{"id":331538,"date":"2025-12-08T02:56:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-08T02:56:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/331538\/"},"modified":"2025-12-08T02:56:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T02:56:08","slug":"nascar-stars-suffer-snowball-derby-agony-as-kyle-busch-has-near-miss-motorsport-sports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/331538\/","title":{"rendered":"NASCAR stars suffer Snowball Derby agony as Kyle Busch has near-miss &#8211; Motorsport &#8211; Sports"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The 2025 edition of Snowball Derby at Five Flags Speedway promised high drama, but winded up as heartbreak for some familiar names.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Two seasoned <a data-link-tracking=\"InArticle|Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.the-express.com\/latest\/nascar\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">NASCAR<\/a> Cup Series regulars, Erik Jones and Noah Gragson, failed to make the main event, while <a data-link-tracking=\"InArticle|Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.the-express.com\/latest\/kyle-busch\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Kyle Busch<\/a>, who <a data-link-tracking=\"InArticle|Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.the-express.com\/sport\/motorsport\/189016\/kyle-busch-samantha-insurance-scam\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">recently filed an $8.5 million lawsuit over an alleged insurance scam<\/a>, just managed to claw his way in via the Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ).<\/p>\n<p>It all began on Saturday evening, as qualifying resumed following a rain delay. The track was tricky, slick and unpredictable, making it tough for drivers to lay down fast laps.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>A hard-earned top-30 was the ticket to the 300-lap feature. Busch, Jones, and Gragson all missed that cut.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Gragson\u2019s journey ended before the LCQ even began; his No. 30 entry failed to take the green flag, sidelined by unspecified mechanical issues.<\/p>\n<p><a data-link-tracking=\"InArticle|Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.the-express.com\/newsletter-preference-centre\/?view=Solus&amp;mailingListId=9761f86a-69c1-4771-b7da-6a7feddacc61&amp;utm_source=solusarticle\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Sign up to our NASCAR newsletter here.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Jones fared a bit better, as he hustled through the LCQ, battled hard, and made up some ground. But rain-shortened laps and deteriorating track conditions caught up with him. Despite a valiant effort, he came up just short of the transfer cut.<\/p>\n<p>He took to social media after the race, writing, \u201cReally disappointed we won&#8217;t be in the main Snowball Derby show later today.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWent out to qualify right after the caution and the track just was not there for the speed we had. Tried to dig out of it in the LCQ but ran out of laps with the shortened race. Hate it for the guys who came out to help this week.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Busch, by contrast, executed a clutch performance when it counted. Starting the LCQ at the front, he dominated the 25-lap dash and clinched one of the final spots in the main event. He\u2019ll start deep at 31st but at least he\u2019s in.<\/p>\n<p>For Jones and Gragson, the disappointment cuts deep. Both have history at the Snowball Derby: Jones is a two-time winner (2012, 2013), Gragson first hoisted the trophy in 2018.<\/p>\n<p>Busch\u2019s survival into the main field offers a silver lining, especially as he eyes a third Derby crown. He last ran the event in 2020 and returns this year under the No. 51 Lucas Oil-sponsored entry for Bryson Lopez Racing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 2025 edition of Snowball Derby at Five Flags Speedway promised high drama, but winded up as heartbreak&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":331539,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[446],"tags":[49,48,54582,8661,2332,634,99102,146023,82],"class_list":["post-331538","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nascar","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-erik-jones","tag-kyle-busch","tag-motorsport-section","tag-nascar","tag-noah-gragson","tag-snowball-derby-2025","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331538","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=331538"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331538\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/331539"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=331538"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=331538"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=331538"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}