Keelan Harvick Breaks Record for Youngest Winner in Snowflake 125 History

Keelan Harvick made history early Sunday morning on one of the biggest stages in pavement Late Model racing.

The 13-year-old son of NASCAR Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick scored the victory in the Allen Turner Hyundai Snowflake 125 at Five Flags Speedway. The event, traditionally held on the eve of the Snowball Derby, is one of the biggest Pro Late Model events on the short track calendar each year.

This year’s edition of the Snowflake, lengthened to 125 laps for the first time in the event’s history, saw more than 60 entries battling for spots in the 37-car field. Most of all, however, those teams battled Mother Nature leading up to the race.

Rain washed out practice entirely on Thursday and all but one practice session on Friday. Racing was originally slated to begin at 6 p.m. local time on Saturday, but more rain pushed the Snowflake into the early hours of Sunday morning at the Pensacola, Florida facility.

It was all worth the wait for Harvick. He qualified 15th, but drove to the lead just inside 50 laps to go. Harvick lost the lead shortly thereafter, missing a shift on a restart with 46 laps to go.

After the restart went horribly wrong for @KeelanHarvick, he quickly drives back to the lead in the #Snowflake125!#SnowballDerby @5FlagsSpeedway pic.twitter.com/HW8u2zWutS

— FloRacing (@FloRacing) December 7, 2025

That turned the top spot over to Kaden Honeycutt, the 2024 Snowball Derby champion. Tristan McKee moved into the top spot, but Harvick shortly drove from fourth to first to reclaim the lead with 24 laps to go.

Harvick saw another scare with 13 laps to go while negotiating lapped traffic. Just as Harvick caught Jarrett Butcher, Jace Hale suffered a mechanical issue directly in front of both drivers.

Near disaster for leader @KeelanHarvick as a Jace Hale puts fluid on the track right in front of him with just 13 laps to go!#Snowflake125 #SnowballDerby @5FlagsSpeedway pic.twitter.com/Ir5JLG6xqD

— FloRacing (@FloRacing) December 7, 2025

That set the stage for a late-race restart, with McKee and Honeycutt taking another shot at Harvick. Harvick held strong, winning by just over a half-second ahead of McKee.

“I know I messed up on that restart,” said Harvick in victory lane on the FloRacing broadcast. “I just was in the wrong gear. Really sorry to my guys about that. I had to go that little extra way, but I wanted it that bad for these guys.

“They work really hard, and it’s just really cool to get this win.”

McKee finished second, noting Harvick’s ability to carry speed on corner exit as a key to his success.

“He just had more drive off the corner,” McKee said. “That’s what it came down to. I could fire off really good. I just kind of lost the right-rear after maybe 15 or so laps there. That’s how he was able to get around me.

“Just needed a little bit more forward drive, and I think we would have been really good there. Thank you to all my guys. They brought a really fast car all week. We just came up a little bit short.”

Honeycutt crossed the line third after dominating the first 75 laps of the race. With the extra 25 laps in this year’s race came a chance to take two tires and make adjustments to cars. Honeycutt believes that, while he and his team made the right adjustments, Harvick and McKee’s changes gave them an extra step in the final 50 laps.

“I really thought, after putting tires on, there was no one to have anything for us that first 75,” said Honeycutt. “I was biding my time, just riding around. We put tires on, and I was the third-place car. Those two were just really good on drive.

“Maybe I could have not changed as much, but every time I put tires on, this thing tightens up so much. I just wanted to make sure I didn’t have that happen.

“This is really the first time I’ve been competitive in the Snowflake, run up front and leading laps. That’s really awesome. Definitely learned a few things tonight, for sure. We couldn’t finish it off, but these guys worked their tails off for me and they stayed up, and we got the top three.”

Harvick breaks the record previously held by Hunter Robbins as the youngest winner in Snowflake history. Robbins, a two-time winner of the event, earned his first win in 2005 at 14 years of age.

Sunday’s Snowball Derby takes the green flag at 2 p.m. ET at Five Flags Speedway. Preston Peltier qualified on the pole for the event during qualifying on Saturday.

Allen Turner Snowflake 125 Unofficial Results