In years past, Snowball Derby Pro Trucks races have been marathon, caution-plagued affairs at Pensacola, Florida’s Five Flags Speedway.
At the 51st annual the Snowball Derby, roles were reversed.
After a long day chocked full of yellows and reds in the Modifieds 75 lapper and the Allen Turner Hyundai Pro Late Model Snowflake 100, the WCIparts.com Pro Trucks edition of the Derby was clean for all 50 laps.
Teenager Josh Hicks passed pole sitter Steven Davis, a past Pro Trucks Derby champion, on lap 47 and pulled away to score the biggest victory of his young career.
“This means a lot,” the Senoia, Georgia driver said. “I’ve gotta thank the man upstairs for a bit of good luck. We had a lotta obstacles to overcome this year.”
The lone obstacle the Peach State speedster had to get past on Sunday was Davis.
The 2015 Pro Trucks Derby winner, Davis was shot out of a cannon at the drop of the green flag and quickly left the 19-car field in his dust.
But despite Davis building a comfortable lead, Hicks stayed within shouting distance.
“I was just trying to keep up with him,” Hicks said of Davis, “and hoped he fall off eventually.”
After the pair lapped most of the field, opportunity came knocking in the waning laps. Hicks, first, took a peak underneath Davis as the duo exited turn 4 on lap 45. Proving discretion was the better part of valor, Hicks let his tires cool down and hoped Davis would slip up.
Two laps later, Hicks seized the moment and skirted by Davis as they stormed out of turn 2.
“We just ran outta time,” Davis said. “(Hicks) ran me clean. All you can say is we got beat.”
Veteran Bubba Gale rounded out the podium in third.
Grill Scores Back-to-Back In Modifieds Derby Titles in Race Shortened by Weather, Wrecks
Win or lose, Augie Grill typically keeps his emotions in check.
Every victory certainly matters to him, but it is Grill’s constant humility that has won him a grandstand full of fans over his hall of fame career.
In capturing the Modifieds running of the Snowball Derby on Sunday for a second consecutive year, Grill was more subdued after the 75-lap race was shortened to 71, saw 12 cautions and two drivers leave Five Flags Speedway in ambulances.
“This is pretty cool,” Grill said. “It’s the seventh time on Snowball Derby weekend that I’ve won a race. I like having my name on something nobody has. I wish we could’ve run those final laps green.”
Weather conditions prevented that along with a T-bone collision between Jason Moorman and Billy Melvin that brought out the final yellow of the afternoon on lap 71.
With Melvin and Moorman battling in the middle of the 27-car pack, the pair exited turn 2 and headed down the back straightaway. As Melvin suddenly went for a spin, Moorman could not avoid Melvin’s No. 16 and delivered a punishing hit to the driver’s side door.
The red flag immediately came out, stopping the race for nearly 50 minutes as track officials and seven emergency vehicles flooded the half-mile asphalt oval to attend to Moorman and Melvin.
Moorman’s back was aching, but was able to give a thumbs-up to the crowd as he was loaded into an ambulance and taken to a local hospital.
Melvin, on the other hand, was stuck beneath his roll cage and emergency personnel had to use the Jaws of Life to cut the veteran driver from his vehicle. Melvin, too, was taken to an area emergency room with bones broken in both legs, as well as a fractured pelvis.
Once Melvin’s car was on the hook, it looked like the flatbed of a rollback truck as it was brought through the pits.
After the hour-long delay, track officials attempted to remedy the scene of the accident with speedy dry. But, as mist and moisture began to fall, race officials made the wise decision to call the race as the leaders sat on the front stretch.
It was Grill’s sixth Modifieds of Mayhem victory of the season in the John Heil-owned car. Grill held off a hard-charging Kyle Purvis, who finished runner-up, and Donnie Hamrac, who rounded out the podium.
“Kyle got by me on one of the restarts, and I was worried a little bit,” Grill said. “Luckily, I got to redeem myself.”
5 Flags Speedway – Pensacola, FL
Race Results – December 9, 2018
Pro Trucks
1. Joshua Hicks – Senoia, GA
2. Steven Davis – Theodore, AL
3. Bubba Gale – Mocksville, NC
4. Andrew Johnson – Vancleave, MS
5. Max Calles-McDonald – Mcallen, TX
6. Rick Pollaro – Canyon Lake, TX
7. Hunter Lambert – Pensacola, FL
8. Brandon Burks – Milton, FL
9. Zack Smith – Jasper, AL
10. Adam Haugh – Round Rock, TX
11. Colt James – Newton, NC
12. Troy Grisaffi – Kenner, LA
13. Jessie Reid – Eight Mile, AL
Modifieds
1. Augie Grill – Hayden, AL
2. Kyle Purvis – Marion, OH
3. Donnie Hamrac – Semmes, AL
4. Steve Arnold – Cape Coral, FL
5. Jim Wall – FL
6. Bubba Brooks – Kalamazoo, MI
7. Clay Green – Marble Falls, TX
8. Chuck Tuck – Athens, AL
9. Christopher Hogan – Alvin, TX
10. Billy Melvin – Trussville, AL
11. Josh Ware – Barbeau, MI
12. Jeff Letson – Huntsville, AL
13. Blake Ferguson – Jasper, AL
14. Zachary Knowles – Houston, TX
15. Jason Morman – Seabrook, TX
16. Parker Pugh – Madison, AL
17. Nick Martin – Sumiton, AL
18. Johnny Walker – Pasadena, TX
19. Larry Hughes – Houston, TX
20. Derrick Griffin – Pensacola, FL
21. Adam Crawford – Mobile, AL
22. John Sarppraicone, Jr. – Bradenton, FL
23. Chase Oliver – Rainbow City, AL
24. Chris Cotto – Milton, FL
25. Nick Pressler – Buchanan, MI
26. Jacob Permenter – Defuniak Springs, FL
27. Doug Moff – Fort Myers, FL
