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Jurkovic Battles His Way to a Seventh-Place Finish in the 44th Annual Snowball Derby

Jurkovic Battles His Way to a Seventh-Place Finish in the 44th Annual Snowball Derby

Date: Dec. 4, 2011
Event: 44th Annual Snowball Derby
Series: Super Late Models
Location: Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Fla. (Half-mile oval)
Start/Finish: 28th/7th (Running, completed 300 of 300 laps)
Winner: Chase Elliott

After going a lap down early in Sunday’s 44th Annual Snowball Derby at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Fla., Boris Jurkovic and the No. 51 Kyle Busch Motorsports Super Late Model team battled their way to a respectable seventh-place finish in the race considered by many to be the most prestigious late model event in the country.

Jurkovic proved to be a top-10 car during multiple practice sessions on Thursday and Friday, but an ill-handling car in Saturday’s qualifying session relegated the 41-year-old driver to a 28th starting position for Sunday’s 300-lap race.

Once the green flag dropped on Sunday afternoon, Jurkovic slowly moved forward but was unable to break into the top 20 before he surrendered a lap to race leader Jeff Choquette on lap 88. After pitting under caution on lap 110, he was penalized for speeding on pit road and restarted the race from the tail end of the field after serving a pass-through penalty.

In the middle stages of the race, the Illinois native continued to run one lap down but managed to avoid several cautions that ended the day for many competitors. The KBM crew took advantage of the multiple caution periods to continue to make improvements to Jurkovic’s No. 51 Camry.

Jurkovic’s patience and the team’s hard work finally paid off on lap 220, when a caution occurred while the team was in a position to take advantage of the wave around rule and return to the lead lap. He was scored in the 13th position, the last car on the lead lap, when the race resumed on lap 231.

After another caution occurred on lap 234, KBM crew chief Chris Gabehart called his driver down pit road. The KBM over-the-wall crew made adjustments to the No. 51 Camry and returned their driver to the track scored in the 15th position.

Jurkovic cracked the top 10 for the first time and was in a battle with Cale Gale for the ninth spot when a two-car accident in turns three and four slowed the field on lap 272. Once again, he brought the No. 51 down pit road for a two-tire stop and returned to the track scored in the ninth position.

The No. 51 Camry remained scored in the ninth spot when a major four-car accident, which included one car turned over on its roof, brought out the red flag on lap 295. Once the track was cleared and the field went back to green for the final time, Jurkovic made his way past two more competitors over the final five laps to earn a seventh-place finish.

16-year-old Chase Elliott, son of NASCAR legend Bill Elliott, became the youngest winner in the history of the Snowball Derby. Elliott crossed the stripe 0.229 seconds ahead of second-place finisher D.J. VanderLey in the closest finish in Snowball Derby history. Ross Kenseth, son of 2003 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Matt Kenseth, finished third, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series regular Landon Cassill was fourth and Heath Hindman rounded out the top-five finishers.

There were 12 caution periods for 107 laps. 14 of 36 drivers finished the race on the lead lap.

The Snowball Derby was the final event scheduled for KBM’s Super Late Model team in 2011. The team had a very successful season, with owner-driver Kyle Busch capturing wins in three of the biggest Super Late Model events of the year; the Rowdy 251 at Berlin Raceway in Marne, Mich. the Slinger Nationals at Slinger Super Speedway in Slinger, Wisc. and the Oxford 250 at Oxford Plains Speedway in Oxford Maine.

-KBM-

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