PENSACOLA, FL :: Georgia driver Anderson Bowen officially opened Snowball Derby festivities by posting the fastest time in Day One of Super Late Model practice on Thursday afternoon at Five Flags Speedway.
The entire day, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. locally was dedicated to Super Late Model practice and it was Bowen — the defending Alabama 200 winner — that posted the best overall time. He circled around the Florida half-mile in 16.481 seconds, setting a unusually high bar for the remainder of the weekend.
Teams have praised Hoosier for bringing a racing tire that is both faster and more durable than its predecessor and that has been reflected in the opening day of Snowball Derby practice. Bowen was followed by 2013 Southern Super Series champion Daniel Hemric, defending NASCAR Nationwide Series champion Chase Elliott, Ross Kenseth and Donnie Wilson.
It’s also worth noting that 2013 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East champion Derek Thorn rebounded from a broken transmission, broken driveshaft, broken u-joint, broken bell housing, a bad starter and a bad clutch to post the fastest time in the final session that went from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. Also fast when the track was at its coolest was Jeff Choquette, John Hunter Nemechek and Garrett Jones.
Mason Mingus posted the 34th fastest time of the day but will have to go to a back-up car due to crashing into the Turn 3 wall. The incident started when he ran over a piece of lead that had been dropped by another yet unknown car. Rattler 250 and World Crown 300 winner Casey Roderick blew a motor and was forced to pack up for week. He will not attempt to race.
Friday will see an additional levy of practice sessions followed by qualifying at 6 p.m. Time trials will lock in 30 of the 37 starters that will comprise the field in the Snowball Derby. The complete (fastest) times from the day can be viewed below.
- 29 Anderson Bowen 16.481
- 98 Daniel Hemric 16.514
- 9 Chase Elliott 16.569
- 3 Ross Kenseth 16.580
- 2w Donnie Wilson 16.582
- 43 Derek Thorn 16.599
- 83 Scotty Ellis 16.627
- 29 Jeff Choquette 16.641
- 51 Erik Jones 16.644
- 5 Jerry Artuso 16.645
- 8 John Hunter Nemechek 16.652
- 12 Harrison Burton 16.662
- 88 Garrett Jones 16.667
- 99 Casey Smith 16. 671
- O7 Corey LaJoie 16.680
- 42 Dennis Prunty 16.688
- 26 Bubba Pollard 16.689
- 5S Dalton Sargeant 16.698
- 2 D J Vanderley 16.712
- 26 Preston Peltier 16.712
- 16 Jacob Gomes 16. 715
- 31 Kyle Grissom 16.717
- 42 Chad Finley 16.719
- 129 Spencer Davis 16.723
- 95 Derrick Griffin 16.724
- 112 Augie Grill 16. 739
- 51 Stephen Nasse 744
- 11 David Rogers 749
- 90 Grant Enfinger 766
- 91 Ty Majeski 766
- 71 Johnny VanDoorn 16.785
- 2 Clay Rogers 16.786
- 7 Paul Shafer Jr. 16.786
- 98 Mason Mingus 16.787
- 1 Mike Garvey 16.791
- 22 Jeremy Pate 16.794
- 9 Mark Kraus 16. 801
- 67 Clay Jones 16.817
- O5 Bayley Currey 16.818
- 21 Johanna Long 16.843
- 18 Hunter Robbins 16.852
- O1 Travis Braden 16.854
- 41 TJ Reaid 16.862
- 4 Kyle Plott 16.866
- 37 Brian Hoar 16.871
- 57 Austin Theriault 16.873
- 57 Cole Timm 16.886
- 99 J J Haley 16.900
- 47 Jordan Sims 16.931
- 45 Dwayne Buggay 16.941
- 147 Daniel Webster 16.952
- 56 Gus Dean 16.956
- 79 Kyle Bryant 16.969
- 10 Steve Dorer 16.988
- 47 Chris Fontaine 17.014
- 88 Roger Reuse 17.016
- 5G Will Gallaher 17.024
- 22 Josh Bragg 17.032
- 7 Casey Roderick 17.042
- 43 Dennis Schoenfeld 17.085
- 11 Logan Boyett 17.114
- 12 Garrett Campbell 17.187
- 2 Spencer Gallagher 17.194
- 1 Tim Martin 17.438
