Cody Stickler Accomplishes Snowball Derby First; Adam Salter Swipes Crown Stock Invitational

Story By: CHUCK CORDER / 5 FLAG SPEEDWAY – PENSACOLA, FL – History is made every night at the Snowball Derby.  Cody Stickler left a legacy Friday on Night 2 of the 57th annual Snowball Derby presented by FloSports.

Stickler became the first driver in Derby history to capture four consecutive titles across all divisions when he successfully defended his Modifieds of Mayhem Derby 75 crown.

“Four in a row feels great,” the Central Florida driver said from Victory Lane. “It’s funny. Five years back, we were just trying get a win. Now, we’re getting fast racecars anywhere we go. These guys (his team) make me look good and make it easy on me.”

A hammer-down onslaught has been his modus operandi since his first win in 2021. This edition with a 31-car field was no different. Stickler won the pole (17.313 seconds) by nearly two-tenths of a second. After the redraw pushed him back to fourth, he shot to second when Billy Melvin struggled to get going from his outside Row 1 position as the opening green flag dropped.

Stickler took over P1 when then-leader Kaden Honeycutt—running his second of four races during Derby Week—experienced mechanical failures immediately following the 75-lapper’s first caution.

Stickler had challengers, beginning with Derrick Griffin and ending with Kyle Purvis. Both drew within a car’s length of Stickler each time the leaders encountered lapped traffic. Like clockwork, Stickler deftly maneuvered through his obstacles and maintained his advantage.

Purvis finished runner-up and Kevin Peel rounded out the podium. Griffin, the last driver to win the Modifieds Derby before Stickler began his streak, had a heroic fourth-place finish after an up-and-down night.

“We had a good hotrod,” Purvis said. “Just not as good as they were. We struggle to qualify down here, but we always have a good race piece.”

Stickler now has 15 career victories for the Modifieds of Mayhem, a touring series that annually compete at the southeast’s most iconic speedways. That number is one shy of Augie Grill’s 16 for the all-time mark.

Story & Bleich Crown Stock Invitational

There’s a new Alabama Gang just north of the Conecuh National Forest.

The Bare Minimum Racing boys took the Story & Bleich Roofing Crown Stocks division by storm in 2024 at Five Flags Speedway. The Salter Brothers from Andalusia, Ala., spearhead BMR and won three features during the regular season at Five Flags.

It seemed fitting Friday night at the 57th annual Snowball Derby presented by FloSports that the siblings could each bask in winning Story & Bleich Crown Stock Invitational.

Adam Salter, driving brother Chris Salter’s car, led nearly all 25 laps en route to the victory.

“It was hooked up,” said Adam Salter, who has now won three of the last four Crown Stocks features at Pensacola’s high banks. “We showed everybody what we’re made of tonight. We’ve had fun all week.”

Braeden Kitchen finished second and Hunter Lambert came home third.

With Adam Salter winning by more than 6 seconds, much of the attention late in the race was the battle between Kitchen and Lambert for that runner-up spot. The pair of Pensacola drivers battled door-to-door down the stretch until Kitchen was able to clear Lambert on the final lap.

“I had a blast,” Kitchen said. “Those last five laps, I thought, was the best part of the race. These Crown Vics put on a good show.”

Lambert added: “It’s always good to race somebody and race each other clean.”

Modified of Mayhem Tour

A Feature 1 (75 Laps): 1. 46-Cody Stickler[4]; 2. 13-Kyle Purvis[9]; 3. 18-Kevin Peel[7]; 4. 95-Derrick Griffin[8]; 5. 00-Brett Hudson[3]; 6. 96-Jared Maupin[19]; 7. 57-Tim Moore[18]; 8. 16-Aaron Timmerman[10]; 9. 6-Zach Stacy[20]; 10. 11-Dodge Carlbert[14]; 11. 26-Peyton Burba[22]; 12. 12M-Donny Matteson Jr[11]; 13. 8-Donnie Hamrac[12]; 14. 62-Jody Anderson[24]; 15. 51-Jason Loveday[27]; 16. 131-Jeff Letson[15]; 17. 48-Hunter Evans[13]; 18. 31-Brad Stell[23]; 19. 31M-Alec Manke[28]; 20. 2-Jaxon Bishop[5]; 21. 81-Jeremy Williams[16]; 22. 7P-Parker Pugh[6]; 23. 148-Max Calles[21]; 24. 10J-Todd Jones[25]; 25. 145-Billy Melvin[1]; 26. 21-Kaden Honeycutt[2]; 27. 3B-Blaine Akin[17]; 28. 58-Cody Brake[26]; 29. (DNS) 0-Jordan Key; 30. (DNS) 1-Shane Jones; 31. (DNS) 4X-Matt Maurer

