Grant Thompson didn’t wilt under the pressure.
With the lights of the 53rd annual Snowball Derby beaming brightly, the 14-year-old stock-car driver was in his element at Pensacola, Florida’s Five Flags Speedway on Thursday night.
Thompson started second in the WCI.com Pro Trucks Snowball Derby feature, but led all 50 laps to christen opening night of the biggest week in short-track racing.
The Mobile, Alabama native was the Pro Trucks track champion at Five Flags this season, winning four of the six features the famed half-mile asphalt oval hosted in 2020. Thompson took the lead immediately from polesitter Gavin Graham and withstood five cautions to claim his first career Derby victory piloting a truck owned by Georgia’s Curt Britt.
“Ever since I was a little kid dreaming about this moment,” Thompson said. “To win the Derby in my second year, it’s absolutely incredible. I feel great.”
He should. Thompson performed masterfully following each restart, a part of his game where he struggled mightily earlier in the year.
Each time the green flag dropped, Thompson had zero issues pulling away from eventual runner-up John Heil. Graham, all of 12 years old, recovered from a poor beginning to round out the podium.
“Those restarts were really fun, and we had a really good race,” Thompson said.
Heavy gusts greeted the field when the opening green flag dropped. Thompson was in the wind quickly, building a comfortable lead.
The 50 lapper was sloppy in the first half with all five caution occurring in the opening 25 laps. It led to an active night in the pits.
Teams knocked their cars around with sledge hammers and any other tools they could find. They rocked them back and forth feverishly, frantically crawled underneath their rides, trying anything to achieve immortality at the Derby.
It was Thompson’s date with destiny on this night.
Sportsmen
Back at the Night of Champions races in September, veteran James Patrick recorded his first career The Dock on Pensacola Beach Sportsmen feature win at Five Flags Speedway.
Back at Five Flags on Thursday, Patrick did himself one better.
The Mobile, Alabama driver wheeled a gritty performance and, unofficially, earned every bit of his first career Sportsmen Snowball Derby title.
Patrick pulled off a power move against then-leader Brannon Fowler, a former two-time Sportsmen Derby champion, on lap 27 and never relinquished the lead down the stretch of the 50 lap feature.
“We built this car from scratch over the offseason,” Patrick said. “We ran it throughout the season, obviously, but to put in Victory Lane at its first Snowball feels incredible.”
Patrick and Fowler swapped the lead twice, with Patrick reclaiming the advantage for good when he put the bumper to Fowler’s No. 00. When Patrick nudged Fowler slightly as the pair entered turn 2, Fowler got out of shape. He slid up Pensacola’s high banks and provided Patrick the space he needed to slide underneath.
Patrick credited longtime buddy Chad Robinson for helping get the car where it needed to be. Robinson, who edged Jim Pokrant for the track championship this season by five points, struggled all night Thursday and was unable to finish after an accident with Shanna Ard just 10 laps shy of the checkered flag.
“I learned from the best – Chad Robinson,” Patrick said. “We built this car in my shop, all in a two-car garage.”
Hunter Lambert, who won back-to-back features in the spring, hustled home for runner-up honors and Fowler held on for third.
Patrick took the lead for the first time when he passed his pal Robinson two laps into the race. Fowler caught and flew by Patrick in turn 3 on lap 19 before Patrick returned the favor eight laps later.
Pure Stocks
It wasn’t the dominant performance Five Flags Speedway fans have known this season, but Daryl McDonald III delivered when it mattered most Thursday night.
The winner of five of 11 Lloyd’s Glass Pure Stocks features in 2020, McDonald didn’t have his “A” game on a slew of restarts. But the Theodore, Alabama native managed to stay up front all night, far ahead of all the trouble that occurred behind the leaders.
And when Pensacola’s Caleb Burkett mistakenly chose the high side on the night’s ninth and final restart, McDonald pounced on the opportunity.
He broke free from a four-car logjam and squeezed by Burkett with 10 laps remaining to capture the 35-lap Pure Stocks Snowball Derby feature to close opening night of the 53rd annual event. Robert Balkum got by Burkett for second and Burkett finished third.
“It’s a dream come true,” said McDonald, who announced he’ll be moving up to the Sportsmen division next season.
It was a rocky swan song for McDonald to say the least. The race itself had no flow, failing to find a rhythm because of all the cautions.
Six laps in, Burkett and Jerry Goff, Jr. sandwiched Balkum as they went three-wide into turn 4. Somehow, the trio managed to keep their cars straight, but Goff surrendered three spots. Goff was haunted by misfortune all evening as he tried to defend his Pure Stocks Derby championship from last December.
Burkett shot like a rocket and flew by McDonald for the lead when the field restarted with 11 laps completed. A few laps later, the action in the back heated up again. Balkum went three-wide with another group of cars, but this time he was on the outside and avoided any trouble.
Cautions kept flying and Burkett kept maintaining his cushion out front. McDonald struggled mightily to get his car up to speed on the restarts and yielded track position each time to Burkett.
Strangely, when the cars took the final green, Burkett restarted on the outside and delivered the preferred line to McDonald, who made Burkett pay for the curious choice.
Action in the 53rd annual Snowball Derby continues on Friday night with qualifying for the Snowball Derby, along with racing from the Modifieds of Mayhem. Saturday will see the last chance qualifying race for the Snowball Derby, a 50-lap Outlaws feature and the Snowflake 100.
That all leads up to the 53rd annual Snowball Derby on Sunday, with the green flag scheduled to fall at 2 pm CST.
For more information, visit 5FlagsSpeedway.com.
