The 58th Annual Snowball Derby week kicked off Wednesday with load-in day and tech inspection for the over 100 Super and Pro Late Model teams on the premises at Five Flags Speedway.

Here’s a look at a few of the storylines going into the biggest weekend of pavement Late Model racing.

Dawson Sutton Rolls Into Derby As One Of Hottest Drivers

Dawson Sutton has been on a tear in Super Late Model competition for the better part of four months now. In his last five races in the Rackley WAR No.26, the Tennessee native has finished no worse than second.  His three victories in that time includes the Blizzard Series finale at Five Flags in September and the All American 400 at his home track to go along with an ASA STARS National Tour win at Toledo Speedway.

Fresh off the biggest win of his career and his first Super Late Model win at the Nashville half-mile, Sutton is riding a wave of momentum to the biggest race of the year.

“We’ve been really strong recently in the Super Late Model everywhere we’ve gone.  I’ve ran this thing the past five races and our worst finish is second,” Sutton said. “I think this thing’s really good for this weekend and hopefully we can keep it going.”

Sutton’s most recent Super Late Model start saw him go to victory lane at his home track and carrying the Tennessee orange along for the ride, becoming the first Tennessee native to win the All American 400 in six years. His Volunteers return to the No.26 with a new look this weekend in the Sunshine State.

“All my family and friends were out there, I live 20 minutes from Nashville Fairgrounds. It was cool having everybody there and having the Tennessee colors on there is amazing. We have them again on there this weekend with this winter camo wrap that’s really cool.  I’m looking forward to seeing this thing on the racetrack.”

He now has a chance to join Gary Balough (1986), Jeff Purvis (1995), and John Hunter Nemechek (2014) as the only drivers to win the All American 400 and Snowball Derby in the same year.

“This is the big one and the one that we look forward to every year. It’s a great time and I’m really looking forward to it. We came down here a few weeks ago and tested and we were really strong. I’m excited to get this weekend started.”

Colorado Driver Aiming To Build Off Last Year’s Run

Jace Hansen had his best Snowball Derby run yet in 2024, finishing fourth after leading laps and running in a podium position for most of the run to the finish.  If you ask Hansen about that run however, he will tell you it was thanks in part to multiple fortunate breaks throughout the 300 laps. 

“A lot of luck fell our way in multiple different situations.  We stayed out on old tires and got jacked up and was able to save it and not get tore up,” said Hansen.  “Unfortunately it tore up some other guys up because of that.  We got lucky there, we got lucky with a caution just as the leaders were getting to us and about to put us a lap down.  

“That really saved us, honestly.  If that wouldn’t have happened we’d probably have been a lap down back in 15th or something.  Hopefully this year we have the same luck and I just need to do better in qualifying and put us towards the front so we’re not chasing track position the whole race.”

Coming off a 2025 CARS Tour West Super Late Model championship out on the west coast, Hansen is making his fifth appearance at the Derby and has former polesitter Preston Peltier in his corner. He has big wins out west this year at the Chilly Willy 150 and Summer Showdown, which has him more confident than ever east of the Mississippi at the biggest race of them all.

“Preston (Peltier) came out and tested his house car on Sunday said he had pretty good speed and felt good about everything.  I think we should be fairly decent out of the trailer, we’ll see.  This place changes so much and it’s always a pain to get a hold of but I’ve got a little bit more confidence this year than I’ve ever have.”

Minnesota Teenager Making Derby Debut

Ty Fredrickson bursted onto the Super Late Model scene in the upper Midwest in 2024 in a big way by winning championships in the TUNDRA Super Late Model Series and Dells Raceway Park’s Alive For Five Series. He followed it up with his first two career ASA Midwest Tour wins in 2025 while venturing outside the region for several ASA STARS National Tour starts.

He now turns his focus to his first attempt at the Snowball Derby this weekend, as he joins 50-plus cars vying for one of the 36 starting spots in Sunday’s race.

“I’m looking forward to it. We got two days of testing in this week and I think we’ve got the car pretty decent,” said Fredrickson. “I think we should have it pretty good for qualifying; our goal is just to make the race and after that lock in for the 300 laps.

“It’s obviously the biggest race in the country but I’ve got the mindset of it’s just another race. There’s a whole lot of cars here and I just have to do good on my qualifying laps, after that it’s just a weekly race for me.”

Fredrickson competed in the ASA STARS National Tour race at Five Flags in March, albeit short-lived after an early exit during the 200-lap event.  His father Dan is a five-time starter in the Snowball Derby and once finished third in an ASA National Tour race at Pensacola in 2002, experience the younger Fredrickson has been leaning on for this year’s race.

“He’s told me about the line and how disciplined you have to be when you get into the race to save your tires and be there at the end. Hopefully we can get to that point but I think our racecar’s pretty fast and we should be pretty good this weekend.”

Casey Roderick Pulling Double Duty In Snowball Derby Return

Casey Roderick is a four-time Blizzard Series champion and former Allen Turner Pro Late Model Series champion with multiple wins in both the Super and Pro cars, but is looking for his first Snowball Derby victory.  

The 2025 edition sees him make his first Derby appearance since 2022 while also making a return to the Snowflake, a race he won that same year.  He joins Rette Jones Racing as a teammate to 2018 Derby winner Noah Gragson, while driving the Ty King Motorsports No.62 for the Snowflake.

“Track time’s going to be spotty it looks like but I’m looking forward to it. Derby week’s always fun getting to come down here and working on these racecars,” Roderick said. “We tested both cars last weekend and felt like we’re going to be starting on a good baseline here this week. We’ll see how it goes but I feel confident in both cars right now.”

The Georgia-born driver made his Super Late Model return at the All American 400 one year after winning the ASA STARS National Tour title.  A 12th place result doesn’t show the speed the duo had during the bulk of the event at Nashville, and is something they look to build off of for this weekend. 

“It’s been wonderful so far. I really enjoyed my time with them at Nashville and the last week or so testing here. It’s a great group of guys, they’re working hard and trying to get better and it’s been a lot fun. It’s the same with Ty King Motorsports. I definitely wouldn’t be here without these guys.”

This year’s Snowflake has been extended to a distance of 125 laps, compared to the 100 lapper that Roderick went wire to wire in three years ago. The added laps doesn’t have him intrigued as much as other potential factors that could come into play Saturday night.

“I don’t think it’s going to change much, your good cars will be up front and cars that’ll fade away will fade backwards. You’ve just got 25 more laps to get worse or better. It’s going to shake up about the same I feel like. But it’s going to be interesting to see these tires and the guys that have been good here. We’ll see how they play out with falloff from these tires being a bit different, maybe with faster falloff.”