Snowball Derby practice day begs more questions than answers

Even though the times did not obviously reflect it on Thursday, the Super Late Model garage is very much in pursuit of Chandler Smith and the Kyle Busch Motorsports No. 51 following a full day of Snowball Derby practice at Five Flags Speedway.

Smith posted the 13th quickest time without mocking up but was pointed out by several teams as the most impressive car throughout the day.

Smith is looking to deliver the KBM No. 51 its third consecutive victory in the Super Bowl of Short Track Racing and looks very much capable of it too.

“We have a really good No. 51 Toyota Camry,” Smith told Short Track Scene. “We’ve been trying out several packages. We had a good 50 lap run package. We had good fall-off and balance. We didn’t mock-up once and we still have good speed.

“It’s going to be a matter of being there at the end. I’ve personally had good success here at the Derby and I feel good about it.”

READ MORE: Complete Snowball Derby coverage

Smith has posted finishes of seventh, fifth and sixth in his three starts with his family-owned No. 26 with crew chief Ricky Turner.

And now he will look to follow upon the success of team owner Kyle Busch and reigning winner Noah Gragson.

Jesse Dutilly, the winner of the September Southern Super Series race at Pensacola was fastest overall, also without mocking up.

“We unloaded with a lot of speed,” Dutilly told Speed51. “That’s good to get out of the gate. I was on used tires, so I’m real happy with the car. We still have a couple of things we want to work on with the car to make it a little bit better.”

READ MORE: Here is the qualifying order for Snowball Derby time trials

It’s difficult to read too much into the speeds because it’s impossible to know how used the tires are in relation to the rest of the field. And while everyone is simply trying to balance their car and make it turn well, the ever-changing track conditions make it challenging for teams to know where they truly stand.

For example, Harrison Burton captured the pole and led the most laps (111) in 2018 and struggled with the balance of his car without having changed the set-up on their No. 12 at all.

“The feel itself, we’re just struggling,” Burton told STS. “It’s crazy, we showed up with the same set-up we had last year and almost won with, and now it’s just not good at. This place changes so much and racing evolves so quickly that you can get left behind if you don’t change with it.

“I think we’re suffering through that a little bit. I believe we have the best guys who can figure that out. We’ll figure it out.”

Meanwhile, Ty Majeski was 11th on the charts and didn’t even participate in the third session when the sun had shone brightest. Majeski and crew chief Toby Nuttleman liked the feel of their car and simply didn’t want to confuse themselves by chasing conditions that don’t line-up with the rest of the weekend’s forecast.

“We went through the progression, the things we wanted to hit on today,” Majeski said. “We got a good feel for those. We didn’t think it was worth it with the sun coming out. Maybe guys were going to mock-up. There just wasn’t a lot to learn since it’s going to be overcast this weekend.

“We saved a mock set for tomorrow and have another one for if the conditions are similar to what we think qualifying may be.”

The most interesting development was Bubba Pollard parking his new Senneker Super Late Model in favor of the car he’s used for a majority of the season.

“It was a new car, so we didn’t have a notebook on it really, so we tried some stuff to make it better,” Pollard said. “We just felt like it would be better to use what we’ve been racing all year. That was the smartest decision. We’ll be fine. We’ve got all day tomorrow and Saturday to get it right. We will.”

Take it with a grain of salt, but here are the combined fastest practice times from Thursday at Five Flags Speedway.

1. Jesse Dutilly 16.458
2. Cole Butcher 16.481
3. Giovanni Bromante 16.528
4. Jeremy Doss 16.609
5. Boris Jurkovic 16.638
6. David Gilliland 16.641
7. Corey Heim 16.662
8. Derek Thorn 16.665
9. Hunter Robbins 16.668
10. Mason Mingus 16.669
11. Ty Majeski 16.673
12. Jeremy Pate 16.675
13. Chandler Smith 16.700
14. Travis Braden 16.706
15. Dan Fredrickson 16.719
16. Corey LaJoie 16.720
17. Kaden Honeycutt 16.722
18. Preston Peltier 16.727
19. Bubba Pollard 16.734
20. Josh Berry 16.739
21. Matt Craig 16.757
22. Derek Kraus 16.778
23. Stephen Nasse 16.781
24. David Rogers 16.783
25. Derek Griffith 16.790
26. Trey Bayne 16.795
27. Michael House 16.800
28. Jeff Choquette 16.800
29. Brad May 16.801
30. Casey Roderick 16.809
31. Jack Dossey III 16.817
32. Harrison Burton 16.831
33. Jett Noland 16.834
34. John DeAngelis Jr 16.835
35. Lucas Jones 16.837
36. Augie Grill 16.846
37. Michael Atwell 16.847
38. Jake Garcia 16.853
39. Austin Nason 16.854
40. Kyle Plott 16.860
41. Dalton Zehr 16.890
42. Connor Okrzeisk 16.910
43. Casey Smith 16.911
44. Jerry Artuso 16.932
45. Derrick Griffin 16.932
46. Johnny VanDoorn 16.934
47. Rich Bickle 16.948
48. Carson Hocevar 16.963
49. Jordan Anderson 16.976
50. Kyle Bryant 16.983
51. Cole Moore 16.989
52. Steven Davis 16.998
53. Chris Davidson 17.028
54. Rodrigo Rejon 17.171
55. Colten Nelson 17.224
56. Tim Curry 17.271
57. AJ Wernette 18.322

If you like what you read here, become a Short Track Scene Patreon and support short track journalism!

Read more Short Track Scene:

• The Race Team Alliance reveals why it purchased Speed51
• Mason Mingus wins All-American 400 after strange finish
• Formosa Productions evicted from Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville