Honeycutt Bests Nasse For Emotional Snowball Derby Win

PENSACOLA, Fla. – In a 21-lap sprint to the finish Sunday afternoon at Five Flags Speedway, Kaden Honeycutt changed his life with a win in the biggest asphalt short-track race on the planet.

Honeycutt outdueled a pair of longtime veterans in Stephen Nasse and Ty Majeski to win the 57th annual Snowball Derby presented by FloSports, using a dynamite short-run car to slice from third to first following the final restart of the crown jewel super late model event.

The 21-year-old from Willow Park, Texas, traded blows with Majeski when the green flag waved for good at lap 280 of 300, crossing the two-time and defending race winner over off turn two only to be passed back by Majeski on the exit of turn four before the lap was officially scored.

But Honeycutt simply reloaded and went back to work. Two circuits later, he cut to the inside of Majeski in turn one and completed the pass with surgical precision to assume the lead for good.

After that, Honeycutt led the final 19 laps en route to a $50,000 payday – the largest winner’s check in event history – and his first Tom Dawson Trophy in five Derby starts.

For the gritty journeyman racer who will finally race a full NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series schedule for Niece Motorsports next year, Sunday’s victory was a true watershed moment … literally.

“This is the biggest win I’ve ever had,” said an emotional Honeycutt, fighting back tears after climbing from his No. 21 Chevrolet in victory lane.

“It means more than just me winning,” he continued. “This one is for Jeff Sandlin.”

Sandlin, the late parts distributor for Strange Oval in Morton Grove, Ill., passed away in July and was not just a fixture for many years at the Derby, he was also a close friend of the Jett Motorsports with Larry Blount team and played an instrumental role in getting Honeycutt connected with the organization.

That left Honeycutt more motivated than ever to perform during this year’s Derby in Sandlin’s memory. He did just that, too, after qualifying on the outside pole Friday night and then leading three times for 91 laps throughout the race.

“Jeff worked so damn hard for me to be able to race for Pat [Jett, co-owner] and Larry. This was the year we finally got [a deal] done, and I just hate that he wasn’t here to watch us,” Honeycutt noted. “I know he was watching from a better place, though, and I can’t believe we were able to do this for him.”

Though Honeycutt was the star of the show when the chips were down, the day’s dominant force was polesitter and defending Derby winner Ty Majeski, fresh off a Truck Series championship and seeking a third Tom Dawson Trophy to move into second all time on the event’s lengthy win list.

Majeski led the first 89 laps before Honeycutt ever got to the top spot, and in total controlled the pace four different times for a race-high 192 laps, with crew chief Toby Nuttleman making almost no changes to the No. 91 iRacing.com Ford all afternoon as his driver seemed unmatched in the Pensacola sun.

But the race’s second half brought with it changing tides, as Colorado underdog Jace Hansen used fresher tires during the second third of the race to drive from 21st to take the lead on lap 192, just before a controlled caution with 99 to go set up the penultimate round of pit service.

Majeski quickly returned to the lead on the next restart at lap 209, pulling out to an advantage of more than four seconds over the next green-flag run, but his control was halted when Noah Gragson spun on the frontstretch to bring out the last of eight yellow flags with 28 laps remaining.

That sent the leaders down pit road one last time, with Majeski requesting no changes while Honeycutt got a minor air pressure adjustment and an extra piece of tape across the front nose for added downforce.

Those small tweaks allowed Honeycutt to take off like a rocket on the race-deciding restart with 21 to go, but even after he cleared Majeski for the lead, the final result wasn’t a foregone conclusion.

Honeycutt had to fend off a hard-charging Stephen Nasse in the final laps, after Nasse got past Majeski for second with nine to go and was seeking to become the first driver in history to sweep both the pro late model Snowflake 100 and the Snowball Derby after winning the former on Saturday night.

But though Nasse carved a second-and-a-half deficit down to just four car lengths at the white flag, a last-ditch effort to get to Honeycutt’s rear bumper in the final corner fell short and left Nasse one position shy of an elusive Derby victory.

Instead, it was Honeycutt who became the event’s 45th different winner, in a moment he said he will remember forever.

“[Winning the Snowball Derby] is all my dad and I ever wanted to do together when I was growing up,” Honeycutt said once his car cleared technical inspection after the race. ”It hasn’t sunk in yet that I actually accomplished it, but I know it will in the days to come.

“I can’t even put into words what this means. It’s so, so special.“