Crews Cruises In Derby LCQ, Leads Transfers Into Finale

Brent Crews in action Saturday at Five Flags Speedway. (Wilson Motorsports photo)

PENSACOLA, Fla. – Brent Crews made a statement Saturday evening at Five Flags Speedway that he’s still going to be a force to be reckoned with in race trim for the 57th annual Snowball Derby.

Crews flat dominated the 50-lap last chance qualifier for the super late model classic, muscling polesitter and early leader Nicholas Naugle out of the way on lap six and never looking back.

His black-and-gold No. 24 Mobil 1 Toyota took the checkered flag 3.937 seconds clear of Naugle, leading the final transfers into the 36-car Snowball Derby starting field and earning the 16-year-old the 31st grid spot for Sunday’s 300-lap finale.

“I just wanted to be able to control the race early,” said Crews, who started third in the LCQ after timing in only 33rd-fastest Friday night. “We’ve had speed all week, but struggled in qualifying trim and found an issue with the brakes later on that held us back a good bit. It’s finally good to have a really comfortable race car underneath me again, and I’m looking forward to making it even better Sunday.”

Even though he hadn’t been able to put together a long run until Saturday morning, Crews remains confident he can perform in his Snowball Derby debut with Wilson Motorsports.

“Between the two long practices and this race, I think we’ll be fine,” Crews noted. “We worked on our car a lot to get it good in the day(time), and then the nightfall changes it all and you have to learn from that as you go here.

“We know when we pull in here tomorrow morning that it’ll be a whole new racetrack, so we’ll take what we have right now and see what we can do tomorrow.”

Naugle hung onto second place the rest of the way, securing his debut start in the Derby despite heavy door-banging contact with Crews in that race for the top spot early.

It was a moment that left the Canadian confused even as he celebrated making super late model racing’s biggest event.

“This was our main goal, was to make it in the show with it being my first attempt at the Derby,” said Naugle. “I would have liked to have made it on time, but … it felt so good when we crossed that line to know we’ll be racing 300 laps on Sunday.

“I think we need a few more adjustments; I was definitely saving a little … but I didn’t feel the contact was necessary for the lead,” he added. “We’re all racing for the same spots, though, so I understand it from that perspective and I’m just glad we’re locked in now.”

Part-time NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver Conner Jones finished third. He was followed by Caden Kvapil, the younger brother of NASCAR Xfinity Series star Carson Kvapil, who used a bump-and-run move with 10 laps left to earn the final transfer spot into Sunday’s Snowball Derby lineup.

Wisconsin’s Derek Kraus, the 23-year-old who made eight straight Snowball Derby starts from 2015-’22, missed the show for the second year running as the first man below the cut in the LCQ in fifth.

Kyle Steckly faded to sixth after running inside the top four for the first 40 laps, with Augie Grill, 13-year-old Vito Cancilla, Joseph Meyer, Conner Sutton, Michael Scott, and Timothy Watson also failing to move on and having to load their cars up a day earlier than they hoped to.

Grill was a late addition to the LCQ field, taking over Jamie Yelton’s Fathead Racing entry after Kasey Kleyn withdrew from the car following a poor qualifying effort Friday night.

The 57th annual Snowball Derby is slated for a 2 p.m. ET (1 p.m. CT) green flag Sunday afternoon, with live streaming coverage available through FloRacing.