By all accounts, the unloading and inspection process passed without incident as Snowball Derby festivities began on Wednesday at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Florida.
The day began with veteran track announcer Dave Pavlock offering his signature hauler arrival introductions over the public address system, and it ended with drivers selecting the qualifying order for Friday night — the most intense time trials show in motorsports.
In between, teams made various trips through the tech line, not eligible to turn even a single lap moving forward until they at least pass a safety inspection.
While there were new elements to the technical inspection process, like the Snowball Derby debut of the next-generation Five Star Bodies shell, chief technical director Ricky Brooks said there was nothing out of the ordinary to come out of the afternoon.
“We had a good number of rechecks coming through today instead of tomorrow,” Brooks told Short Track Scene. “So, we were done with tech earlier today and all that was left was rechecks. We actually shut down tech at 5:30 and we’re usually still checking by 6:00. We got done in good time.”
Even though there’s a new body that numerous teams have taken, Brooks said it wasn’t a talking point in the lines today.
“There are some little things I’ve noticed that are being let go elsewhere, on both body styles, and we don’t usually allow the teams to repair stuff in line but we allowed them to do it this time to cut down on return trips today and that worked out well and saved us some time.”
The Stephen Nasse Snowball Derby Disqualification, One Year Later
Super Late Model and Pro Late Model teams finished the day by drawing for their qualifying spots on Friday night and Saturday morning respectively.
Conventional wisdom says the best times to qualify are really early or really late, with the middle stages of time trials taking place when a filmsy dew settles in and makes the aged Pensacola half-mile slick.
Tennessee veteran Michael House drew the first spot on stage during a presentation hosted by Speed51 president Bob Dillner.
“Maybe that’s telling me something that I’m pretty lucky,” House said. “We’ll see, I think we have a pretty good car and I’m really looking forward to this deal this year.”
NASCAR Truck Series contender and Snowball Derby veteran Grant Enfinger will be the last driver to turn his two timed laps on Friday night.
“Oh, I don’t know,” Enfinger said. “Honestly, it’ll probably be fine. Who knows?”
Defending winner Travis Braden drew 11 and referenced the dew on stage.
“Somebody was telling me with the dampness coming in, there might be a chance of dew later,” Braden said. “Might as well get it over with, right?”
Time trials for the Snowball Derby will take the 30 fastest drivers of the 55 on the property
SNOWBALL DERBY QUALIFYING ORDER
- Michael House
- Chandler Smith
- Kason Plott
- Boris Jurkovic
- Perry Patino
- Casey Johnson
- Augie Grill
- Connor Okrzesik
- Chris Davidson
- Derek Kraus
- Travis Braden
- Justin Johnson
- Dalton Zehr
- Kyle Sieg
- Casey Roderick
- Ty Majeski
- Mason Diaz
- Noah Gragson
- Kodie Conner
- Derek Griffith
- Bob Lyon
- Stephen Nasse
- Hunter Robbins
- Carson Hocevar
- Kyle Plott
- Kaden Honeycutt
- Chase Elliott
- Jesse Dutilly
- Kyle McCallum
- Colten Nelson
- Austin Nason
- Gabe Sommers
- Kyle Busch
- Ross Kenseth
- Michael Atwell
- Matt Craig
- Logan Boyett
- Kyle Bryant
- Jake Garcia
- Paul Shafer, Jr.
- Cayden Lapcevich
- Ryan Crane
- Derek Thorn
- Jeremy Doss
- Preston Peltier
- John DeAngelis
- Jeremy Pate
- Bubba Pollard
- Dan Fredrickson
- Daniel Dye
- Sammy Smith
- Cole Butcher
- Corey Heim
- Hudson Halder
- Grant Enfinger
SNOWFLAKE 100 QUALIFYING ORDER
- Kyle Plott
- Jake Finch
- Jim Wall
- Connor Okrzesik
- Bobby Reuse
- Hudson Halder
- A.J. Wernette
- Mason Diaz
- Grant Thompson
- Wes Griffith, Jr.
- Charlie Keeven
- Steven Chunn
- Joey Pontbriand
- Justin Bonnett
- Mason Keller
- Chris Davidson
- Josh Hicks
- Jacob Beasock
- Josh Williams
- Dylan Smith
- John DeAngelis
- Bubba Pollard
- Dan Leeck
- Justin Marks
- Bill Tutchtone
- Dakota Stroup
- Dustin Smith
- Jordan Miller
- Jim Weber
- Stephen Nasse
- Stacey Crain
- Jarrett Butcher
- Derek Thorn
- Johanna Long Robbins
- Kyle Ivey
- Steve Dorer
- Ryan Luza
- Matt Craig
- Dylan Fetcho
- Hunter Jack
- Jolynn Wilkinson
- Colin Allman
- Jake Johnson
- Mark Day
- Elliott Massey
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