While a lot of people were at work or busy keeping up with the happenings out in Las Vegas for the Sprint Cup Series awards, Five Flags Speedway was rambling all afternoon long as drivers prepare for Saturday’s Snowflake 100. This event is just one of the many greats for short track racing this weekend along with Sunday’s Snowball Derby. Each round of practices held today were combined across both the Pro Late model and Super Late Model divisions.
Willie Allen, whose name you might have heard of in the past as he made numerous starts in the NASCAR Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series, found himself the fastest driver overall today. Allen posted his fast time of 16.780 seconds in his No. 11 Pro Late Model.
Dan Leeck posted the second fastest overall time in the afternoon with a lap of 16.857 seconds. Leeck was just 0.077 seconds slower than Allen. The 24-year-old driver will head out 45th Saturday in qualifying.
Zachary Knowles ended up the third overall fastest when the practices wrapped up today at Five-Flags Speedway. Knowles posted a lap of 16.913 seconds and drew a great spot for qualifying on Saturday as he’ll go out 72nd.
John Hunter Nemechek, who is the son of Joe Nemechek, ended up 10th on the time sheet. Johanna Long was one spot right behind in 11th. Short track favorite, Bubba Pollard, finished the afternoon in 27th. Camping World Truck Series veteran, Rick Crawford, ended up 48th on the board.
Qualifying will take place Friday at 3:00 p.m. Est. for two timed laps that will lock in the top-30 fastest in that session. The top-four cars will then transfer into the feature as the rest of the cars will go home after the 50-lap qualifier. The race is set to start at 8:30 p.m. Est. on Speed51 online television.
On the Super Late Model side, which is the cars that will race in Sunday’s Snowball Derby, Anderson Bowen was the fastest on Thursday afternoon. Bowen posted his fast time of 16.481 seconds, which he hopes to back it up tomorrow in qualifying as he’ll go out 29th.
Daniel Hemric found himself second on the timesheet after a fast time of 16.514 seconds. Hemric, who is piloting the No. 98 this weekend, will be making just his third start in the Snowball Derby. The 23-year-old driver did not get a good qualifying draw as he’ll go out second.
The 2014 NASCAR Nationwide Series championship winner, Chase Elliott, was third overall fastest this afternoon in practice. Elliott posted a fast time of 16.569 seconds, which was 0.088 seconds slower than the fastest car. Sunday will mark his fifth career start in the Snowball Derby and hopes it goes much smoother than last year when his car failed post-race technical inspection.
Son of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver, Ross Kenseth, ended up the fourth fastest on Thursday. NASCAR K&N Pro Series star, Derek Thorn, was two spots behind in sixth. Jeff Choquette and Erik Jones ended the day in the eighth and ninth spots.
The Snowball Derby will begin Sunday at 3:00 p.m. Est. on Speed51.com TV. Qualifying coverage will take place Friday at 7:00 p.m. Est., which will also be featured on Speed51.com TV. Snowball qualifier, which will lock in positions 31 through 34, will take place on Saturday.
About Me: Brett has been following the sport of NASCAR since the beginning of the 2006 NASCAR Sprint Cup season. Since Brett was 13, he has had a passion of chasing a job in sports that not many get the opportunity of doing. He has been in the NASCAR media since the middle of the 2010 season. Since then, he has been a part of many racing podcast shows to improve his talents. He has written for racingonfuel.com and theracingwheel.com. Currently, Brett writes for motorsportsnat.com and TracksideChatter.com. You can find him on twitter @NASCAR_Brett.
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