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Mods Top 3, Grill, Purvis, Hamrac

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Grill Scores Back-to-Back Modifieds Derby Titles in Race Shortened Because of Weather, Wrecks

By Chuck Corder

Win or lose, Augie Grill typically keeps his emotions in check.

Every victory certainly matters to him, but it is Grill’s constant humility that has won him a grandstands full of fans over his hall of fame career.

In capturing the Modifieds running of the Snowball Derby on Sunday for a second consecutive year, Grill was more subdued after the 75-lap race was shortened to 71, saw 12 cautions and two drivers leave Five Flags Speedway in ambulances.

“This is pretty cool,� Grill said. “It’s the seventh time on Snowball Derby weekend that I’ve won a race. I like having my name on something nobody has. I wish we could’ve run those final laps green.�

Weather conditions prevented that along with a T-bone collision between Jason Moorman and Billy Melvin that brought out the final yellow of the afternoon on Lap 71.

With Melvin and Moorman battling in the middle of the 27-car pack, the pair exited Turn No. 2 and headed down the back straightaway. As Melvin suddenly went for a spin, Moorman could not avoid Melvin’s No. 16 and delivered a punishing hit to the driver’s side door.

The red flag immediately came out, stopping the race for nearly 50 minutes as track officials and seven emergency vehicles flooded the half-mile asphalt oval to attend to Moorman and Melvin.

Moorman’s back was aching, but was able to give a thumbs-up to the crowd as he was loaded into an ambulance and taken to a local hospital.

Melvin, on the other hand, was stuck beneath his roll cage and emergency personnel had to use the Jaws of Life to cut the veteran driver from his vehicle. Melvin, too, was taken to an area emergency room with bones broken in both legs, as well as a fractured pelvis.

Once Melvin’s car was on the hook, it looked like the flatbed of a rollback truck as it was brought through the pits.

After the hour-long delay, track officials attempted to remedy the scene of the accident with speedy dry. But, as mist and moisture began to fall, race officials made the wise decision to call the race as the leaders sat on the front stretch.

It was Grill’s sixth Modifieds of Mayhem victory of the season in the John Heil-owned car. Grill held off a hard-charging Kyle Purvis, who finished runner-up, and Donnie Hamrac, who rounded out the podium.

“Kyle got by me on one of the restarts, and I was worried a little bit,� Grill said. “Luckily, I got to redeem myself.�

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