Chase Elliott Scores Dramatic 2011 Snowball Derby Victory

Pensacola, Fla. - You’ll be hearing from Chase Elliott very soon.

The future of motorsports was on display at Five Flags Speedway on Sunday afternoon where 16-year old Chase Elliott outlasted 18-year old D.J. VanderLey to win the the 44^th Annual Snowball Derby. Ross Kenseth, 18-years old, finished third.

Elliott and VanderLey restarted the final stretch on lap 295 and battled side-by-side for the final five laps. VanderLey paced by Elliott by a nose down the backstretch but gave up position down the front. Elliott’s car was just that strong on the inside of turns 3 and 4 at the high-banked half-mile oval.

That ultimately made the difference as Elliott edged VanderLey at the line by .229 of a second, the closest finish of both Snowball Derby and speedway history.

“I was just trying to hit my marks,” Elliott said. “I knew I had a good car, and I was trying to be smart and race D.J. clean and not wreck him. I just want to thank Aaron’s and Mom and Dad and the grace of God, and I have to thank my team. They made this happen. They stayed calm fixed the car, and we never gave up.

“I just can’t believe it.”

The disbelief likely stems from a lap 141 accident where Elliott, running fourth was caught up in a crash involving four of the top five cars. Pole-sitter Bubba Pollard tangled with Jeff Choquette for the lead and Elliott had nowhere to go when Augie Grill slammed hard into his rear bumper, eliminating Pollard, Choquette, and Grill from contention.

Elliott’s team was down but not out.

“It broke the back bumper brace bar, and we had to bearbond it back together because there was no time to weld it,” crew chief Ricky Turner said. “We came back into the pits three times during the caution, staying ahead of the pace car to maintain our lead lap position.

“The guys did a good job getting everything fixed back, and it stayed intact to the end of the race.”

Turner himself won the Snowball Derby as a driver in 2002.

VanderLey was visibly disappointed after climbing out of his car but immediately understood the gravity of the show he and Elliott had just put on.

“I’m just disappointed,” VanderLey said. “I just hope it was half as much fun to watch in the stands as it was from the seat.”

Elliott and VanderLey raced each other very clean over the final five laps with no contact coming until the exit of turn 4 with two laps to go. Did VanderLey ever consider roughing up Elliott for the win?

“Any time he wanted to Chase could have turned us,” VanderLey said. “So I wasn’t going to turn him since he raced me clean. It was just hard racing.”

Kenseth was fast catching the leaders during the final restart and wished he only had more laps to dispose of Vanderley and Elliott.

“I’m not gonna stop coming until I win one of these things,” Kenseth said. “Chase is one heck of a wheelman but I thought I could’ve given him a run for his money.”

This was Kenseth’s third Snowball appearance.

Defending race-winner, hometown favorite out of Pensacola, Johanna Long didn’t defend her title for very long. She tagged the wall on lap 98 and was unable to finish the race. She finished in 39 - last, one year after winning the race.

The complete race results can be found after the jump.

The Snowball Derby is a 300-lap super late model stock car automobile race held annually at the half-mile Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Fla. The race has been contested every year since 1968 and is always run on the first weekend in December. NASCAR Ranting and Raving has provided live coverage every year since 2009. Check back to the blog in the coming days as we will provide daily up-to-the-minute news and results from the Speedway.

Ranting and Raving Content Editor Matt Weaver is on-site in Pensacola and providing additional content on Twitter @MattWeaverSBN. Check it out!

Cautions: 12 for 107 laps.

Lead changes: 12 among seven drivers.

Margin of victory: 0.229 seconds, a Derby record.

Laps leader: Casey Smith led twice for a total of 73. Elliott led twice for a total of 72