By Andy DeLay, Staff Writer
PENSACOLA, FL — The 58th Annual Snowball Derby will be talked about for a long time, but perhaps not for the reasons we all hoped. After a grueling, rain-delayed weekend at Five Flags Speedway, Stephen Nasse finally captured the elusive Tom Dawson Trophy. The problem is, the history books will always carry an asterisk in the minds of the fans who packed the stands this past Monday: Did Ty Majeski jump the start, and did Race Control wrongly decide the outcome?
For 200 laps, it looked like it was Majeski’s race to lose. The No. 91 machine was on rails, dominating the field and leaving the competition fighting for scraps. With just over 10 laps to go, everything unraveled when the final caution flew.
Race officials flagged Majeski for jumping the final restart—a call that sent shockwaves through the grandstands and the pits. According to the tower, Majeski took off before the restart zone, gaining an unfair advantage. The black flag was displayed, signaling the end of his bid for a third Derby title.
Majeski, clearly furious, refused to acknowledge the flag initially, crossing the finish line first on the track but being scored 23rd in the final rundown.
”I feel like we won this race,” Majeski said in the pits, shaking his head. “I was consistent. The rule is to pick up the pace to the line. I thought I did that.”
When asked about the officiated decision that handed the win to Nasse, Majeski didn’t mince words. “The DQ leaves a dark cloud over the event,” he stated, a sentiment echoed by a chorus of boos from the stands as the official decision was read.
Stephen Nasse, no stranger to Derby heartbreak after his own disqualification in 2019, found himself on the other side of the coin this time. While he admitted he hated to see it end that way for Ty, he wasn’t about to hand the trophy back.
”I don’t know if we would have been able to get by him,” Nasse admitted in Victory Lane. “But I’ll take it like this. It means everything to me and my family.”
The fallout has been immediate. Social media is ablaze with footage of the restart, with fans split down the middle. One camp argues rules are rules; the other claims the call was too subjective for the biggest Super Late Model race in America.
Perhaps acknowledging the heat of the moment, track officials have already hinted that changes may be coming. Sources at Five Flags Speedway suggest they are looking into revising the restart rules for next year to remove the “grey area” that caused today’s chaos.
For now, Stephen Nasse is your champion. But as the haulers pack up and head home, the debate over who really won the 58th Snowball Derby is just getting started.
Header Image Sourced via Stephen Nasse Social Media