30th Annual Snowball Derby: Qualifying Report and Results
8 December 1997
Pensacola, FL -- The 30th Annual Snowball Derby at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, FL continued today with the feature event being Pole Qualifying for the cars entered in the Derby. Other action included the WEAR Super Stock 75 and the Gulf Coast Modified 75. Qualifying procedures for this year's Snowball were designed to provide an even playing field for every driver and it produced some surprising results. Tires were selected by the teams at the tire trailer and mounted by the Goodyear Technicians from Bryant Automotive and then impounded. Each car was given its qualifying tires back as they came through Tech just before going on the track, and no one was allowed to touch the tires until a final air pressure check was made just prior to the qualifying run. The net effect of these procedures was to prevent anyone from 'soaking' their tires for better grip during qualifying. Following the qualifying run tires were again impounded and will be returned just before the race Sunday. In front of a large hometown crowd, 'Fast' Eddie Mercer set the fast time of the 58 cars present for the race. Mercer turned a lap of 17.294 seconds at an average speed of 104.082 mph to barely edge out fellow Pensacola driver Scott Carlson by .004 seconds for the Pole position on Sunday. Rich Bickle was third fastest and Bobby Gill will start from outside the second row. Freddie Query and Tim Sauter will start on row three for the 330 lap race. The top Twenty cars on time were locked into the field and the remainder will have to take part in second round qualifying tomorrow to get a spot in the starting lineup. There will also be a 'Last Chance' Race for those cars who fail to make the field through time trials. Among those who failed to qualify were Jeff Purvis, Tony Walls, Mike Garvey, Gary St Amant, Jody Ridley, and Mike Harmon. Harmon turned one of the fastest first laps of the evening, but as he came out of turn four on his final lap he spun, thus negating what would have been a very fast second lap. Wayne Niedeken Jr also spun on his qualifying attempt while Canadian driver Lloyd Ritchie had problems as soon as he pulled off pit road and returned to the pits. All will get a second chance to make the race tomorrow. Three cars did not make qualifying runs and will make an attempt to get themselves in the race through second round qualifying or the Last Chance 100 lap race. In the WEAR Super Stock 75, Greg Young led from start to finish to capture the win. Sammy McMullen, a previous winner of the event, finished second with Howard Penton in third. The Gulf Coast Modified 75 saw early leader Steve Clark involved in a melee at the halfway point that reshuffled the front four by taking out second and third place runners Jeremy Pate and Robbie Kent. Pate and Kent were able to continue, with Pate able to stay on the lead lap despite a pit stop for minor repairs. Bill Campbell of Robertsdale, AL inherited the lead during the fray and led the remaining laps to take the win. Steve Christman of Ft Wayne, IN was second with Pensacola's Pate coming back through the field to finish third. Tim Martin of Baton Rouge, LA took fourth and Billy Melvin of Birmingham, AL rounded out the top five. On tap for tomorrow is Qualifying for the Pete Moore 100 for the 'Saturday Night' Late Models, second round qualifying for the Snowball and a 'Last Chance' race for the Pete Moore Late Models. Following that, the 8th Annual Pete Moore LM 100 will be run with a 100 lap 'Last Chance' race for the Snowball cars as the final event of the evening. Five Flags Speedway -- Qualifying results for the 30th Annual Snowball