PENSACOLA, FL :: Legendary motorsports event promoter Humpy Wheeler is coming to the Snowball Derby this December as Five Flags Speedway announced on Tuesday that he has been named Grand Marshal for the 47th Running of the popular Super Late Model event held annually in Pensacola, Fla.
The former and longtime president of Charlotte Motor Speedway compared the event to the Kentucky Derby horse race and said that most everyone of note in the sport of Stock Car racing has attended at least once.
“The competition is fierce and it is one of those events that brings out high passion in its many fans,” Wheeler said in a track news release. “Perhaps its popularity is a throwback to events in the past when all the top competitors in a division from all over meet to determine a king.
“And their fans do follow them. I am looking forward to being part of one of racing’s greatest events in the Snowball Derby.”
Wheeler served as the Charlotte track president from 1973 to 2008 and oversaw a seating expansion from 75,000 to 167,000 during that time span largely due to his promotional tactics and pre-race theatrics. Long known as one of the most charismatic and insightful promoters in the business, Wheeler has kept busy in recent years by becoming an advocate for short tracks, founding Speedway Benefits — a marketing alliance of tracks designed to improve the business of the discipline across the county.
Snowball Derby promoter and Five Flags General Manager Tim Bryant called Wheeler a legend in welcoming him to his event.
“He has done so much to build stock car racing from the grassroots level to the top levels of NASCAR racing,” Bryant said. “The fact that he singled out the Snowball Derby as a race he wanted to be a part of means a lot to us. His presence will only raise the excitement surrounding this year’s Snowball Derby.”
Current NASCAR driver Erik Jones is the defending winner of the race, having won the past two iterations of the event. Jones has verbally committed to the 2014 running and is hoping to become the first driver to win three-consecutive Tom Dawson Memorial Trophies.
“It’s great that we have such an icon like Humpy Wheeler coming to support a race like the Snowball Derby,” Jones told Race22.com. “It means a lot to the industry to have such a figure support Late Model racing and I’m just really proud to be a part of it all.”
Defending Southern Super Series champion Daniel Hemric concurs.
“Humpy Wheeler has been a pioneer for short track racing and all other forms of racing over the past several decades,” Hemric said. “Everyone should be excited for him to be Grand Marshal at the most prestigious short track race in the country.”
The Derby itself will be contested on December 7 this year with the week-long build-up starting on December 1 with practice, qualifying and features for seven short track divisions that includes the Southern Modifieds, Pro Trucks and Pro Late Models.
