Noah Gragson reflects on challenge presented by Snowball Derby

The Snowball Derby at Pensacola, Florida’s Five Flags Speedway, is coming up. Noah Gragson will be in the mix. At least, he’s hoping that he will be. It’s a long weekend, trying to get into the most prestigious Super Late Model race of the year.

There was a time when the Snowball Derby was chock-full of NASCAR talent. Donnie Allison and Darrell Waltrip conquered the Derby in the past. Kyle Busch is a two-time winner, and so is Chase Elliott. Maybe those days are coming back. Noah Gragson and others are still chasing Derby wins despite being Cup Series regulars.

Gragson, now a part-owner of Port City Racecars, is teaming up with the team once again for the Snowball Derby. He loved his car last year, but came up short of the win. There are so many challenges involved with

“It’s been definitely a challenging place, no matter who or what you are,” Gragson explained to FloRacing. “To be able to go down there and execute a good weekend, it’s really challenging. So, track position’s key, but it’s not everything there. That’s the fun part about racing these Super Late Models is it’s not impossible to pass. If you nail the balance right and you nail the stagger, just everything is flowing good, it makes it a lot of fun because you’re passing cars.

“But if you’re on the backside of things and your car’s not driving good and you’re slipping and sliding off the corner, burning the tires up, and guys are going past you, you almost have the parachute hanging out, it’s not too fun. Luckily, we’ve got a great team. WE’ve been able to just drive forward and make the race the last couple of years. You know, this year we’re going back and going to try to have fun, enjoy the moment, and ultimately, we’re there to win the race.”

Is this the year when Noah Gragson becomes a two-time Snowball Derby winner? He’s going to have tough competition.

Noah Gragson, Kyle Busch and others entered in Snowball Derby

The 2025 Snowball Derby is going to feature serious NASCAR talent. We know that Noah Gragson and Kyle Busch are in. Erik Jones is in. There are a lot of familiar names on the entry list for NASCAR fans to pick through.

Among the NASCAR/ARCA drivers, current and former, part and full-time on the entry list: Erik Jones, Bayley Currey, Johnny Sauter, Tristan McKee, Derek Kraus, Max Reaves, Kaden Honeycutt, Dawson Sutton, Jake Garcia, Conner Jones, Jake Finch, Ryan Preece, Ty Majeski, and David Gilliland.

Kyle Busch is a two-time winner of the Derby, and so is Erik Jones. If either can win their third, they would become second all-time on the wins list, only behind Rich Bickle. Busch has had his struggles on the track in the last few years; there’s no denying that. A win in the Derby this year would go a long way.

Give me a Sunday race with Noah Gragson, Kyle Busch, Erik Jones, Ryan Preece, and Ty Majeski, and I will be the happiest race fan. The Snowball Derby is going to be here soon. Who will win?