Chase Elliott Wins Snowball Derby Last Chance Qualifier, Chandler Smith (Fourth) Advances to Sunday’s Race as Well

Chase Elliott drove like a man possessed in his No. 9 Super Late Model during Saturday’s Last Chance Qualifier for Sunday’s 53rd-annual Snowball Derby at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Florida. After starting from the 11th spot, Elliott knifed through the field like a warm knife through butter.

Once the 25-year old snagged the lead from Augie Grill around the mid-way point of the 50-lap event, Elliott didn’t look back as he cruised to the win by more than four seconds over Grill.

Here is video of Elliott’s race-winning pass with 23 laps remaining in the race:

VIDEO: @chaseelliott to the lead! The #NASCAR Cup Series champion has charged from 11th to 1st in today’s #SnowballDerby last chance race at @5FlagsSpeedway.

Watch live on https://t.co/CcUTq3McqN:https://t.co/hU7hh3k3dn pic.twitter.com/XY9MrgBsNf

— Racing America (@RacingAmerica) December 5, 2020

This win will lock Elliott — the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series champion — into the big show on Sunday.

Joining Elliott in advancing from the LCQ will be Grill, Derek Griffith and Chandler Smith.

Smith, a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series competitor, started dead-last in the 21-car field after he was DQed in qualifying for looking at a phone while in the post-qualifying inspection bay on Friday.

Missing the cut for the 53rd-annual Snowball Derby, as far as NASCAR names are concerned, were Noah Gragson (fifth) and Carson Hocevar (eighth).

Here are the full results from Saturday’s Snowball Derby Last Chance Qualifier (according to Race Monitor):

1. Chase Elliott
2. Augie Grill, -4.053 sec.
3. Derek Griffith, -4.760 sec.
4. Chandler Smith, -5.205 sec.
5. Sammy Smith, -6.025 sec.
6. Noah Gragson, -6.636 sec.
7. Hudson Halder, -8.481 sec.
8. Carson Hocevar, -9.476 sec.
9. Kodie Conner, -9.826 sec.
10. Austin Nason, -10.798 sec.
11. Connor Okrzesik, -11.196 sec.
12. Kason Plott, -12.155 sec.
13. Justin Johnson, -13.884 sec.
14. Kyle McCallum, -14.405 sec.
15. Gabe Sommers, -14.736 sec.
16. Kyle Bryant, -16.613 sec.
17. Dalton Zehr, -10 laps
18. Casey Johnson, -14 laps
19. Ryan Crane, -14 laps
20. Colton Nelson, -25 laps
21. Perry Petino, -32 laps