It was an aggressive move from NASCAR Truck Series Rookie of The Year Chandler Smith that allowed him to take the lead, and eventually, the victory in Sunday’s 54th Annual Snowball Derby at Five Flags Speedway.
Smith was able to root Derek Thorn – the race’s dominator — out of the way on the race’s final restart, which came inside the final 15 laps of the event, after the third and final ‘controlled caution’ of the afternoon.
The 19-year-old was able to tuck into second, directly behind Thorn, exiting turn two, and knew that this was probably his only opportunity, lunging into turn three to get into the rear bumper of the three-time Snowball Derby polesitter.
A couple of hours after the finish of the event, Ryan Pistana posted a clip from Racing America’s coverage to Twitter, with the caption: “Soooo [Derek Thorn]’s rear tires weren’t even on the ground.”
Soooo @DerekThorn6’s rear tires weren’t even on the ground #SnowballDerby pic.twitter.com/qlesIsatBN
— Ryan Pistana (@ryanpistana) December 5, 2021
Thorn would finish in second place, as Smith went on to take the victory. Cole Butcher, Ryan Preece, and Sammy Smith rounded out the top five.
You can find a full recap of the 2021 Snowball Derby on TobyChristie.com:
