PENSACOLA, FL – One year ago this week, Jace Hansen nearly pulled off one of the greatest upset stories in Snowball Derby history. After nearly going a lap down near the midpoint of the race, Hansen led the the 57th Snowball Derby inside 100-laps to go, ultimately finishing fourth at the end of the day. With the help of Preston Peltier atop the pit box, a small team from Colorado was in position to win short track racing’s Super Bowl.
A year later, Hansen returns to Pensacola with Peltier as a close friend and competitor rather than as the crew chief. That weekend still brings back good memories, but as is the case for any racer, the drive to further succeed overpowers everything else. This year, Hansen is looking for more, looking to not just be in contention at the end, but lead the lap that counts the most.
“Yeah, absolutely,” Hansen told Short Track Scene. “We’ve come out here three years prior and we’ve always run halfway decent, you know what I mean? Always seemed to struggle a little bit, but Preston [Peltier] has been so good and so successful out here, especially with qualifying runs and stuff like that, … once we found out he was doing his deal and he was a lot closer to us, it was kind of a no brainer to see if we could jump on board with him and be one of the first guys to join forces with him.
“There was a lot of mistakes on my end, I think he brought us a car capable of winning. But, me being out of the seat for a whole year, that kind of hindered us a little bit. I know it’s not the best excuse but I know that If I had been racing most of that year, we probably would have been able to battle for the win.”
Hansen’s program has gone through changes over the past few years, in large part thanks to the relationship built with Peltier. Having a guy like Peltier in your corner is more valuable than ever now when you come to the Derby, so Hansen appreciates both the working relationship, and friendship that have been built along the way.
“It’s awesome,” Hansen said. “There’s rumors all over the place, there’s some people that don’t like him, there’s some people that love him, but I’ve learned to love the guy. When I was getting beat by him a lot, I wasn’t a big fan, but now that we’re working together, we have a lot of fun. I mean when we’re not at the racetrack, last night we went to his Airbnb and had a big spaghetti dinner with all the guys, literally just sat at the table and just talked about what we could do to make our race cars better for this weekend. It’s all he thinks about, we tried to come down here and have a little fun at the same time and not necessarily make this like a second job. But, I’ve realized that you have to make it like that if you want to succeed, and Preston has really kind of ironed that into us.”
With Hansen and Peltier being out in Colorado, the logistical challenge is a bit more difficult than it is for some of the East Coast racers, meaning practice time is limited. West Coast teams like Hansen haven’t had the opportunities to come down and test prior to the Derby and with rain throughout the week, that track time has become even more limited. On top of that, there aren’t many reference points to fall back on in terms of racetracks comparable to Five Flags out on the west coast, so traveling out to Pensacola presents a different set of challenges for racers from that side of the country. Hansen says that’s where the experience of Peltier comes in, as finding grip with a racecar at a track that lacks it is his strong suit.
“A lot of people knew that the forecast wasn’t great so they wanted to get some track time,” Hansen said. “Unfortunately, we’re just too far away, we don’t really have that option and can’t quite afford to be out here more than just a week, you know. So the fact that we unloaded today and we were 13th quick in the first session, … to be right there, that makes me happy.
“Honestly, the closest place is probably my home track at Colorado National Speedway. They did just repave it a few years ago but it didn’t get rid of the bumps and stuff. So, the character is still there, but it’s got a little more grip. But other than that, it’s just weird. All the tracks that we race at out in like California and stuff, they just have a ton of grip, so it’s not anything comparable to here. I guess Evergreen up in Monroe [Washington], … it’s really similar. A lot bigger, a lot flatter, but the surface is the same. That’s just another thing to add to Preston’s notebook, he’s just got so much experience at some many places. Believe it or not, these tracks like Five Flags, Evergreen and Hickory and stuff, those are his wheelhouses because he’s really good at getting a car that can attach grip on a place that lacks that a lot.”
While Hansen won’t have Peltier atop the pit box this year, he’ll have him to lean on for notes all weekend long. According to Peltier himself, this will likely be his final Snowball Derby as a driver, so all the more motivation in both Peltier and Hansen’s camp to try and get one of them in victory lane come Sunday evening. Hansen could join a short list of West Coast natives to win the Snowball Derby, a list only including Derek Thorn, Noah Gragson and Kyle Busch. That’s pretty good company, and Hansen will try and make it four this weekend.
