspection. This was after he’d dominated the weekend by being among the fastest in practice and having led 93 laps in the race.

Bell returns this week for his second attempt at the Snowball Derby, and he’s looking for a repeat.

Kind of.

“It sucked, it definitely sucked, but I feel like we definitely had our voice heard throughout the weekend because we were so dominant,” Bell said of last year. “That was really cool to be able to go to a race like the Snowball Derby and put up such an incredible week. Pretty sure we were top two or three the majority of the practices. Then to put down the fast time (in qualifying) and have to start in the back of the (last chance race after being disqualified), won that, and then won the Snowball Derby, was definitely something that everybody at Kyle Busch Motorsports was really proud of. We’re planning on going back there and hopefully repeating. Minus – we don’t want to win the (last chance race) again; we’d like to win the Derby.”

For as fast as he was last year, Bell said his team is bringing a different car this weekend. And when they arrive in Pensacola, it won’t be with a chip on their shoulder that some might expect.

“I don’t think we even really have last year in the back of our heads, or at least it doesn’t bother us,” Bell said. “We’re just going to go in there and treat it like we would any other race weekend and try to do our best and hopefully have similar outcomes as to what we had last year. The guys have been working really hard to bring another awesome piece, and I’m really proud of the car that we’re bringing.”

Having competed all around the country in sprint cars and Late Models, including winning the Winchester 400, Bell understands how prestigious the Snowball Derby is. He learned that first-hand a few years ago watching teammate Erik Jones run in the event while he competed in the Snowflake 100.

Bell took in the atmosphere and the competition, being struck by how tough it was. By weekend’s end, Bell had learned to respect the Snowball Derby. Then last year, he learned how to win it, be it for a few hours.

What would it mean to put his name on the Tom Dawson Trophy officially?

“It’d be really special, especially with how last year’s (race) went down,” Bell said. “To be able to be a winner for the second year in a row, but first, I guess, legit win will be something that’s really special to me because there’s only so many marquee events throughout the country and this is one of them. Between the Chili Bowl, the Knoxville Nationals, the Snowball Derby, and kind of everything in-between, there’s only so many marquee events, and you want to win them.”

Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

More in Snowball Derby