“Just finished happy hour at Snowball derby”: Noah Gragson ‘excited’ to run 300 laps as he enjoys NASCAR offseason racing

Noah Gragson has expressed excitement over racing outside NASCAR. Following the Happy Hour at the Snowball Derby, Gragson looks forward to Sunday's 300-lap race driving the No. 30 Ford around Five Flags Speedway.

Gragson is a 26-year-old professional stock car racing driver bound to Front Row Motorsports for the next NASCAR season. In the meantime, he is participating in the Snowball Derby, an annual super late model race in Pensacola, Florida.

Per Noah Gragson's Instagram, the Las Vegas native wrote a short assessment of his performance during the event's practice session, Happy Hour.

"Need to get closer to the wall lol," Gragson said.

Regardless, the former Stewart-Haas Racing driver was optimistic about the No. 30 car's speed for the 300-lap race on Sunday, saying:

"Just finished up happy hour at the snowball derby. Feel like we have decent long run speed. [Excited] for 300 laps tomorrow."

Gragson concluded by asking his followers how the front of his super late model racecar looked.

"What do you think about the fusion nose [...] thing looks mean," the driver wrote.

While the Daytona 500 is deemed the greatest race in the stock car racing world, Noah Gragson finds the Snowball Derby more important to him. The driver wants to win for the second time at Five Flags Speedway following his maiden win in 2018.

Upon the resumption of the NASCAR season, Gragson will drive for Front Row Motorsports, with the Daytona 500 first on the calendar. However, his status for next year has yet to be finalized while the team fights for a preliminary injunction in court against NASCAR.

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Noah Gragson calls William Sawalich a "dip-dop" at the Snowball Derby event

Noah Gragson blasted William Sawalich during an interview after a practice session at the Snowball Derby. Gragson called Sawalich a "dip-dop" for sending him down in turn 1 at Five Flags Speedway.

Speaking with FloRacing via X (formerly Twitter), Gragson said:

"I guess he's on a mock run. I'm on a race run. I'm already on the racetrack," Noah Gragson said. [1:11]

The 26-year-old driver argued that Sawalich joined the racetrack improperly.

"He blends up right in front of me. I’m going through 1 and 2, he’s blended on the racetrack. He blends up in the middle of 1 and 2, has his right sides over the line. Normally you blend up down the back straightaway. That pissed me off. And then he’s tucked up behind me on a mock run, which doesn’t make any sense. Then he picks us up and sends us down in turn 1. Just, it’s unnecessary, but you just can’t fix stupid.”

He added:

"I've been feeling bad [sick], and then, like I said, the dip-dop in the 62 [William Sawalich] don't make it any better," Gragson concluded. [2:23]

William Sawalich is an 18-year-old racer who will drive the No. 18 Toyota Supra for Joe Gibbs Racing as a full-time Xfinity Series rookie next year.

Gragson and Sawalich, along with other NASCAR drivers like Ty Majeski and Sammy Smith, will compete in the 57th Annual Snowball Derby. The 300-lap race will be held on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. EST.