PENSACOLA, Fla. – Canadian Patrick Laperle led the Snowball Derby Qualifying Draw on Wednesday night at Five Flags Speedway, pulling the No. 1 pill and placing himself at the head of the line for Friday’s two-lap time trial session.
Laperle, a three-time Milk Bowl champion who is making his Snowball Derby debut this weekend, couldn’t help but go the self-deprecating route after choosing his draw number, which was written on the back of an event decal.
“There must be something wrong with me,” he joked. “Every time that I talk about wanting to draw in the middle (of the field), I’ll end up drawing in the front or something. I can’t explain why.”
If nothing else, at least for one run on Friday night, Laperle will be able to call himself the provisional polesitter for the 51st annual Snowball Derby.
“It may not be for very long, but I will have the fastest lap for a minute,” Laperle said. “I was hoping to pull deeper in the session. But you’ll see me up front … and we’ll see what happens.”
Former Snowball Derby champion Steve Wallace pulled a pill in the mid-30s on Wednesday night and will go out 30th in the qualifying order. His philosophy about time trials is pretty simple, however.
“The way I see it, fast cars are still going to qualify fast and slow cars are still going to qualify slow; it doesn’t matter where in the order you put them,” Wallace noted. “We’ll be fine come Friday night.”
Bubba Pollard, seeking his first Snowball Derby win this weekend, pulled the No. 39 for his super late model and No. 36 for his pro late model. He doesn’t believe either number will really matter, however.
“This qualifying, unless something changes from here to Friday night, the way the weather’s looking, I don’t think it matters where you’re going out,” Pollard said. “It’s not going to get cold and change. The dew ain’t going to fall, I don’t think, like it does in years past. It’s going to be pretty equal.
“Good cars always qualify near the front anyways,” he added, echoing Wallace’s thoughts. “It don’t matter when you qualify.”
Then there was Noah Gragson, who pulled No. 46 and will qualify 37th of the 47 cars entered on Friday.
“My guys told me I needed to get between 15th and 30th,” Gragson noted. “That’s where they all feel like the track is going to be at its best. I didn’t do my job, but hopefully I can turn it around. I feel really good about our race car for this weekend.”
Qualifying for the 51st annual Snowball Derby takes place Friday night at 6 p.m. CT.
To view the complete Snowball Derby qualifying order, advance to the next page.
