And so begins the most stressful qualifying process in asphalt short track racing.

It’s pole day for the 50th Annual Snowball Derby at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Florida.

On Friday night, at least 62 drivers will attempt to qualify for 30 guaranteed starting spots. Each driver will get only two timed laps to make it happen. Those unable to qualify inside the top-30 will have to race their way into the 36-car starting lineup via a last chance race on Saturday afternoon.

The starting line-up is made up of the following entrants:

• The 30 fastest drivers in Friday qualifying
• Four drivers from Saturday’s 50-lap last chance race
• Two provisionals based on Southern Super Series standings and track standings respectively
• A 37th starter if a previous winner did not make the field in time trials

This makes Friday night extremely important and extremely terrifying.

COMPLETE SNOWBALL DERBY COVERAGE

For example, Ty Majeski won the pole back in 2015 but knows how quickly elation can shift to nervousness. He inherited the first starting position when flagged pole winner Christopher Bell was disqualified for a weight infraction.

That meant he was sent to the rear and had to race his way through the field just to qualify for a sub-30 starting position in the race.

“It’s definitely not a position you want to be in,” Majeski said. “Fortunately, we’ve always had a good qualifying package here and we’ve done a good job of avoiding that. Hopefully we can set a good time tomorrow night and just get to work on race runs.”

Cole Butcher is making his first attempt in the Snowball Derby. He knows what’s looming on the horizon, even if he doesn’t show it.

“I kind of like the pressure,” Butcher said. “I feel like it drives me to go faster. We’ll figure out if I make the show or not. I feel pretty confident.”

Former CARS Tour champion Raphael Lessard posted the second fastest time in opening practice but blew a motor. Brandon McReynolds qualified into the top-15 last year, but also blew a motor on Thursday.

So now, both have reasons to worry if things aren’t right.

The qualifying order was determined by a blind pill draw. Traditional wisdom states that the later a driver goes out, the cooler the weather is, and the faster a lap time he will put down.

However, Pensacola is unique for the humidity-based mist that films over the track in December. It makes the racing surface greasy and can come and go at any point of the night.

With that in mind, here is the qualifying order for the 50th Snowball Derby. Time trials begin at 6 p.m. CT. Speed 51’s 51TV service will have a live pay-per-view broadcast for those unable to make it.

1. Jeremy Pate
2. Donald Crocker
3. John DeAngelis Jr.
4. Logan Bearden
5. Jerry Artuso
6. Dustin Smith
7. Raphael Lessard
8. Stephen Nasse
9. Preston Peltier
10. Kyle Busch
11. Brandon McReynolds
12. Jake Crum
13. Connor Okrzesik
14. Noah Gragson
15. Garrett Jones
16. Jeremy Doss
17. Jeff Firestine
18. Johnny Sauter
19. Ron McDonald
20. Boris Jurkovic
21. Donnie Wilson
22. Brandon Oakley
23. John Coffman
24. Dennis Schoenfield
25. Casey Roderick
26. David Rogers
27. Anthony Cataldi
28. Chase Purdy
29. Stuart Dutton
30. Michael Atwell
31. Corey LaJoie
32. Logan Boyett
33. Derek Kraus
34. Garrett Evans
35. Spencer Davis
36. Harrison Burton
37. Cassius Clark
38. Mason Mingus
39. Augie Grill
40. Joe Aramendia
41. Chandler Smith
42. Cole Rouse
43. Ty Majeski
44. Bubba Pollard
45. Jeff Choquette
46. Tyler Dippel
47. Cole Butcher
48. Chris Davidson
49. Steven Davis
50. Kyle Bryant
51. Kyle Plott
52. Rich Bickle
53. Dan Fredrickson
54. Bobby Knox Jr
55. Christian Eckes

Read more Short Track Scene:

• Ty Majeski, Roush pit crew prepared for Snowball Derby
• Why an illegally placed transponder didn’t result in a disqualification at SNMP
• Why Case Elliott and Erik Jones are not in the Snowball Derby

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