Following time trials for the Snowball Derby on Friday night, one thing became abundantly clear — big names will have to race their way into the field and many of them will ultimately fail to do so.
Qualifying only locked-in 30 of the 37 starting positions but provisionals were also earned by three other drivers — John Hunter Nemechek, Casey Smith and Garrett Jones.
Several high-profile teams will have to race their way into the Snowball Derby through the grueling and intense 50-lap last chance qualifier on Saturday afternoon. Headlining the starting lineup is ARCA\CRA Super Series contender Brian Campbell and Todd Gilliland, the youngest winner in both the ARCA Racing Series and NASCAR K&N Pro Series.
Other expected contenders having to race their way in include LFR Chassis driver Christian Eckes, CARS Super Late Model champion Cole Timm and NASCAR Truck Series driver Mason Mingus.
For Gilliland, Five Flags Speedway has always presnted his No. 98 a challenge. Father and Sprint Cup driver David Gilliland and crew chief Chris Lawson have struggled to find Todd a set-up he’s comforable with and the talented youngster hasn’t found the pace needed to contend here this week or in previous Southern Super Series starts.
“Man, I hate this place sometimes,” Gilliland said. “I mean, I love it and it’s fun to race here but we’ve just struggled here every time. It’s really frustrating. Everyone works hard and we’re trying our best, but I just haven’t been able to do here, what I’ve done at other places yet.”
Eckes will start on the pole for the last chance race, something he never expected was a possibility after leading the second practice session on Thursday afternoon. But he crashed near the end of that session and needed his team to completely rebuild it overnight before qualifying.
He posted the 31st fastest time and was the first driver on the outside looking in.
“They did a great job,” Eckes said. “I just hate it for the guys at LFR. But the car has decent speed. You know, you’re never as good as you are after you have an issue like that but we have something to work with.”
The estimated starting lineup for the Last Chance Race can be viewed below. The top four from this race will advance to the Snowball Derby and fill out the grid for the event.
- Christian Eckes
- Paul Shafer
- Dalton Armstrong
- Caleb Adrian
- Boris Jurkovic
- Wade Day
- Brian Campbell
- Quinnton Bear
- Cole Timm
- Todd Gilliland
- Dennis Schoenfeld
- Cassius Clark
- Mason Mingus
- David Rogers
- Jeremy Doss
- Cory Roper
- Steve Dorer
- Cole Rouse
- Roger Reuse
- Kyle Bryant
- Alen Karnes
- Josh Bragg
- Junior Niedecken
- John DeAngelis, Jr.
- Dennis Prunty
- Christopher Bell
