
Derek Thorn was fastest in final practice on opening day of Snowball Derby week and is aiming to take back-to-back pole positions and maybe more.
The Campbell Motorsports No. 43 led two of the three overall sessions and his 16.414 set in the final session was the quickest of anyone all day, but it likely won’t mean anything for Friday practice and time trials later that night.
“It’s going to rain all night and it will be a whole different ballgame tomorrow,” Thorn said. “Just because you are fast today doesn’t mean you’ll be fast tomorrow. We’ll just have to go out there and try to do the same things that made us fast today.”
Thorn says his team hasn’t relied too much on the set-up that earned them the pole last year.
“We’ve found some speed and we’re looking to find some more,” Thorn said. “We had good speed last year but our race stuff was off so we’ve worked on that throughout the season, on the west coast, with (crew chief) Mike Keen and (owner) Byron (Campbell) giving us everything we need.
“It’s just refreshing to show up with a good group of quality guys like this and still be as fast as we are.”
Kaden Honeycutt led the second practice session driving for Donnie Wilson Motorsports with a paint scheme that pays tribute to his late friend Jackson Bates.
“This is how we wanted to start the week off,” Honeycutt told SpeedSport. “We’re really happy with our car right now and we think we can stay in the mix; we just have to keep adjusting with the racetrack as we progress through the week. But I’m really happy right now.”
Stephen Nasse was third quick overall with Ty Majeski and Hunter Robbins completing the top-five.
Why NASCAR Cup Champion Chase Elliott Returned to the Snowball Derby
“We’re taking a different approach this year,” Majeski said. “We have the same package as last year. We’ve refined it over the past year or so. We’re working on Q trim, where we usually put all of our focus on race trim.
“There’s a lot on the line in qualifying this year and we’re going after it.”
Majeski is referring to a series of bonuses if the pole winner can also take home the Tom Dawson Trophy.
Between the Phoenix Construction Back to Front Challenge and the Pit Pay Pole Challenge, this year’s Snowball Derby winner could take home $55,000. The race pays $25,000 to win, while the Pit Pay Pole Challenge offers $5,000 to win from the pole. The Back to Front Challenge adds another $25,000 if the fast qualifier elects to start from the rear of the field and wins the race.
“You’d be crazy not to take it,” Majeski said of the Back to the Front Challenge. “Obviously, it’s going to be incredibly hard to set fast time against this field.
“Everything has to go your way. There are so many variables in qualifying. All we can do is get the car as close as we can and for me to do the best job I can, and hopefully the stars align.”
NASCAR Cup Series champion Chase Elliott howed decent speed throughout the day finishing the three sessions in ninth. 32nd and 12th.
“We’re just trying to learn some things that have changed with a new car,” Elliott said. “I’ve said this has been a blast from the past for me, and I’m still trying to learn what this car needs, and I don’t know what we’re looking for right now.”
Kyle Busch, the 2015 and 2019 Cup Series champion, dealt with electrical issues in the second session and was outside the top-10 in all three rounds of practice.
Opening Day was marred by two incidents. Bob Lyon crashed on the frontstretch in the 15th minute of the opening session. That same session ended with Michael House backing into the wall in Turn 3. Neither driver has a backup car and has withdrawn from the event.
That leaves 53 cars for 30 guaranteed spots in Friday time trials. There are also two provisional starting spots for the highest ranked drivers in both the Southern Super Series and Blizzard Series championship standing who doesn’t qualify in on time.
Defending winner Travis Braden will also get a guaranteed spot should he need one.
The remaining drivers who fail to qualify in on time will be sent to a 50 lap last chance race on Saturday afternoon to determine the 36 or 37 car starting lineup for Sunday’s main event.
