Preston Peltier turned a lap of 16.319 seconds which edged Bubba Pollard for the top spot during time trials on Friday for the 50th Annual Snowball Derby at Five Flags Speedway.
“I wasn’t expecting to get the pole, but this is easily the best car I’ve had,” said the 40-year-old Peltier, whose best Derby finish was a seventh in 2015. “We’ve only had the car for four weeks.”
The field for Sunday’s 300-lap race will total 37 cars. The top 30 drivers from Friday’s time trials punched their tickets, three earned their way in on the strength of provisionals, leaving four available positions to be determined in this afternoon’s last-chance race.
NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch, who arrived in Pensacola on Friday, qualified 15th on Friday and was visibly frustrated with his No. 51.
In addition to Busch, defending Derby champion Christian Eckes, 17, qualified with a lap of 16.660 seconds, which was not good enough to make the field.
However, Eckes utilized his past champion’s provisional to guarantee himself a shot at becoming the first repeat winner since Cup driver Erik Jones completed the feat in 2012-2013.
Bubba Pollard, a longtime fan favorite at the famed half-mile asphalt oval, will start outside of Peltier on the front row after his fast lap of 16.344 seconds. The 30 year old from Senoia, Georgia, has 100 late model wins in his decorated career, but has never hoisted the Tom Dawson trophy.
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