Derek Thorn scored the victory in Saturday night’s Pro Late Model Snowflake 100 at Five Flags Speedway. Photo by Eddie Richie/Turn One Photos/Loxley, AL
Eight years ago, Derek Thorn barrel-rolled his way into the hearts of Snowball Derby fans.
On Saturday night, a capacity crowd at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Florida witnessed Thorn outduel Augie Grill, Bubba Pollard and a stout Pro Late Model field to win the Allen Turner Snowflake 100 at the 52nd annual Snowball Derby.
The spectators roared when the California driver climbed out of his car in Victory Lane, and the celebration certainly wasn’t muted. But everyone – be it drivers, teams, fans, or officials – still was swept away in the aftermath of one of the scariest incidents in the iconic track’s long history.
A dropped fuel cell ignited a streak of fire across the entirety of turn 3, and 26-year-old Alabama driver Justin Bonnett was caught in the raging flames before first responders arrived on the scene quickly. Bonnett, the grandson of the late NASCAR racer Neil Bonnett, was transported to a local hospital briefly before being moved to a Mobile hospital to treat his injuries, according to his racing’s Facebook page.
The win marked the third career victory for Thorn at Pensacola’s high banks, but none bigger than the Snowflake a race won three times by Grill (2009, 2011, 2016) and twice by Pollard (2014, 2017).
“This car was lightning quick,” Thorn said. “It hasn’t sunk in, but (darn) this feels good.”
While he won PLM features in both 2015 and 2016 at Five Flags, Thorn dubiously is remembered for the wild ride he endured at the 2011 Derby. Battling for position in the sport’s biggest race, Thorn went airborne, spiraling like a football before landing in turn 2.
Fast-forward to the present and the 33-year-old from Lakeport, California, couldn’t have dreamt of a better weekend scenario in Pensacola. Thorn’s Derby was already a memorable one before Saturday night rolled around. He set the fast time (16.277 seconds) for Derby qualifying Friday, earning the right to sit on the pole for short-track racing’s main event on Sunday.
Thorn will attempt to accomplish what no driver has done before him and sweep the weekend. Since the Snowflake’s inception in 1999, only a handfull have been lucky enough to try.
“If you told me we’d win the pole this week in the Derby race and have this win in our first Snowflake 100, I can’t believe it,” Thorn said. “If I could only rub my crystal ball and (predict a sweep). I don’t know. This has been an awesome weekend already, and this is icing on the cake.”
Grill took home the runner-up finish while 15-year-old Sammy Smith impressed with a spot on the podium in third.
The veteran Grill qualified on the pole (16.662 seconds) and didn’t relinquish the lead until Thorn got him on a lap 64 restart.
“Derek caught me napping there on that restart and got a nose under me,” Grill said. “I think we had about dead-even cars, but I needed to be in front of him, not behind him. Hats off to him, he had a great run.”
Thorn qualified second and stayed there all night before finally making his move.
In other action, Texas racer John Heil drove to his first career 5 Flags and Derby win with a victory in the Outlaw Stocks feature on Saturday night.
The 50 lap feature was marred by nearly 10 cautions, with only 14 of the 32 starters remaining when the checkered flag flew.
“I hate to see all these good cars tore up,” runner-up Joe Bethea, Jr. said. “I know people put time and effort into it. Hate to see that. I put my guys behind the eight-ball in qualifying. We had a good racecar, and to finish second is pretty good.”
On the field’s fourth restart with 34 laps completed, Heil passed then-leader Bubba Winslow as they headed into turn 2 from the outside lane.
He hit his marks on every restart and never relinquished the lead in the final 16 laps.
“This is the best thing I’ve ever done,” Heil said. “It’s not the Snowball Derby, but it’s the closest I’ll ever get to it.”
Kody Brusso, who won the Outlaws track title in 2018 at Five Flags, rounded out the podium in third. With her father celebrating a birthday, she was hoping to tie a bow on a victory for him.
“He’ll have to settle for third and a clean racecar,” Brusso said only half-jokingly. “Our battle marks on the car show. We stuck it in there a couple of times, but I race everybody clean to my best ability.”
Earlier in the evening, the final four starting spots for Sunday’s Super Late Model feature were set in the Last Chance Race.
Dan Frederickson recorded the win, with Brad May, Rodrigo Rejon and Boris Jurkovic making the cut with top four finishes to race on Sunday, joining provisional starters Lucas Jones and Stephen Nasse to round out the field.
Defending Snowball Derby pole sitter Harrison Burton missed the field after a crash coming to the checkered flag. It was triggered when contact from Carson Hocevar to five-time Snowball Derby winner Rich Bickle’s back bumper sent Bickle sliding down into Burton as the three were all racing inside the cutoff. Burton and Bickle crashed into the turn one wall, while Hocevar was penalized by race officials for the contact.
The race weekend culminates with the 52nd annual Snowball Derby for the Super Late Models on Sunday.
For more information, visit 5FlagsSpeedway.com.
5 Flags Speedway – Pensacola, FL
Snowball Derby – December 6, 2019
Snowflake 100
1. 43T Derek Thorn
2. 112G Augie Grill
3. 81 Sammy Smith
4. 43S Justin South
5. 51S Stephen Nasse
6. 26 Bubba Pollard
7. 7 Jackson Boone
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9. 15 Jake Johnson
10. 4P Kyle Plott
11. 50 Jett Noland
12. 12L Dan Leeck
13. 43D Daniel Dye
14. 24 Mason Diaz
15. 33 Dustin Smith
16. 5 Rodrigo Rejon
17. 88M Trever McCoy
18. 88G Jake Griffin
19. 11M Kyle McCallum
20. 29H Chris Hacker
21. 18 Ryan Paul
22. 29K Mason Keller
23. 89 Dylan Fetcho
24. 14H Carson Hocevar
25. 112M Mike Garvey
26. 1 Wayne Anderson
27. 11W JoJo Wilkinson
28. 11C Stacey Crain
29. 46 Jarrett Parker
30. 12B Justin Bonnett
31. 51P Perry Patino
32. 00 Brandon Curren
33. 14C Connor Okrzesik
34. 59 Billy Melvin
35. 4M Elliott Massey
36. 58 Cody Brake
37. 11B Jacob Beasock
Outlaw Stocks
1. 96H John Heil
2. 33 Joe Bethea, Jr.
3. 7B Kody Brusso
4. 92 Cameron Henderson
5. 03 George Gorham
6. 1 Donald Crocker
7. 9D Brooke Storer
8. 93 Paul Jean
9. 21H David Hodges
10. 16 Bubba Winslow
11. 23 Gary Goodwin
12. 5C Chase Oliver
13. 407 Jason Vail
14. 00 Jeff Belt
15. 40 Stephen Nasse
16. 31 Wayne Niedecken
17. 151 Gary Sutton
18. 26 Corbitt Moseley
19. 3C Casey Caudill
20. 32 Stuart Dutton
21. 91 Chris Cotto
22. 96D Greg Davidson
23. 71 Jody Henderson
24. 4J Todd Jones
25. 21F Jason Furrow
26. 6 Nathan Henderson
27. 21W Jason Welch
28. 84 Doug Thorp, Jr.
29. 8B Justin Beck
30. 10 Patrick Thomas
31. 51F Jake Finch
32. 54 Connor Sutton
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