NASCAR Truck champ Ty Majeski wins pole position in Snowball Derby

Reigning NASCAR Truck Series champion Ty Majeski delivered the fastest lap during qualifying for this year’s Snowball Derby. The 30-year-old Wisconsin native is vying for his third victory in the 57th running of the prestigious event.

The qualifying sessions for the 300-lap feature are divided into three groups: the first one is for positions one to 30, the second for positions 31 to 34, and the third for positions 35 and 36. However, per the rules, the winner of last year’s event is guaranteed free entry and qualifies 37th, if not better.

Majeski won the Derby last year, which gave him the free ticket to arguably the biggest event in Super Late Model racing. But with a back-to-back win in his vision, Majeski earned the pole for Sunday’s race at the Five Flags Speedway.

Reconfirming the news on X (formerly known as Twitter), FloRacing posted,

Majeski is fresh out of his fifth (first full-time) season with ThorSport Racing, a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series team headquartered in Sandusky, Ohio. In 23 starts, he amassed three wins, six poles, 10 top-5s, and 14 top-10s.

If Majeski emerges victorious in the 2024 Snowball Derby, he will be the second driver to win it three times, a feat even Cup Series regulars Kyle Busch and Chase Elliott have not been able to pull off yet. The only other driver to have won the race at least thrice is Rich Bickle.

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Ty Majeski reflects on the tumultuous start to his chase for the Tom Dawson trophy

The winner of the Snowball Derby takes home a cash prize of $50,000 and also the coveted Tom Dawson Trophy. Winning the pole is a step in that direction indeed, but things didn’t look as great for Ty Majeski during Thursday’s practice session.

Right around turn 3, a piece of asphalt dislodged itself into Majeski’s No. 91 machine and destroyed its nose and ductwork. Sportsnaut’s Matt Weaver clarified the matter through a recent post on X that read,

“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 fried.”

Majeski, however, didn’t know what he hit at first. Recalling the impact, he told Weaver,

“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)

The final race will stream live exclusively on FloRacing from 1 pm ET onwards on Sunday, December 8. Notably, this year’s event marks its debut on FloRacing.