PENSACOLA, Fla. — Augie Grill got hot as the temperature cooled off and the result was his first victory in the Snowball Derby super-late-model classic Sunday afternoon at Five Flags Speedway.
Grill, who lost a win in Saturday’s crate engine late model race by running his tires off, was hardly a factor in the first half of the 300-lap grind which started under warm, humid conditions, but when the temperature dropped, Grill’s fortunes started to rise.
He was consistently a top-three car after lap 152 except for pit-stop shuffling, took the lead for the first time on lap 216, and paced 68 of the last 84 circuits.
He went to the front for the final time on lap 265 when he passed defending race winner Clay Rogers. With the last 24 laps running under green, Grill pulled away to an easy win.
“On the first set of tires, the car really wasn’t that great, but the more tires we put on it and the cooler it got, the better the car got. By the end of the race, I was able to run it pretty hard,” explained the 31-year-old winner who was competing in his third Snowball Derby. It wasn’t a trouble free run, as attested by the battered front end of his Grand American Race Cars Chevrolet.
“I didn’t know it was that bad sitting in the car. I’m glad I’m seeing it now and not during the race,” the winner quipped as he surveyed the damage in victory lane, admitting that his water temperature rose to 240 degrees under the last caution flag and he didn’t expect to make it to the finish.
Grill started 14th and won over $20,000 for his richest and most important career victory. Augie is the son and business partner of legendary Alabama car builder Frankie Grill.
Runner-up Matt Hawkins was left to wonder what might have been. He led the most laps, running in front three times for 106 circuits, and was ahead of Grill with less than 50 laps to go when he was forced to take evasive action as Dave Mader crashed in turn three. Hawkins fought his way back and was clearly the fastest car on the track when he took second with six laps to go. Without a caution to close the gap, he could go no farther.     
Like Grill, third-place Jeff Fultz played a stealth strategy coming from 21st in the lineup. He only emerged from the pack in the last 100 laps and advanced to second before falling victim to Hawkins’s comeback drive. The last two Snowball Derby winners completed the top five as local favorite Eddie Mercer was fourth and Clay Rogers fifth after starting at the tail of the field.
The caution flag waved 16 times for 121 laps, and there were a dozen lead changes among seven drivers. Cale Gale won the pole on Friday with a non-record 16.983-second run against a field of 55 super late models, but never led a lap.   
Saturday’s twin last-chance qualifying races turned out to be controversial and had an impact on Sunday’s main event as three major names were disqualified for technical infractions. Steve Wallace, the 2004 Derby winner was set down for adding weight before crossing the scales after apparently winning the first race, and both winner Jason Hogan and third place Benny Gordon lost their spots from the second race, Hogan for a roof height infraction and Gordon for a track-width violation. Hogan was qualifying the car intended for Kyle Busch to race in the Derby.
The finish:
Augie Grill, Matt Hawkins, Jeff Fultz, Eddie Mercer, Clay Rogers, Josh Hamner, Brian Campbell, Ryan Foster, Scott Hantz, Jeff Choquette, Ryan Lawler, Chris Gabehart, Grant Enfinger, Ken McFarland, Mike Fritts, Johnny Clark, Korey Ruble, Justin Drawdy, Gary Helton, J.R. Roahrig, Dale Little, Jason Young, Roger Reuse, Dave Mader III, Cecil Chunn, Tim Martin, Hunter Robbins, Casey Smith, Wayne Anderson, Ryan Crane, Scott Carlson, Cale Gale, Cassius Clark, Heath Hindman, Donald Long, Ryan Sieg, Bill Tutchtone II, Gary St. Amant, Bobby Gill.