Qualifying 1: 1. 46-Cody Stickler, 00:17.313[25]; 2. 95-Derrick Griffin, 00:17.508[27]; 3. 21-Kaden Honeycutt, 00:17.543[18]; 4. 18-Kevin Peel, 00:17.721[22]; 5. 00-Brett Hudson, 00:17.846[20]; 6. 2-Jaxon Bishop, 00:17.860[14]; 7. 145-Billy Melvin, 00:17.925[31]; 8. 7P-Parker Pugh, 00:17.972[29]; 9. 13-Kyle Purvis, 00:17.990[10]; 10. 16-Aaron Timmerman, 00:17.998[19]; 11. 12M-Donny Matteson Jr, 00:18.000[7]; 12. 8-Donnie Hamrac, 00:18.005[9]; 13. 48-Hunter Evans, 00:18.019[17]; 14. 11-Dodge Carlbert, 00:18.030[11]; 15. 131-Jeff Letson, 00:18.042[3]; 16. 81-Jeremy Williams, 00:18.051[5]; 17. 3B-Blaine Akin, 00:18.054[12]; 18. 57-Tim Moore, 00:18.079[8]; 19. 96-Jared Maupin, 00:18.092[4]; 20. 6-Zach Stacy, 00:18.101[13]; 21. 148-Max Calles, 00:18.109[6]; 22. 26-Peyton Burba, 00:18.129[15]; 23. 31-Brad Stell, 00:18.166[21]; 24. 62-Jody Anderson, 00:18.416[26]; 25. 10J-Todd Jones, 00:18.621[2]; 26. 58-Cody Brake, 00:18.760[23]; 27. 51-Jason Loveday, 00:18.829[1]; 28. 31M-Alec Manke, 00:19.067[16]; 29. (DNS) 0-Jordan Key; 30. (DNS) 4X-Matt Maurer; 31. (DNS) 1-Shane Jones

Crown Stock

Story and Bleich Roofing A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 6-Adam Salter[2]; 2. X-Braeden Kitchen[4]; 3. 97-Hunter Lambert[5]; 4. 62-Doug Thorpe Jr[3]; 5. 17M-Ryan Maxwell[1]; 6. 48-Okie Mason[6]; 7. 17B-Ryan Bleich Sr[7]; 8. 19B-Blaise Boykin[8]; 9. 12-Dee Davis[11]; 10. 4T-John Taylor[12]; 11. 75R-Colton Rutherford[15]; 12. 1776-Steve Sidner[13]; 13. 22-Chris Mitchell[9]; 14. 2S-Mike Stacy[10]; 15. 19-Garrison Story[14]

Story and Bleich Roofing Qualifying 1: 1. 17M-Ryan Maxwell[7]; 2. 6-Adam Salter[10]; 3. 62-Doug Thorpe Jr[15]; 4. X-Braeden Kitchen[4]; 5. 97-Hunter Lambert[5]; 6. 48-Okie Mason[6]; 7. 17B-Ryan Bleich Sr[1]; 8. 19B-Blaise Boykin[2]; 9. 22-Chris Mitchell[8]; 10. 2S-Mike Stacy[12]; 11. 12-Dee Davis[3]; 12. 4T-John Taylor[14]; 13. 1776-Steve Sidner[11]; 14. 19-Garrison Story[13]; 15. 75R-Colton Rutherford[9]