A Sweet Victory: Honeycutt Outraces Nasse & Majeski To Win First Career Snowball Derby
Story By: CHUCK CORDER / 5 FLAG SPEEDWAY – PENSACOLA, FL – The 57th annual Snowball Derby presented FloSports had a galaxy of NASCAR and Super Late Model stars stacked in its 36-car field.
But it was the kid from the Lone Star State who shined brightest Sunday afternoon at Five Flags Speedway.
Kaden Honeycutt became the first Texas-born driver to win the Derby when he outdueled polesitter Ty Majeski, last year’s champion and the reigning NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champ, and Stephen Nasse in the final 20 laps.
“It’s so special,” said Honeycutt, who bookended the week in style after winning the Pro Trucks Derby on Thursday. “There’s no other feeling quite like it. This is the pinnacle of motorsports and short track racing.”
Nasse finished runner-up a night after winning the Snowflake 100 for Pro Late Models and Majeski came home third for his sixth podium finish in 11 career Derbys.
Honeycutt and Majeski sparred cleanly several times Sunday. They swapped the lead five times with the 21-year-old Honeycutt claiming the lead for good on Lap 282.
“I felt like I could run (Majeski) down, and I took it,” Honeycutt said. “I’m happy with the way I won it. I wanted it so dang bad.
“He had the opportunity to do something historic today in going back-to-back. I appreciate him racing me clean.”
Honeycutt made the decision it was time to go on the final restart with 21 laps left. He got Majeski loose and took the lead on Lap 280. But the two-time Derby winner didn’t go quietly and reclaimed the lead almost immediately.
A lap later, though, Honeycutt applied the bumper and the pair were number-to-number with the Derby hanging in the balance. Honeycutt finally cleared with 18 laps left.
Majeski, 30, was hoping to join rarefied air and hoist a third Tom Dawson Trophy. Only the legendary Rich Bickle Jr. has more than two and he has five.
Instead, Majeski became the 24th driver to lead 100-plus laps and fail to win the race.
“We were a little bit off on the short run,” he said. “The Snowball is a different race. It always comes down to a 20-lap shootout. Kaden Honeycutt was better than us on the short runs. That’s what it came down to in the end.”
Nasse was a gumbo of emotions.
He once again perfected the long run strategy at Pensacola’s high banks. Nasse came from 24th to win the Flake and charged from 30th Sunday to fall one frustrating spot short.
“This might hurt worse than the disqualification,” Nasse said referencing the 2019 Derby slipping through his hands for an equipment infraction. “We were so close. But 30th to second ain’t too bad.
“You know I’m happy and sad. Happy for (Honeycutt and his team) and sad for mine. I’ll be back next year with Anthony Campi. We’re going to get one of those trophies.”
This edition was one of the quickest Derbys since the 1980s with only six cautions across the 300 laps. Seventeen states and two countries were represented in the field with four drivers hailing from Canada.
To get a chance to kiss the plastic snowball, drivers must be willing to, literally, give everything they have. Honeycutt did. Dried remnants on his fire suit collar told the story.
More than a Derby victory and the $50,000 payday that came with it, the win was extra special for Honeycutt. He considers Five Flags a home track, learning to first walk in the Pensacola pits when his father raced at the famed half-mile asphalt oval in the 2000s.
“It’s unbelievable. This is crazy,” Honeycutt said.
NASCAR Cup Series driver and 2018 Derby champ Noah Gragson waded through the masses in Victory Lane to congratulate Honeycutt.
“Enjoy it. Take as much time out here as you need,” Gragson said. “When you go out tonight, appreciate all the little moments.”
Sage advice from a past winner to the newly crowned champion.
The Derby always delivers.
57th Snowball Derby (300 Laps): 1. 21-Kaden Honeycutt[2]; 2. 51N-Stephen Nasse[30]; 3. 91-Ty Majeski[1]; 4. 08H-Jace Hansen[20]; 5. 62S-William Sawalich[3]; 6. 22R-Gio Ruggiero[26]; 7. 8S-Sammy Smith[6]; 8. 2S-Chandler Smith[10]; 9. 54C-Matt Craig[16]; 10. 26S-Dawson Sutton[9]; 11. 4-Luke Fenhaus[11]; 12. 33-Dustin Smith[23]; 13. 76R-Kole Raz[19]; 14. 26P-Bubba Pollard[8]; 15. 8K-Carson Kvapil[25]; 16. 55-Haeden Plybon[4]; 17. 51F-Jake Finch[14]; 18. 24-Brent Crews[31]; 19. 30G-Noah Gragson[28]; 20. 28-Cole Butcher[15]; 21. 89-Dylan Fetcho[22]; 22. 22S-Buddy Shepherd[18]; 23. 23-Billy VanMeter[35]; 24. 7-Derek Thorn[7]; 25. 44D-Jeremy Doss[21]; 26. 98-David Gilliland[12]; 27. 14-Connor Okrzesik[5]; 28. 32T-Treyten Lapcevich[13]; 29. 69-Michael Hinde[24]; 30. 35-Jake Garcia[17]; 31. 32K-Caden Kvapil[34]; 32. 44J-Conner Jones[33]; 33. 2B-John Bolen[36]; 34. 25-Nicholas Naugle[32]; 35. 76C-Cayden Lapcevich[27]; 36. 43-Nick Loden[29]
