Preston Peltier wins Snowball Derby pole as heavy hitters race in through Last Chance Qualifier

PENSACOLA, FL – In the final Snowball Derby start of his career, Preston Peltier will lead the field to green in the 58th annual Snowball Derby at Five Flags Speedway. It’s the second pole of Peltier’s Snowball career as he’ll be joined by Ty Majeski on the front row come Sunday. Peltier earned the top spot with a time of 16.240 after Majeski had been atop the charts for most of the session.

Snowball Derby rookie Hudson Bulger clocked in third, while Jake Finch went from below the cut line on lap one to fourth as the final car to take time. Spencer Davis completed the top five.

Behind Davis were Michael Atwell and Jace Hansen, while David Gilliland, Haeden Plybon and Kasey Kleyn finished out the top 10.

Peltier has proclaimed this to be his final Derby attempt as a driver, and his final quest for the Tom Dawson trophy now starts from the top spot.

In his final Snowball Derby start, Preston Peltier will start on the pole.

It’s the second pole of his Derby career and he knew the lap was good on the backstretch. pic.twitter.com/bzWBMuiHIj

— Short Track Scene (@ST_Scene) December 7, 2025

“Man, it feels good,” Peltier told Short Track Scene. “I’ve never had a car with this kind of speed here. I’ve got a good crew, got a good car, got some good owners, … I’ve got one more shot.”

The now two-time Derby pole-winner said he knew it was a good lap before it was even over.

“Oh hell yeah,” Peltier said. “Down the backstretch, when my spotter came on he said you ran a 37, I told him ‘I got this’.”

Joining Peltier will be Majeski, who now has four consecutive front row starts in the Derby.

Ty Majeski went out third and the lap held up for second fastest.

He’ll start outside front row in his quest for a third Tom Dawson trophy tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/LCHYkkTOAN

— Short Track Scene (@ST_Scene) December 7, 2025

“Relieved,” Majeski said. “Obviously just the unknown of not quite understanding what the track is going to have. Yeah, good effort for our Menards, iRacing.com Ford Fusion. Like I said, put ourselves in a good spot for Sunday. This is my fifth front row start here at the Snowball, so it’s nice to have that track position.”

On the other end of the charts, Chase Pinsonneault was the final car to qualify on time in 30th, leaving plenty of heavy hitters on the outside looking in. Matt Craig and Gavan Boschele earned provisional spots after timing in 31st and 34th, respectively.

New England driver Mike Hopkins was the fourth car out on track, but never posted a time thanks to a hard crash in turns three and four. Hopkins No. 15 appeared to bottom out on corner entry before spinning, backing the tail of the car hard into the outside wall.

Noah Gragson was plagued by mechanical issues and could not get his Rette Jones Racing No. 30 to come up to speed. Gragson brought the team down pit road and attempted to have the issue resolved, but was faced with the same problems on his second attempt.

58th Snowball Derby qualifying results

Thanks to a heavily rain affected on-track schedule, the Snowball Derby Last Chance Qualifier directly followed time trial qualifying, providing a short turn around for teams involved.

Kyle Busch started on the pole of the LCQ, with Derek Griffith alongside. The 25-lap LCQ, which had been previously shortened from the original 50-lap distance, went clean and green from start to finish.

Busch led flag to flag in the LCQ, with Stephen Nasse finishing just behind. Derek Griffith finished third and Jake Garcia picked up the final transfer spot, making the move on Cory Hall inside five laps to go. Two-time Snowball winner Erik Jones was the first driver to miss the cut, just ahead of Seth Christensen and Austin Nason.

Finding a way to gain track position is likely going to be the key for Busch as he’ll try to work his way from the tail of the field. It’ll be a balance of saving equipment and staying on the lead lap, as the leaders catch the back of the field in a hurry at Five Flags.

Kyle Busch wins the Snowball Derby LCQ and will start the main event tomorrow pic.twitter.com/m8caBSZcr7

— Matt Weaver (@MattWeaverRA) December 7, 2025

“I don’t know,” Busch told Short Track Scene. “The hard part is going to be getting track position because back in the day you could have good pit stops and and get you some spots, you know. Now, you’ve got to pass them all on the racetrack, straight up. That’s going to be the tough spot of it, obviously starting as deep as we are, you kind of want to ride and save your stuff, but know behind you that the leaders are coming.

“They can put you a lap down pretty quick and mess up your day in a hurry.”

Snowball Derby LCQ results

The 300-lap 58th Snowball Derby is scheduled to go green at 1:00 p.m. CT on Sunday, December 7. The event will be streamed live on FloRacing from start to finish.