Cody Stickler celebrates in victory lane after winning Friday night’s Snowball Derby Modified feature at Five Flags Speedway. Photo: Eddie Richie/Turn One Photos/Loxley, AL
Five Flags Speedway had long been a pain in Cody Stickler’s career until five months ago.
He got the proverbial monkey off his back with a Modifieds of Mayhem win back in July after years of close calls and a few podium finishes. Then, came night 2 of the 54th Annual Snowball Derby at the Pensacola, Florida raceway on Friday.
Stickler won the 75-lap Modifieds edition of the Derby, passing then-leader Stephen Nasse on lap 59 and hitting all his lines en route to his milestone victory.
“This is amazing,” Stickler said. “We’ve been trying to get this one for five or six years now.”
Augie Grill didn’t have quite the setup he wanted, but the three-time Modifieds Derby champion fought his way to a runner-up finish. Derrick Griffin, last year’s Modifieds Derby champion, battled to a third.
“We were just a tick tight,” Grill said. “I just missed the setup. We were good in practice but lost that center rotation during the race.”
Stickler had a top-five car all night in the 39-car field, but made his push toward clean air around the halfway point of the 75 lap feature. He slid under Grill for second at lap 35 and gradually reeled in Nasse. Stickler got around his rival 16 laps shy of the finish. He had a phenomenal restart and was able to pass Nasse on the outside. It was setting up for a classic duel down the stretch.
That was, until Nasse experienced troubles chasing Sticker down the backstretch. Nasse was off the pace and decided to park the No. 46 with just three laps remaining. It marked the first time Nasse, an accomplished Late Model driver, had driven the Doug Moff-owned Modified.
“Man, it feels good,” Stickler said. “This is crazy. Getting out front in clean air certainly helps here.”
Bill Burba never found clean air Friday night, which also served as the Modifieds season finale. Burba came into the night leading the points comfortably. That suddenly changed when his motor blew up just 16 laps into the race, which brought out the fourth of six cautions Friday. Fortunately for Burba, Kevin Peel — his closest challenger — struggled mightily, too.
Despite watching the rest of the race in the pits, Burba secured the Modifieds of Mayhem points title when Peel couldn’t finish enough spots ahead of him.
Earlier in the evening, Derek Thorn made history by capturing his third consecutive pole for Sunday’s Snowball Derby 300-lap Super Late Model race. He wheeled a 16.249-second lap, which was a half-tenth better than Talking Rock, Georgia’s Chandler Smith.
“I don’t know what the odds are on that. Probably not good,” Thorn said of his pole hat trick. “But, I’m happy we are here. It’s a group effort. It was here 10 years ago when I made field by one-thousandth of a second. It’s crazy that 10 years later this our third consecutive pole.”
The qualifying field of 51 cars anticipated possibly breaking Ty Majeski’s track record (16.120 seconds) after the front stretch was repaved earlier this fall after persistent rain and moisture caused a portion of the asphalt to break apart. But Majeski’s mark withstood all challengers to remain untouched. Majeski, the reigning Derby champion, didn’t have the run he wanted. Yet he made the field and will start 19th on Sunday.
Perennial Derby contenders, such as Georgia racers Bubba Pollard and Casey Roderick, made the show comfortably while fan favorite Rich Bickle will have to earn his way in during the last chance races Saturday. Bickle, who boasts a record five Derby titles, hopes to end his decorated 45-year career with one more victory Sunday.
Both Jake Finch and Jeff Choquette earned provisional spots for Sunday thanks to finish in the top-10 in season points for the Southern Super Series and Deep South Cranes Blizzard Series, respectively.
Five Flags Speedway – Pensacola, FL
Snowball Derby – December 3, 2021
Modifieds Of Mayhem
1. Cody Stickler
2. Augie Grill
3. Derrick Griffin
4. L.J. Grimm
5. L.B. Skaggs
6. Parker Pugh
7. Josh Ware
8. Clayton Green
9. Nicholas Carr
10. Danny Jackson
11. Jason Congdon
12. Kevin Peel
13. Okie Mason
14. Hunter Evans
15. Danny Duchesne
16. Bradon Curren
17. Stephen Nasse
18. Larry Hughes
19. Jeff Letson
20. Logan Bearden
21. Kaden Honeycutt
22. Bill Burba
23. Tim Moore
24. Curtis Spencer
25. Donnie Hamrac
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27. Matt Maurer
28. Max McDonald
29. Ryan Amonett
30. Johnny Walker
31. Logan Boyett
32. Jordan Key
Super Late Model Qualifying Results
1. Derek Thorn 16.27
2. Chandler Smith 16.303
3. Corey Heim 16.348
4. Casey Roderick 16.373
5. Erik Jones 16.374
6. Matt Craig 16.374
7. Hunter Robbins 16.377
8. Bubba Pollard 16.382
9. Casey Johnson 16.397
10. Jake Garcia 16.399
11. Daniel Dye 16.409
12. Ryan Preece 16.417
13. Kodie Connor 16.427
14. Jett Noland 16.433
15. Mike Garvey 16.433
16. Mason Diaz 16.435
17. Cole Butcher 16.443
18. Jeremy Doss 16.459
19. Ty Majeski 16.461
20. Sammy Smith 16.476
21. Preston Peltier 16.487
22. Kyle Plott 16.491
23. Jesse Love 16.5
24. Derek Griffith 16.501
25. Kaden Honeycutt 16.504
26. Luke Fenhaus 16.51
27. Grant Enfinger 16.516
28. Stephen Nasse 16.521
29. Dan Fredrickson 16.523
30. Jeff Storm 16.535
31. Jake Finch 16.536
32. Jase Hansen 16.541
33. Brad May 16.56
34. Carson Hocevar 16.563
35. Michael House 16.568
36. Brandon Watson 16.604
37. Lee Tissot 16.605
38. Michael Atwell 16.611
39. Derek Krause 16.621
40. Boris Jurkovic 16.625
41. John DeAngelis 16.663
42. Rich Bickle 16.669
43. Paul Shafer, Jr. 16.67
44. Eddie Van Meter 16.692
45. Perry Patino 16.703
46. Michael Hinde 16.705
47. Kyle Bryant 16.709
48. Cassius Clark 16.711
49. John Bolen 16.788
50. Ryan Crane 16.861
51. Jeff Choquette 17.332
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