Chase Elliott, Daniel Hemric and John Hunter Nemechek are racing full time in NASCAR’s national touring divisions in 2016, but have found themselves running in the 48th running of the Snowball Derby on Sunday.
Why?
“It’s an honor to run this race. The people that have been here, the people that have made their names here, and the people that have come up short, [and even] the big names that went on to do great things in racing history alone, it’s so cool to come here and get a shot,” Hemric said.
Elliott and Nemechek are no strangers to success at Five Flags Speedway. Elliott has eight wins at the track, including the Derby in 2011, while Nemechek was victorious in last year’s Derby. Hemric, meanwhile, has two victories at the track, one of those being in his Southern Super Series championship winning season of 2013.
The Derby has been a sort of a “coming out” party for Hemric and Elliott. Hemric got one of his first big breaks at the Derby while Elliott’s win in the Derby helped to springboard his career.
“It’s huge to me, obviously,” said Hemric. “Three or four years ago, I had one of my first opportunities with Jeff Folse Racing in a car down here, was able to run really good but got caught up in a deal at the end of the race, but [I] contended and that kind of let everybody know my name in the late model ranks.”
“It’s a cool weekend, we’ve been very fortunate to have a couple of opportunities to come out here and race over the past handful of years, had a lot of ups and downs but we’re excited to be back and focus on the here and now, which is what’s most important,” Elliott said.
Both Hemric and Elliott highly respect the Derby and its place in the racing world.
“On the asphalt side, this is our Chili Bowl, so to speak. At the end of the day, this race means the world to me, it’s just a matter of execution and we haven’t done that in the years past, hopefully we can do that this year,” Hemric said.
“It means a lot to me, I wouldn’t come back if it didn’t, so I mean it’s a special weekend, it’s something a lot of guys look forward to every year, and I’ve just been very fortunate to have an opportunity to come down here and race, and hopefully we’ll have some more chances in the future,” Elliott said.
Nemechek has done late model racing all around the country, but for him, the Derby brings him back to where he started.
“It’s a fun late model race, I grew up racing it, I learned how to race here in the super late models [and the] pro late models, and touring around the country. So, it’s one of the biggest late model races of the year, it’s a fun race to come and run, and if you win it, you’ve made history, there’s not a lot of drivers that can say that they’ve won the Snowball Derby, which is the biggest late model race there is,” Nemechek said.
All three drivers see the Derby as a race they want to return to every year.
“I want to run it as long as I possibly can and try to get as many wins as I can,” Nemechek said.
“I’d like to come back every year if possible,” Hemric said.
“I’d like to come back as long as the opportunity is there and presents itself, and if we can come down here and give an effort that we feel is appropriate then I’d love to come back and hopefully we’ll have that chance moving forward,” Elliott said.
