NASCAR Camping World Truck Series competitors Derek Kraus and Carson Hocevar can breathe sighs of relief, as they finished inside the top-four of Saturday night’s Last Chance Qualifier for Sunday’s Snowball Derby at Five Flags Speedway.
Jace Hansen won the event, while Kraus finished second, Hocevar was third and Brandon Watson came home fourth to round out the four cars advancing from the LCQ to the big show.
Jace Hanson wins the #SnowballDerby LCQ! @CarsonHocevar, @derek9kraus, Brandon Watson all transfer to the show.
John DeAngelis, Cassius Clark, Miachael House, Lee Tissot, Boris Jurkovic, Kyle Bryant, @ShaferRacing7, Eddie VanMeter, Brad May, and Perry Patio miss the feature. pic.twitter.com/kZHedp27r1
— Racing America (@RacingAmerica) December 5, 2021
Five-time Snowball Derby winner Rich Bickle will also transfer to the Snowball Derby by way of a promoter’s provisional. Bickle, who will roll from the 37th starting position, will retire following Sunday’s race.
For Hocevar, he rebounded from mechanical issues during his qualifying run on Friday, to score the third-place finish to move on to the 2021 Snowball Derby field.
Here was the scene as Hocevar was overcome with emotion following his qualifying run on Friday:
A picture is worth a thousand words..@CarsonHocevar is dejected after his run, he’s currently 22nd on the charts. @5FlagsSpeedway | #SnowballDerby pic.twitter.com/Rw2DCpR6dP
— Racing America (@RacingAmerica) December 4, 2021
Hocevar was fortunate that adjustments made to his car before Saturday’s LCQ did not result in him starting the LCQ from the rear of the field.