Barring some outside help, former Snowball Derby runner-up DJ VanderLey will be unable to compete in this year’s race, following a testing accident on Saturday afternoon at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Fla.
Snowball Derby 2013: DJ VanderLey may miss race following testing accident
DJ VanderLey is a perennial contender in the Snowball Derby Super Late Model race but may miss the 2013 event following a violent crash during Saturday’s open test.
VanderLey was competing in the Snowball Derby open test at the Pensacola half-mile with seven other Super Late Model teams. He had posted the fastest time through 4 p.m. when he lost control of his car early in a run and slammed violently into the Turn 3 wall.
The entire left side and rear end of his VDL No. 2 Ford was lost in the accident and VanderLey says he just doesn’t have enough time to repair his car with less than two weeks remaining until Derby week begins on Dec. 5.
“Yeah, it’s just physically impossible,” VanderLey told SB Nation via text message on Sunday. “If we had a spare rear end or a spare car we’d be golden. But obviously, we don’t.”
It was just two years ago that VanderLey was the talk of the stock car racing world, coming up just one position short of winning the 2011 Snowball but delivering the greatest finish in the event’s history with Chase Elliott.
It was thought that the moment would catapult VanderLey’s career but instead he’s fought a monstrous case of Murphy’s Law -- where everything that could go wrong has.
Some of it -- like a scuffle with Grant Enfinger at Pensacola in April 2012 -- has been of his own doing. But most of the bad luck has consisted of things that are simply out of his control. No other southern Late Model driver has been stricken with as much misfortune as VanderLey and his blue collar family effort.
VanderLey had another strong showing in the 2012 Derby, finishing 13th after qualifying 26th. He was expected to be a contender in the new Southern Super Series that was formed around five southern tracks for the 2013 season but that never materialized.
Instead, VanderLey suffered a mechanical failure in the inaugural race -- at Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville -- and opted to not run the complete campaign.
The events that he did enter this season have typically ended under similar circumstances, with various mechanical failures biting them in uncharacteristic ways. VanderLey earned three top-10s in his eight starts but now faces starting over again after his Saturday crash.
Continuing coverage of the Snowball Derby can be found on the Ranting and Raving short track blog. Visit our Facebook page for all the updates and links to our stories leading up to the Super Bowl of Short Track Racing.
See More:
