| Kyle Busch Wins 42nd Annual Snowball Derby | Kyle Busch thrives in the limelight whether it’s cheers or boos and on Sunday night drews mostly cheers and he won the 42nd annual Snowball Derby in front of a sellout crowd at Five Flags Speedway.
The current NASCAR Sprint Cup star dominated this season, winning the Nationwide and Truck series. He had a disappointing Sprint Cup season, winning just four races and finishing out of the Cup Chase. That allowed him to come to Pensacola for the Snowball Derby and he led three times for 99 laps, including the final 25.
“Winning the Snowball Derby means so much to me,” he said in Victory Lane. “What a race car I had. I was nervous the last 10 laps.” Busch pulled away after passing 2005 Snowball Derby winner Eddie Mercer of Pensacola on Lap 276. Mercer took second, while 2004 winner Steven Wallace was third. Bobby Gill was fourth and John Bolen fifth.
Polesitter Johanna Long finished 18th, two laps down, while Augie Grill’s bid to become the first driver to win consecutive Snowballs ended with a wreck and he finished 31st. Busch started third and edged Long to take the lead on the opening lap. Grill, starting in fourth, passed Busch for the lead on Lap 29. On Lap 59, two cars in front of Grill spun and Grill ran into the back of one of them, but didn’t do much damage.
He gave up the lead on Lap 96 when he came into the pits for fresh tires. Casey Smith, who had pitted earlier, took the point for 67 laps. Grill, however, restarted in 26th and was hit by Justin Drawdy as he was trying to work his way to the front. The damage slowed him down considerably and he parked the car shortly after that.
Mercer took over the lead on Lap 163 when Smith and other leaders went into the pits for fresh tires. Eighteen laps later, Mercer became the all-time Snowball Derby lap later, passing Bobby Gill, who has 694. Mercer now has led 744 laps.
The frustration continued for Smith, who began to back up shortly after pitting for fresh tires. His pit crew put the right-side tires on the left side and he later suffered damage to his car.
Busch passed Mercer for the lead on Lap 208. Mercer, who later pitted, worked his way back to the front and regained the lead on Lap 246 when Busch and the other leaders pitted for their final set of tires. Mercer held it through three more cautions but Busch cleared some lap cars and went low in Turn 1 to take the lead for good on Lap 276.
There were 14 cautions in the race for 108 laps.
Kyle Busch, 300 laps
Eddie Mercer, 300
Steven Wallace, 300
Bobby Gill, 300
John Bolen, 300
Grant Enfinger, 300
Chase Elliott, 300
Wayne Niedecken Jr., 300
Ryan Lawler, 300
Ryan Sieg, 300
Scott Carlson, 300
Ross Kenseth, 300
Scott Hantz, 300
Dennis Prunty, 299
Dennis Schoenfeld, 299
Brian Scott, 298
Randy Gentry, 298
Johanna Long, 298
Gary Helton, 296
Danny Bagwell, 294
Stephan McCurley, 293
Casey Smith, 291
David Rogers, 280
Justin Drawdy, 260
Brian Ickler, 252
Shane Sieg, 219
David Stremme, 206
Cale Gale, 204
Josh Hamner, 192
Tyler Millwood, 169
Augie Grill, 142
Brian Campbell, 137
Hunter Robbins, 100
Bubba Pollard, 100
Heath Hindman, 67
Jeff Choquette, 64
Cecil Chunn, 2
Lap leaders: Busch 1-28; Grill 29-95; Smith 96-162; Mercer 163-207; Busch 208-245; Mercer 246-275; Busch 276-300; 7 lead changes among 4 drivers. Margin of victory: 2.778 seconds; Average speed: 62.071 mph.Cautions: 14 for 106 laps.
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