A very dejected Ty Majeski is left licking his wounds. The Snowball Derby didn’t just crown a winner; it detonated a controversy. The call by race control was like a “ball and strike in the biggest race of the year,” and he added that while he has faced tough moments before, this one “probably takes the cake.”

Despite dominating most of the 300 laps at Five Flags Speedway, officials hit him with a black flag for jumping the final restart. That call flipped the script, and now NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Jr. has stepped into the spotlight, ready to play white knight in the sport’s latest firestorm.

Dale Jr. defends Ty Majeski’s near win amid the controversy

Speaking on his Dale Jr. Download podcast, the veteran didn’t hold back on his support for Majeski.

“Man, I don’t know. I hated it for Ty. I felt like he deserved the win,” Junior said. “I felt like that was a crummy way to lose a race, especially when you’d been there watching it rain, sitting and waiting and watching, waiting and watching.”

To be fair, Majeski’s penalty came after two restart infractions in the closing laps. The first was a warning; the second was judged to be early enough, and the black flag was displayed even though the Wisconsin native finished the race and beat Stephen Nasse to the line.

And because of the penalty, Nasse was declared the official winner. According to reports, Majeski was judged to have jumped the restart, meaning he accelerated before the designated restart zone, and that was considered a breach of the rules in this event.

However, the 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series winner later expressed his frustration, arguing that the rule wasn’t black-and-white and that he had tried to time his acceleration correctly.

Despite his protest plea getting denied, the NASCAR fans couldn’t help but slam the Snowball Derby’s official call. Dale Jr., too, couldn’t help but fiercely express his views about the penalty.

“Why wouldn’t you flip it and go deep into the zone? They would have all wrecked,” Junior said. “It would have raised the percentage or the chance of a wreck happening… if he would have waited to go in the middle of the zone. 3rd, 4th, 5th. Those rows would wreck.”

But for Stephen Nasse, that day looked different. Nasse, who had never won the Derby in 14 previous events, inherited the win as he finished right behind the 31-year-old.

This made his first Snowball Derby victory a historical milestone for his career, even though Nasse didn’t take the lead in real time before crossing the line.

But as the dust settles on the 58th annual race, Majeski and Junior will have to accept the fate. However, they aren’t alone. Another NASCAR veteran couldn’t help but slam the race altogether.

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Kenny Wallace sees a trend in Snowball Derby rulings

Kenny Wallace didn’t mince words when weighing in on the latest controversy. Then-NASCAR driver and veteran reporter highlighted the event’s reputation for drama and questionable rulings, a streak that showed up again this year with Ty Majeski. The 62-year-old was blunt about the situation on his Kenny Wallace Show.

“To me, it’s neither here or there. This or that, they were playing games, you know,” the St. Louis, Missouri, native said. “This snowball derby is marred in controversy. Chase Elliott won it one year, but he was DQ’d because he had tungsten… It’s always drama, and then Nasse with his magnesium.”

Wallace drew an immediate line to the past, recalling the 2013 disqualification of Chase Elliott, who lost his 300-lap victory after officials discovered an illegal tungsten block in post-race inspection. Such high-profile reversals, he suggested, aren’t new.

For Wallace, the recent incident isn’t a one-off mistake; it’s part of a recurring theme. And he didn’t hesitate to call out the most respected Super Late Model event.

However, with most fans and insiders rallying against the call and controversy around the event, could the Snowball Derby see a change in the coming years? Only time can tell.