Nemechek Wins Big With Snowball Derby Victory

The end of Sunday’s 47th annual Snowball Derby at 5 Flags Speedway in Pensacola, FL couldn’t come soon enough for John Hunter Nemechek.

The second generation driver, son of NASCAR Sprint Cup veteran Joe Nemechek, took the lead on a three wide move on a lap 295 restart, then survived two cautions to hold off Dalton Sargeant for the win and the coveted Tom Dawson Memorial trophy.

For Nemechek, it marks his first career Super Late Model victory. And no better race to make your first win than the legendary Snowball Derby, won in the past by drivers such as Darrell Waltrip, Pete Hamilton, Jody Ridley, Ronnie Sanders and Kyle Busch.

“It’s an amazing feeling to be able to win the Snowball Derby and have a bunch of our family here,” Nemechek said after the win. “I’m pretty much speechless.”

On the initial drop of the green flag, Nemechek settled into second as 2010 Snowball winner Johanna Long charged around pole sitter Hunter Robbins to take the early lead.

The first caution on the day flew on lap 16, when Mike Garvey and Acworth, GA’s T.J. Reaid tangled in turns 1 and 2, ending both the day for both drivers early.

Back under green, Long settled into the lead, with Nemechek in tow. As the race approached lap 35, Daniel Hemric would move his way to third. Meanwhile, Senoia, GA’s Bubba Pollard, who won Saturday’s Snowflake 100 Pro Late Model feature, had moved from his 15th place starting spot into the top 10 as the race reached the 50 lap mark.

Hemric make a charge shortly after lap 50 that saw him move past Long and into the top spot while the leaders negotiated traffic.

The next caution flew when Ross Kenseth tagged the front stretch wall. On the restart, Hemric moved back to the lead, with Nemechek moving to second, two-time Snowball winner Grill to third, Jeff Choquette in fourth and defending Snowball winner Erik Jones in fifth. Long had a bad restart, and soon found herself in sixth.

While Hemric led, Dawsonville, GA’s Chase Elliott, fresh off his NASCAR Nationwide Series championship, was on the move. The 2011 Snowball winner was looking to add another Tom Dawson trophy to his shelf, and had moved to sixth. By lap 100, Elliott had pulled himself up to third behind Hemric and Grill.

The next caution flew when Grill spun off turn four, along with Robbins. That set up the first series of pit stops on the day, with Jones beating everyone off pit road, followed by Grant Enfinger, Hemric, Long and Elliott.

Up front, a pair of Georgia drivers, Forsyth’s Scotty Ellis and Suwanee’s Anderson Bowen, did not stop, and would lead the field back to green. Nemechek would quickly charge back to the lead, followed by Elliott, Bowen and Enfinger.

Nemechek would hold the lead until lap 153, when Elliott moved past to lead his first laps of the day. Elliott held the top spot until a competition caution flew on lap 193, setting up the second set of pit stops for the leaders. This time, several teams made the call to take only two tires, with Enfinger winning the race off pit road, followed by Jones. Elliott had an issue during his stop, dropping him to 11th.

Jones would move past Enfinger to take the lead soon after the green came back out, while behind him, Pollard slowed, falling all the way back to 15th as he tried to sort out an issue on his racer.

The caution came out again when Donnie Wilson spun in turn three, giving Pollard the opportunity to pit again to sort out the problem.

That set up the scariest moment of the day. On lap 220, Pollard and Chad Finley tangled, sending both hard into the turn two wall. Finley’s car caught fire, but it was quickly extinguished by safety officials. Neither driver was injured, but both were done for the day. The race as red flagged to allow for clean up.

On the restart, the race took another big turn, as leader Jones had an issue, allowing Enfinger and Nemechek to get by. Jones’ car spun in turn two, and collected Elliott in the mayhem.

Jones’ crew was able to repair his car, and he rejoined the field. Elliott continued for a few laps, but was soon out due to overheating issues.

On the restart, Nemechek would move to the lead, with Sargeant in second and Enfinger sliding back to third. A few laps later, Robbins would move to third, then powered to second. He then moved to the lead for the first time on the day.

With 30 laps to go, Nemechek began reeling in the leader. With 25 to go, Robbins and Nemechek ran nose-to-tail.

On lap 286, Nemechek got the run he needed, and made the pass for the lead.

But things tightened up again on lap 295, when Long and Preston Peltier spun on the front stretch to bring out the caution, setting up a five lap dash for the win.

That sent the leaders to the pits, where a decision to take just two tires got him off of pit road first. However, Grill and Jones chose not to pit, giving them the front row for the restart.

When the green flag flew, Nemechek’s fresher rubber proved to be more than a match for the leaders, as he passed Grill and Jones going into turn one to take the lead.

One lap later, both Grill and Jones spun in turn two, drawing another caution with four laps to go. Caution would fly again when Hamric spun, collecting Wilson with two laps to go.

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Nemechek said afterwards that the Snowball Derby win “means the whole world to me.”

“I’ve wanted to win this race since I was a little kid wanting to race. When you look back at history at all of the names that are written in the history books, it’s amazing to have my name in the history books now.”

Derek Thorn finished in third, with Robbins in fourth and Enfinger in fifth.

Stephen Nasse, Casey Smith, Grill, Bowen and Kyle Grissom rounded out the top 10.

5 Flags Speedway – Pensacola, FL
Snowball Derby – Dec. 7, 2014

1. John Hunter Nemechek
2. Dalton Sargeant
3. Derek Thorn
4. Hunter Robbins
5. Grant Enfinger
6. Stephen Nasse
7. Casey Smith
8. Augie Grill
9. Anderson Bowen
10. Kyle Grissom
11. Jeff Choquette
12. Clay Rogers
13. Corey LaJoie
14. Scotty Ellis
15. Steve Dorer
16. Mark Kraus
17. Johanna Long
18. Cole Timm
19. Ty Majeski
20. Brian Hoar
21. David Rogers
22. Preston Peltier
23. Donnie Wilson
24. Daniel Hemric
25. Logan Boyett
26. Garrett Jones
27. Erik Jones
28. Dennis Prunty
29. Chase Elliott
30. Bubba Pollard
31. Chad Finley
32. D.J. VanderLey
33. Kyle Plott
34. Derrick Griffin
35. Ross Kenseth
36. T.J. Reaid
37. Mike Garvey