11/24/2024
Five Flags Speedway
Derby Preview Pays for Speed; Curtis Repeats as Crown Stocks Derby 40 Champ
Derby Preview Pays for Speed; Curtis Repeats as Crown Stocks Derby 40 Champ
By Chuck Corder
5flagsspeedway.com reporter
It’s the most, wonderful time of the year.
Temperatures have started to dip. Turkey and stuffing around the corner. And the pleasing sight of 100-plus stock cars flooding Five Flags Speedway this weekend means the 57th annual Snowball Derby presented by FloSports is less than two weeks away.
Five Flags hosted the Snowball Derby Preview on Saturday where cars across seven divisions—one from as far away as Wyoming—got a chance to test in chilly, Derby-like conditions and make some dough for practice laps—$500 in Super Late Models, $300 in Pro Late Models and $200 for all other series.
Kaden Honeycutt was the afternoon’s biggest winner, putting down fast times in three separate classes and walking away with $1,000. He was on top of the charts for the SLMs (16.312 seconds), PLMs (16.574) and Pro Trucks (18.330).
Derrick Griffin captured cash for the Modifieds (17.270); Gary Goodwin for the Outlaws (17.425); B.J. Leytham led all Sportsmen (19.373); and Eli Loper (21.544) won for Pure Stocks.
Derby Week begins Dec. 3, but the Story & Bleich Roofing Crown Stocks crowned its champion Saturday following the money runs. Zachary Curtis captured his second straight Crown Stock Derby 40 against a 30-car field.
“I love this place,” the Palm Bay, Fla., driver said. “It’s so much fun. You’ve gotta beat and bang to win here.”
Curtis finished third unofficially but ascended to the victory after both the first- and second-place cars were disqualified in post-race technical inspection. Jay Jay Day’s win was tossed out because of an unapproved suspension modification while runner-up Chris Salter was DQ’d for unapproved after-market brake rotors.
After the disqualifications, Adam Salter moved to second and Chris Mitchell to third.
Fifty-three Crown Stocks took time to qualify and nearly 20 competed in a last-chance race where four advanced in the feature. There were 12 former winners at Five Flags, Mobile International Speedway, Montgomery Motor Speedway and South Alabama Speedway.
The revised official finish can be found on our web site
https://www.5flagsspeedway.com/schedules/event/498873
Article Credit: David Kranak Photos
