Augie Grill already had a Snowball Derby victory as a crew chief. Now he has one with his name on the Tom Dawson trophy. Grill, the Alabama short-track driver, passed Clay Rogers with 35 laps left and rolled on to a victory Sunday in the 40th annual Snowball Derby at Five Flags Speedway.
Grill was the crew chief when Wayne Anderson won the Snowball Derby in 2001. A few years later, Grill decided to climb behind the wheel and Sunday’s win added another level to his driving credentials.
“It's a completely different feeling because 99 percent of it is on your shoulders as the driver,” Grill said. “This is the biggest race of the year for any short-track racer and to win it, I can't even describe what it means.”
Grill, who started 14th, led two different times for 69 laps. Matt Hawkins, who dominated early and led 100 laps, finished second. Jeff Fultz was third, Pensacola’s Eddie Mercer was fourth and defending champion came from the last place (39th) to finish fifth. Hawkins jumped past polesitter Cale Gale on the opening lap to grab the lead.
The first of 16 cautions came out on Lap 13 in a multi-car crash that ended the race for former champions Gary St. Amant and Bobby Gill. Grill stayed around 10th through the first 50 laps. On Lap 59, Mercer took the lead from Hawkins and moved into second place all-time in laps led at the Snowball Derby. He now trails only Gill in laps led.
Mercer held the lead until Lap 97 when he and all the other lead drivers pitted for fresh tires on a caution. Rogers, who had pitted earlier, stayed out on the track to take the lead. Hawkins and Mercer emerged from the pits in 15th and 16th place. Pensacola’s Donald Long’s race ended when he hit the wall in Turn 3 on Lap 115.
Rogers kept the lead through two more cautions until Ryan Crane took the point on Lap 156. But that time, Hawkins had caught up and passed Rogers for the lead on Lap 164 with Grill in second place. On Lap 193, a big crash on the frontstretch took out Crane and Scott Carlson. Hawkins remained in the lead until Grill caught and passed him on a restart going into Turn 1 following a caution.
The final pit stop for tires came on Lap 245 following a caution. Hawkins came out of the pits first, followed by Rogers and Grill. Grant Enfinger was the leader and shortly after the restart, Hawkins dropped back several spots after he spun Dave Mader III into the wall while trying to take over second place.
Rogers grabbed the lead on Lap 261, but four laps later, Grill quickly moved past him and pulled away from there for the victory.
40th Snowball Derby Sunday's results at Five Flags Speedway 1. (14) Augie Grill, 300 laps 2. (2) Matt Hawkins, 300 3. (21) Jeff Fultz, 300 4. (6) Eddie Mercer, 300 5. (39) Clay Rogers, 300 6. (7) Josh Hamner, 300 7. (11) Brian Campbell, 300 8. (32) Ryan Foster, 300 9. (17) Scott Hantz, 300 10. (13) Jeff Choquette, 300 11. (23) Ryan Lawler, 300 12. (36) Chris Gabehart, 300 13. (9) Grant Enfinger, 300 14. (37) Ken McFarland, 300 15. (8) Mike Fritts, 300 16. (3) Johnny Clark, 300 17. (31) Korey Ruble, 300 18. (24) Justin Drawdy, 299 19. (4) Gary Helton, 299 20. (34) J.R. Roahrig, 299 21. (38) Dale Little, 298 22. (19) Jason Young, 276 23. (35) Roger Reuse, 263 24. (28) Dave Mader III, 254 25. (30) Cecil Chunn, 244 26. (15) Tim Martin, 230 27. (26) Hunter Robbins, 221 28. (29) Casey Smith, 221 29. (16) Wayne Anderson, 194 30. (12) Ryan Crane, 193 31. (18) Scott Carlson, 192 32. (1) Cale Gale, 189 33. (5) Cassius Clark, 177 34. (25) Heath Hindman, 176 35. (20) Donald Long, 112 36. (10) Ryan Sieg, 77 37. (27) Bill Tutchtone II, 14 38. (22) Gary St. Amant, 13 39 (33) Bobby Gill, 13
Race statistics: Average speed of race 56.015 mph.
