NASCAR stars are not done with 2025 yet. The championship weekend ended a month ago, but veteran drivers like Kyle Busch and Ryan Preece are gearing up for a golden Super Late Model event. That is the Snowball Derby, a 300-lap race at Five Flags Speedway. Since 1968, this race has tested the skill and grit of elite regional racers as well as future Cup racers. A driver in the latter group dazzled Busch many years ago in a previous iteration of the Derby.

Recalling Kyle Busch’s moment of awe

“Erik Jones won the 2012 Snowball Derby 13 years ago today. 🏁 The 16-year-old beat Kyle Busch for the Derby win. A few months later Busch signed Jones to drive his truck in five @NASCAR_Trucks races, and Jones won the Truck race at Phoenix,” NASCAR Legends, a fan account of the sport, wrote on X.

Indeed, Erik Jones turned heads in the 2012 season. In that year’s Snowball Derby, he wheeled his own Erik Jones Racing No. 4 Super Late Model and outperformed Kyle Busch on a restart with 20 laps to go. After a feisty exchange of blows, Jones completed the winning pass with 17 laps left, cruising to the biggest victory of his short track career. Soon after, Busch signed Jones to a five-race Camping World Truck Series schedule three months later, and he won the fifth of those appearances at Phoenix in November.

Jones went on to clinch the 2015 NASCAR Truck Series championship. He made his full-time Cup Series debut in the 2017 season with the now-defunct Furniture Row Motorsports. Finally, after that, Kyle Busch talked to Joe Gibbs about a permanent spot for Jones in the No. 20 for Joe Gibbs Racing from 2018. He scored his first Cup win that year when he narrowly prevailed over Martin Truex Jr. at Daytona International Speedway.

Driving the No. 4 for the 2025 Snowball Derby, Erik Jones reflected on his past. “That moment in 2012 for me was really magical. The feeling that I had, I still remember it really well. I’m at a really different spot in my life at this point in my career. I think winning again would be a really different feeling than what it was the first time around.” Jones presently competes for Legacy Motor Club in NASCAR.

Joining Kyle Busch and Erik Jones are many more NASCAR dignitaries. They include Noah Gragson, the 2018 Snowball Derby winner. Also entered is Ty Majeski, the 2024 Craftsman Truck Series Champion and a two-time Derby champion. Rounding out the NASCAR contingent is Ryan Preece, the 2013 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Champion. Also involved is 2016 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Champion Johnny Sauter.

The NASCAR contingent, however, will face a pretty strong group of Late Model stars.

Short track aces are gearing up

The Snowball Derby’s iconic nature is due to the diversity of the line-up. Alongside the star-studded NASCAR line-up, including two-time Cup champion Kyle Busch, we also have a superb short-track grid. All of them are collectively aiming for the prestigious Tom Dawson trophy. Named after the event’s founder, it is one of the most coveted prizes in American stock car racing. The Pensacola grid of drivers will tackle the rough, abrasive surface and tight racing grooves of Five Flags with driven ambitions to win.

Some prominent short-track aces include Derek Thorn, a multi-time SRL Southwest Tour Champion and a 2022 Snowball Derby winner. Then there is 2024 CARS Pro Late Model Champion, Kaden Honeycutt, who is the youngest Derby Champion (2024) in event history at 21 years old. Joining them is crowd favorite Bubba Pollard. With more than 150 career victories, Pollard has won events such as the All-American 400, Slinger Nationals, Rattler 250, Red Eye 100, and Oxford 250. Other names include Stephen Nasse, Dawson Sutton, and Cole Butcher.

Clearly, fans expect a thunderous rendition of the Snowball Derby in 2025. Let’s wait and see how the stars perform in this race.