FloRacing has acquired the broadcast rights to the Snowball Derby in December and also increased the purse to $50,000-to-win.
For reference, Ty Majeski banked a record $35,000 in winning his second Tom Dawson Trophy in December and most of this century, the race paid $20,000-to-$25,000 when factoring the purse and contingency bonuses.
The announcement is a big win for the racers if nothing else and many of the top names in Super Late Model racing expressed enthusiasm about it on Thursday at Five Flags Speedway during a practice day in advance of the ASA Southern Super Series race on Friday.
Bubba Pollard has long been a major advocate of the Snowball Derby warranting a purse increase and finally gets his wish.
“Yeah, but I can’t win it,” he joked, a reflection of his two-decade winless streak in the biggest race of the year.
It feels inevitable that he will someday and now it’s going to pay more when he does.
“I think it’s going to help for a lot of different reasons,” Pollard told Short Track Scene. “Five Flags is going to be able to showcase better what the Snowball Derby is all about to a new audience. FloRacing has done a lot for dirt Sprint Cars and Late Models, dirt racing in general, and now they’re going to open us up to those people.
“I think it’s going to help us on sponsorship too.”
While Pollard has advocated for a bigger purse, he doesn’t however, think it should all go towards the winner.
“I’d like to see more spread through the field, start money because all these guys that race all spend a lot of money to come down here and race that week.”
Derek Thorn won the Snowball Derby in 2022 and is also enthusiastic about the news on Thursday.
“The Snowball Derby is like our Daytona 500,” said the two-time ARCA West and six-time Southwest Tour champion. “We want to show why this is a big deal for all of us. I hope they can showcase it and show the world why this is a big deal to us too.”
Like Pollard, who also owns a dirt track in Georgia, Thorn recognizes that FloRacing’s audience is primarily dirt fans but he sees that as an opportunity to grow pavement Late Model racing.
“I want to show them the Derby, that it has like a vibe to it, right,” Thorn said. “It’s the closest thing we have to some of those big dirt shows. Maybe asphalt racing can be a bit of a snooze-fest to those fans but these drivers on this stage is as good as any racing anywhere.”
Matt Craig is a second-generation racer whose family has come to the Snowball Derby his whole life and he loves the purse increase if nothing else.
“That’s great,” Craig said. “The more they can bump up the payout, the more the racers can enjoy and th better the racing will be, more cars too.”
Dustin Smith, an annual entrant in the Snowball Derby, who is from the nearby Mobile, Alabama area loved the news because he’s a dirt racing enthusiast and FloRacing subscriber.
“I’m sure that’s going to bring a few more racers down,” Smith said. “The purse increases help. It’s good to see them come in and put money into the racing. I watch the CARS Tour and the Sprint Cars every weekend. I think it’s going to bring in more fans and more exposure to what we do.”
And those sentiments were echoed by ASA points leader Cole Butcher too.
“Flo does a great job and I think they will be a great addition to Five Flags Speedway and the Snowball Derby,” Butcher said. “They have great people and great coverage. The purse increase is just a bonus. We all work very hard here and yeah, 50 grand is a lot.”
Several Speed51 veterans, who had the broadcast rights before the company transitioned to the Racing America branding, are now at FloRacing. That includes editorial director Brandon Paul and content creator Rob Blount.
Matthew Dillner is a Speed51 veteran and brother of company founder Bob Dillner, who appears on FloRacing and the play-by-play voice of the SMART Modified Tour.
So the coverage should have a very familiar look and sound to what race fans expect as well.