SNOWBALL DERBY PRACTICE 3
- Derek Thorn 16.414
- Kaden Honeycutt 16.461
- Stephen Nasse 16.490
- Ty Majeski 16.503
- Hunter Robbins 16.567
- Matt Craig 16.577
- Chandler Smith 16.590
- Casey Roderick 16.605
- Preston Peltier 16.622
- Sammy Smith 16.624
- Cole Butcher 16.662
- Chase Elliott 16.663
- Bubba Pollard 16.668
- Boris Jurkovic 16.671
- Jake Garcia 16.685
- Ross Kenseth 16.691
- Grant Enfinger 16.694
- Chris Davidson 16.696
- Dan Fredrickson 16.703
- Michael Atwell 16.724
- Carson Hocevar 16.720
- Austin Nason 16.726
- Noah Gragson 16.729
- Corey Heim 16.729
- Cayden Lapcevich 16.734
- Derek Griffith 16.739
- Connor Okrzesik 16.752
- Jeremy Pate 16.760
- Dalton Zehr 16.767
- Jesse Dutilly 16.770
- Augie Grill 16.777
- Daniel Dye 16.782
- Travis Braden 16.784
- Kodie Conner 16.785
- Kyle Sieg 16.791
- Hudson Halder 16.800
- Logan Boyett 16.808
- Casey Johnson 16.825
- Justin T. Johnson 16.830
- Derek Kraus 16.841
- Kyle Busch 16.858
- Jeremy Doss 16.863
- Gabe Sommers 16.908
- John DeAngelis 16.947
- Mason Diaz 16.971
- Kason Plott 17.007
- Paul Shafer, Jr. 17.029
- Kyle Bryant 17.053
- Perry Patino 17.056
- Kyle Plott 17.079
- Kyle McCallum 17.086
- Ryan Crane 17.140
- Colten Nelson 17.375
SNOWBALL DERBY PRACTICE 2
- Kaden Honeycutt 16.601
- Ty Majeski 16.631
- Casey Roderick 16.644
- Austin Nason 16.672
- Derek Thorn 16.679
- Bubba Pollard 16.708
- Grant Enfinger 16.719
- Michael Atwell 16.739
- Justin T. Johnson 16.749
- Casey Johnson 16.750
- Dan Fredrickson 16.757
- Daniel Dye 16.760
- Boris Jurkovic 16.762
- Kyle McCallum 16.763
- Derek Griffith 16.774
- John DeAngelis 16.778
- Dalton Zehr 16.793
- Hunter Robbins 16.796
- Jake Garcia 16.802
- Connor Okrzesik 16.802
- Logan Boyett 16.825
- Ross Kenseth 16.825
- Preston Peltier 16.828
- Stephen Nasse 16.833
- Sammy Smith 16.844
- Corey Heim 16.847
- Kyle Busch 16.848
- Derek Kraus 16.851
- Kyle Plott 16.854
- Carson Hocevar 16.857
- Jeremy Pate 16.881
- Mason Diaz 16.882
- Chase Elliott 16.889
- Kason Plott 16.889
- Jesse Dutilly 16.896
- Perry Patino 16.907
- Travis Braden 16.927
- Chandler Smith 16.949
- Matt Craig 16.951
- Cayden Lapcevich 16.953
- Paul Shafer, Jr. 16.966
- Kyle Sieg 16.974
- Gabe Sommers 16.974
- Cole Butcher 16.991
- Jeremy Doss 17.039
- Chris Davidson 17.045
- Noah Gragson 17.065
- Kodie Conner 17.085
- Augie Grill 17.111
- Kyle Bryant 17.207
- Ryan Crane 17.398
- Colten Nelson 17.861
SNOWBALL DERBY PRACTICE 1
- Derek Thorn 16.498
- Hunter Robbins 16.565
- Derek Kraus 16.579
- Casey Roderick 16.605
- Preston Peltier 16.606
- Chandler Smith 16.609
- Boris Jurkovic 16.619
- Connor Okrzesik 16.622
- Chase Elliott 16.624
- Jesse Dutilly 16.630
- Kaden Honeycutt 16.643
- Ty Majeski 16.647
- Michael House 16.688
- Kyle Busch 16.695
- Corey Heim 16.706
- Hudson Halder 16.716
- Austin Nason 16.725
- Daniel Dye 16.743
- Kyle Plott 16.747
- Stephen Nasse 16.750
- John DeAngelis 16.751
- Jake Garcia 16.752
- Dan Fredrickson 16.754
- Bubba Pollard 16.755
- Grant Enfinger 16.756
- Ross Kenseth 16.760
- Michael Atwell 16.762
- Cole Butcher 16.772
- Derek Griffith 16.785
- Kyle McCallum 16.787
- Noah Gragson 16.790
- Dalton Zehr 16.796
- Matt Craig 16.802
- Chris Davidson 16.805
- Kodie Conner 16.814
- Paul Shafer, Jr. 16.816
- Jeremy Pate 16.819
- Logan Boyett 16.819
- Carson Hocevar 16.830
- Augie Grill 16.833
- Kason Plott 16.834
- Sammy Smith 16.844
- Kyle Sieg 16.846
- Cayden Lapcevich 16.851
- Mason Diaz 16.878
- Jeremy Doss 16.882
- Justin T. Johnson 16.922
- Gabe Sommers 16.958
- Casey Johnson 16.961
- Travis Braden 16.981
- Kyle Bryant 17.001
- Perry Patino 17.027
- Ryan Crane 17.235
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Matt Weaver is the owner and founder of Short Track Scene. Weaver grew up in the sport, having raced himself before becoming a reporter in college at the University of South Alabama. He also has extensive experience covering NASCAR, IndyCar and Dirt Sprint Cars.


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