By Victoria Beaver

After a mediocre qualification time and a 15th-place starting spot, Monster Energy NASCAR Cup star Kyle Busch was triumphant over the Super Late Model (SLM) field in the 50th running of the Snowball Derby at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, FL, on Sunday.

Busch won his second Snowball Derby by preserving his equipment and charging the leaders in the final 66-lap green-flag run of the Paved Late Model, Crown Jewel event. His first win came in 2009.

The majority of the race saw Bubba Pollard and Jeff Choquette duke it out for the lead. With 22 laps to go, Busch made it by Saturday night’s Snowflake 100 preliminary winner, Pollard, before reeling in Choquette seven laps later.

Choquette got around Pollard as well, and the two had to settle for the lower steps on the podium.

Pollard led the most laps at 162 overall as he tried to sweep the weekend for what would’ve been the first time in event history. He won three of his four Five Flag races this summer and was an easy favorite to win, but for the 12th time the Snowball-adorned trophy eluded the Senoia, GA, driver. He came up one position short this year.

Pollard fell victim to one of stock car racing's best drivers, who was made faster by a soured disposition.

A bad qualification sent Busch into the race with a chip on his shoulder, but the veteran driver has learned patience during his NASCAR career that kept him from making any major mistakes in his 15th-to-first-place run.

Busch found the leaders near the midpoint of the race. But in a seesaw race, he fell back and had to start working through the SLM field again. On the final lap-234 restart, he sat in seventh position.

With the race’s extensive rules package and a hawkeyed chief tech inspector Ricky Brooks, "Rowdy" fans were relieved to see Busch make it through the Room of Doom.

They had a right to be nervous.

Post-race inspections notably cost fellow NASCAR 2017 championship contender Chase Elliott his win as recently as 2013. That year, Erik Jones inherited the win after an illegal piece of tungsten was found in Elliott’s victory car.

Ricky Brooks when @KyleBusch wins the #SnowballDerby: pic.twitter.com/edpFC41SwD

— Ross Wece (@RossWece) December 3, 2017

In turn, Elliott got his win two years later when 2017 NASCAR truck champion Christopher Bell was disqualified for a left side bias of 58.3 percent instead of the allowed 58 percent.

Ricky Brooks:

"If you want to do a burnout, do a burnout. Do not hit the wall and damage your body. If you want to do a victory lap up top, that's fine too, but know that's how your tires are going to get tech'ed."

CC: @CBellRacing @CG1751

— Matt Weaver (@MattWeaverAW) December 3, 2017

I’ll just meet ya at the @cbnationals where it doesn’t matter how you celebrate. And the guy who crosses the finish line first, wins! https://t.co/EnyOcBsoqI

— Christopher Bell (@CBellRacing) December 3, 2017

Harrison Burton, this year’s NASCAR K&N East champion, battled the leaders as well before settling for fourth behind Choquette and Pollard.

Another NASCAR regular, Brandon McReynolds, finished 10th.

Top 10 Finishers 
1. Kyle Busch
2. Jeff Choquette
3. Bubba Pollard
4. Harrison Burton
5. Cassius Clark
6. Casey Roderick
7. Chandler Smith
8. Chase Purdy
9. Raphael Lessard
10. Brandon McReynolds 

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