For most drivers, the Snowball Derby is just another big race, a crown jewel late-model event you circle on the calendar. For Erik Jones, it is something deeper. The Derby is not where he raced. It is where everything changed.

More than ten years later, the same half-mile, the same December chill, the same pressure now carries a weight he never felt when he rolled in as a quiet sixteen-year-old with more talent than expectation. Today, Jones comes back older, wiser, and carrying memories that still give him chills.

Erik Jones gets real about what the Snowball Derby really means to him

Erik Jones stood in the Five Flags garage talking to reporters, and you could hear the years in his voice.

“I know in my heart what it means,” he said. “That moment in 2012 for me was really magical.”

He was sixteen, barely old enough to drive on the street, and he beat Kyle Busch head-to-head in the closing laps to win the biggest short-track race in America. Busch himself said that night got his attention and eventually led to signing Jones to Kyle Busch Motorsports. One race changed a life.

He admitted he did not fully grasp it back then.

“When I came down here, I do not know if I truly understood or embraced maybe the race and the history.”

At sixteen, the win felt huge, but he was too young to know how rare it really was. Now, after a Truck championship, Cup wins, and a full career in NASCAR, he gets it.

“I understand a lot better how hard it is to win,” he said. “I do not think you necessarily appreciate it when you win on your first shot.”

Jones is not running somebody else’s turnkey rocket this year. He is doing it his way, with his own team, his own car.

“There is obviously a lot of top-flight programs out there,” he said, “but I take pride in doing it on my own.”

That is old school Derby spirit right there. Guys like Bubba Pollard and Rich Bickle built legends the same way, wrenching their own stuff and betting on themselves.

The weather threw the usual curveball. Practice got shuffled, the schedule is fluid, and Jones just shrugged. “Yeah we are here. It is a bit fluid with the weather. These guys are doing the best they can.”

His car felt decent in Monday’s testing before an engine let go, but he is calm. “No matter what, we will be in the race. Approach is no different.” That is a guy who has been here before and knows the Derby will test everything, rain or shine.

He finished with the line that says it all: “I want to have it more than once.”

Only a few drivers have won the Snowball Derby twice in the past 57 years. Jones wants to be in that club. He knows the mountain is taller now, knows the field is deeper, knows one bad lap can end the whole dream. But he also knows what it felt like to stand on that stage as a kid and lift the Tom Dawson Trophy. He wants that feeling again, older eyes, bigger heart, same hunger.

While Erik Jones chases a second Derby the hard way, Rette Jones Racing is rolling in with two proven winners and one goal: finally get that first Snowball trophy.

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Rette Jones Racing brings two heavy hitters

Noah Gragson, the 2018 Derby champ and current Cup driver, is back in the No. 30 Track TV / Appalachian Sucker Punch Ford Mustang. Last year, he was in contention until a late wreck took him out.

“We had a car capable of winning this thing, and that has stuck with me ever since,” he said. He has been in Pensacola since the day after Thanksgiving, turning laps and dialing in every detail.

Casey Roderick, fresh off a strong All-American 400 with the team, climbs into the second Rette Jones entry.

“Even though our run at the All-American did not end the way we hoped, I learned a lot,” he said. “We showed flashes of what we are capable of, and I know the team has worked hard to bring another fast piece.”

Both drivers have been at the track forever, soaking up every practice session because the Derby is nine days of survival.

“The Derby is a race where everything has to be perfect,” team owner Mark Rette said. “That is why we have taken advantage of every bit of track time.”

From Erik Jones chasing a second magical moment, the independent way to Rette Jones Racing throwing two bullets at the trophy with Gragson and Roderick, the Snowball Derby is doing what it always does: bringing together dreamers, legends, and long shots under one set of lights. One race, one trophy, a thousand stories. And this year, every one of them is worth watching.