NASCAR champion Ty Majeski's Snowball Derby title defence "exploded" by faulty track

A chunk of asphalt that came off of Florida's Five Flags Speedway destroyed the nose and ductwork of Ty Majeski’s No. 91 car during Thursday’s practice session for the Snowball Derby. The defending champion of the event, Majeski, was vying for his second consecutive and third win in the prestigious event.

At first, Majeski had no idea what he hit. While speaking of the impact with Matt Weaver of The Sportsnaut, the reigning NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion said,

“I saw the piece of asphalt. Just couldn't react quick enough and not risk getting out of the groove and wrecking the car even worse. I didn't know exactly what it was at first, I just saw something dark. Obviously, when I hit it, just kinda exploded the whole front end.” (0:06)

Later on, Weaver further detailed the situation through a post on X (formerly known as Twitter) and wrote,

“During the last practice session, a piece of the track came up in Turn 3 and damaged the nose and ductwork on the Ty Majeski car. They've been fixing it this whole time. Chad Bryant, who is working with the Lapcevich Bros, has come over to help his friend.”

There was a lot to expect from Majeski when he announced his entry in the 57th running of the event. This year, he rounded up NASCAR’s touring national series first in points, with three wins, 10 top-5s, and 14 top-10s to his credit.

Despite the disastrous start, the ThorSport Racing driver is still in a position to etch his name as the only second driver to win the Snowball Derby thrice. That way, he will top Cup Series regulars like Chase Elliott of Hendrick Motorsport and Kyle Busch of Richard Childress Racing, who have a pair of wins each.

“No matter if you’re the reigning champion”- Ty Majeski clarifies why the Snowball Derby is a tough nut to crack

Ty Majeski has run the coveted late-model race several times before. With triumphs in the Slinger Nationals, and winning the ASA Stars National Tour championship last year, one would assume that the 30-year-old Wisconsin native is used to the nuances of short-track racing, which he is. But running the Snowball Derby is not the easiest task to pull off.

“We've had a lot of ups and downs here. No matter if you're the reigning champion or not, you know, you come down here with a clean slate and it's so hard to come down here and be competitive year in and year out,” Ty Majeski said during a pre-race interview with Rob Blount of FloRacing.

This year’s battle will be fierce with talented drivers like Chandler Smith and Derek Thorn in the mix. However, it wasn’t enough to shake Majeski’s determination to continue his dominance there. Expressing his gratitude toward his team, Majeski added,

“My guys and I have been together I think this is our 13th year together now. We love doing this together and that's why we keep coming down here. We love the camaraderie, we have a great group of guys, and it's fun for us. When it starts not to become fun you probably won't see us back here. We love doing this together." (1:41)

The Snowball Derby will debut on FloRacing this year. The 300-lap showdown will air live on FloRacing from 1 pm ET onwards on Sunday, December 8. More than 50 drivers will compete, following which, only one winner will take home the cash prize of $50,000 and the Tom Dawson Trophy.