Derby, Super Late Models: Ps.No. Driver, Car Lap Time M.P.H. -- ---- ----------------------------------------------------- -------- ------- 1 72 Eddie Mercer Eddie Mercer Auto/Fast Eddies Chev 0:17.294 104.082 2 54 Scott Carlson Advance Construction/Willie Rest Chev 0:17.298 104.058 3 45 Rich Bickle Terminal Trucking Chev 0:17.360 103.687 4 5 Bobby Gill Terminal Trucking Chev 0:17.435 103.241 5 8 Freddie Query W.J. Plemons Ins/Hamner Engines Chev 0:17.452 103.140 6 3 Tim Sauter Build-A-Mold/Trimplas Chev 0:17.452 103.140 7 52 Scott Hansen AFCO/Victor Ford Ford 0:17.472 103.022 8 42 Brian Ross Ultra Tech/Royal Purple/Wade ConsChev 0:17.517 102.757 9 14 Rick Crawford Hogan Lumber/Circle bar Motel Chev 0:17.522 102.728 10 53 Robert Burroughs Burroughs Motorsports Chev 0:17.570 102.447 11 96 Greg Davidson W Side Performance/Davinci Carbs Chev 0:17.598 102.284 12 1 Tracy Goodson Lifestyle Vinyl/Southern LightninChev 0:17.602 102.261 13 F97 Red Farmer K.C. Racing/Long Lewis Ford Chev 0:17.605 102.244 14 44 Derrick Gilchrist Drinkard Litho/Emerald Coast Chev 0:17.610 102.215 15 84 Dave Mader III Hamner Engines/BRJ Racecars Chev 0:17.613 102.197 16 11 David Rogers TM Ranch/RC Dunn Chev 0:17.657 101.943 17 111 Donald Long Group III Asphalt/Sam's Seafood Chev 0:17.669 101.873 18 1Y Keith Cahela Y-Mart/Big Ed's/Boaz Tax Serv Chev 0:17.705 101.666 19 25 Scott Wimmer Lee Ceramic Tile/Kipley Perf Chev 0:17.715 101.609 20 58 Darrell Brown Gr.American Race Car/Veterans OilChev 0:17.722 101.569 21 51 Jeff Purvis Victor Ford/Phoenix Construction Ford 0:17.733 101.506 22 41 Mark Gerke Beach Bull/Coastal Chev 0:17.757 101.368 23 83 Joey Clanton Southern Linc/Racing Radios Chev 0:17.761 101.346 24 81 Tony Walls Chandeleur Homes/Walls Accessory Chev 0:17.795 101.152 25 77 Tom Hernly Sawyers Pontiac/Miller Racing Chev 0:17.795 101.152 26 40 Mike Garvey Coors Light/AFCO Chev 0:17.799 101.129 27 60 Mike Arnold Strickland Tire/AMC Trailers Chev 0:17.807 101.084 28 24 Mike Harmon Lonesome PineTimber/S&N Products Pont 0:17.820 101.010 29 0 Steven Christian Bell South/Clements Engines Chev 0:17.833 100.936 30 7 Gary St Amant Wynns/Birk Transfer Chev 0:17.860 100.784 31 124 Don Mahaffey Jr Affordable Auto Parts Chev 0:17.880 100.671 32 71 Harold Fair Jr Left Hander/VP Fuel/Lane Auto Chev 0:17.888 100.626 33 59 John Wilkinson III Quality Lube/City Auto/Hamner Chev 0:17.903 100.542 34 92 Ron McDonald Eddie mercer Auto/Phoenix Const Chev 0:17.903 100.542 35 24 Keith English Eagle Tire Serv/Matthews Roofing Chev 0:17.965 100.195 36 61 Matt Hagens Eagle Creek Aviation/Port City Chev 0:18.005 99.972 37 81 Tim Bryant Harrington Elec/P'Cola Auto BrokrChev 0:18.012 99.933 38 98 Jody Ridley El Puente/Pro Line Door Ford 0:18.038 99.789 39 23 Steve Allison Allison & Assoc/Castens Race ProdChev 0:18.060 99.668 40 65 Andy Kirby Bob Williams Auto/S&H Chrome Chev 0:18.060 99.668 41 49 Dan Ford Ford Roofing/Buddy Head Trucking Chev 0:18.075 99.585 42 15 Ricky Brooks Butler Auto/MAACO/Sunoco Chev 0:18.158 99.130 43 03 Nevin Jenkins Futronics Chev 0:18.190 98.955 44 40 Bubba Naumann NECO Trucking Chev 0:18.216 98.814 45 711 Johnny Brazier Frogg Toggs/Moody Monday's Ford 0:18.267 98.538 46 52 Ronnie Couture Pensacola Tractor/Hicks Ent. Chev 0:18.340 98.146 47 94 Brett Smith Stanley Smith Drywall Chev 0:18.500 97.297 48 17 Billy Cantey Discount Auto Parts Chev 0:18.503 97.282 49 84 Clifford Stricklin Grahams Auto Sales/R&H Whsl Chev 0:18.505 97.271 50 91h Kevin Horton Wattyl Paint/Magbee Const Chev 0:18.580 96.878 51 90 Homer Heflin Heflin Motorsports Chev 0:19.557 92.039 52 60 John Silverthorne Reher Morrison Race Engines Chev 0:19.592 91.874 Track Length : 0.5000 Miles John Kaiser -- The Auto Channel