Hunter Robbins Edges Johanna Long for Snowball Derby Pole

Michael DempseyDec 6, 2014

Hunter Robbins grabbed the pole for Sunday’s 47th annual Snowball Derby at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Florida—the premier short track race in the U.S.

Robbins posted a time of 16.212 in qualifying on Friday night, edging 2010 Snowball Derby champion Johanna Long, who produced the second fastest time with a lap around the half-mile oval in 16.228.

Robbins, 23, from Montgomery, Alabama, is a familiar face at Five Flags Speedway, taking the 2005 Alan Turner Snowflake 100 in 2005 at the age of 14. He made his debut in the Snowball Derby in 2007, when he finished 27th. His best finish came last year, when he finished fourth.

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Besting the time posted apparently was fine with the Pensacola, Florida, native Long, who helped Robbins by lending him a set of tires and is his girlfriend.

"I have known him since he was 13 years old," Long told Bill Vilona of PNJ.com. "I have seen him race for a very long time, and he has grown as a person. And to see him work so hard like he has done and come out with this [top qualifier], it means so much to me."

“We spent a long time working on this thing, picking and choosing our races,” Robbins told Speed51.com. “We’ve been really underfunded this weekend, and we bought one set of practice tires. We borrowed a set of tires from Johanna. We were saving our set of stickers for today and wanted to make our mock run.”

John Hunter Nemechek, 17, the son of NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Joe Nemechek, qualified third with a time of 16.232. He will be joined on the second row by Augie Grill, who was fourth with a time of 16.239.

Grill is a two-time Snowball Derby champion, winning back-to-back in 2007 and 2008. Grill has not had much luck since then. His best finish was 28th in 2010.

Two-time defending champion Erik Jones will start 10th. Jones is one of just two drivers to win the race in back-to-back years, joining Grill and Rich Bickel, who did it twice (1990-91 and 1998-99).

Chase Elliott, who won three times on the Nationwide series this year, qualified 12th. The son of NASCAR legend Bill Elliott won the Snowball Derby in 2011. He crossed the finish line first last year after leading 233 of the 300 laps, but he was disqualified after a post-race tech inspection revealed that a tungsten ballast was found in his car.

Elliott won the Snowflake 100 last year. It was the featured race on Saturday night and his third win in that race.

The top 30 qualifiers are in Sunday’s race, and there is a “last chance” race where four more cars will make the field. The final two spots are provisional spots for points leaders on the Blizzard Series circuit or a past Snowball Derby champion.

Speed51TV is providing live online coverage of Snowball Derby week, including a live broadcast of the Snowflake and Snowball Derby.

Top 30 Qualifiers for 47th Snowball Derby

1. Hunter Robbins 16.212

2. Johanna Long 16.228

3. John Hunter Nemechek 16.232

4. Augie Grill 16.239

5. Scotty Ellis 16.262

6. Ross Kenseth 16.264

7. Derrick Griffin 16.272

8. Daniel Hemric 16.274

9. Mike Garvey 16.291

10. Erik Jones 16.292