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Stickler gets Checkered Flag after 75 lap Modified Race.

UPDATE: Now official finish.: Stickler Wins Second Straight Modifieds Snowball Derby Title

By Chuck Corder

Cody Stickler was smoking all Friday night long at Five Flags Speedway.
Among clouds billowing from his No. 46 machine throughout the second night of the 55th annual Snowball Derby presented by Hooters, Stickler torched the field and celebrated his second straight Modifieds of Mayhem Derby 75 with a buttery smooth burnout just before the flagstand.

The Pinellas Park driver of the Doug Moff No. 46 took control 48 laps in and never relinquished the lead with picture-perfect restarts following a handful of cautions down the stretch.
“We’re still not sure about the smoke,” Stickler struggled to explain. “We’ve sent the motor back and forth a couple times, and it keeps smoking. It was running great, though.”
He was producing such an alarming amount of smoke that race officials commanded him to pull into the pits under caution so they could inspect. They quickly determined the car was clean and Stickler got his spot back near the front.

Stickler’s was not the only repeat performance Friday. Augie Grill and Derrick Griffin finished second and third, respectively, to give the Mods an identical podium from last year’s Derby. Grill—a three-time Mods Derby winner to go along with three Snowflake 100s for Pro Late Models and a pair of titles in Sunday’s big race—stalked Stickler for clean air and used lapped traffic to get around him on Lap 43. Grill tried to pull away, but Stickler wasn’t going anywhere. He reclaimed the lead five laps later when Grill ran his No. 112 too deep in the corners.
“They’ve got their car really good,” Grill said of Stickler’s team. “He was a little bit better than me. We’ll keep working and getting it back to where it needs to be.

“Getting to race something is always fun. I’d race a go-kart if somebody offered it. This is what I love to do.”
But try as mightily as he did, Grill couldn’t time the restarts to scare Stickler. Each time the leaders entered the box to go, Stickler had his Mod glued to the apron while Grill struggled to maintain the high line without losing valuable track position to Griffin in third.
Stickler’s clean restarts sent him into the wind, allowing him to quickly build healthy leads on Grill and the field of 33 Mods. He won by more than a full second.

“I was hitting them good and firing off,” Stickler said of his restarts. “Thanks to (Grill) for driving me clean. That was fun.”
Fun for only one Friday. Hard to be upset with two thirds in a row, but Griffin knew the distance between his Mod and Stickler’s were miles apart.
“The 46 is in his own zip code,” Griffin said of Stickler. “He could win the Super race on Sunday if he wanted to.”

Jaxon Bishop’s fourth-place finish was good enough to clinch the Modifieds of Mayhem season title. Based out of Montgomery (Ala.) Motor Speedway, the Mods race at iconic short tracks across the country, including Five Flags. Bishop had a comfortable lead coming into Friday and finished ahead of his closest competitors.

“It’s an awesome deal to get this championship,” Bishop said. “This team goes above and beyond for me and this program. They built a brand-new motor to finish off the year. It was a good race tonight, but I should’ve saved a little more.”

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