The 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion, Ty Majeski, started the Snowball Derby race with a bang, securing his second pole with a blistering time of 16.175 seconds. However, the race didn’t unfold as he might have hoped.
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Despite a strong start in front of the pack, leading for the majority of laps, Majeski ultimately had to settle for third place after a series of bump-and-run exchanges with Kaden Honeycutt.
In his post-race interview, Majeski pointed to the car’s lack of speed as the culprit behind his performance. Initially, clinching the pole had given him confidence in the car’s capability.
Yet, after the dust settled, he reflected, “All week long we meet didn’t really have that fire-off speed. We saw it yesterday in happy hour. And this race is one of those races where it’s a long run long run long run.”
Continuing, Majeski explained, “You gotta be good enough on the longer understand the game to set yourself up for the shorter than at the end. This race always comes down to a 20 25 laps shootout.”
“We just didn’t have that raw speed in our car today… We needed that tire window to open up maybe 60 to go.” He added that the tires performed well, showing enough wear for him to make some passes.
Ty Majeski’s long-run speed carried him to a race-high 192 laps led, eclipsing the 500-lap mark for career laps led in the Snowball Derby.
However, the Wisconsin native lacked short-run speed when needed to close out the race. pic.twitter.com/nM03BipYtV
— Racing America (@RacingAmerica) December 9, 2024
However, after winning the Snowball Derby race in 2020 and 2023, Majeski could not grab his third one this year.
Majeski had a strong start leading the first 89 laps. Honeycutt seized the lead on lap 90 and held onto it until lap 163, save for a fleeting challenge from Majeski at a lap 125 restart.
The 2024 Truck Series champion regained the lead on lap 209, maintaining it until a caution on lap 272 when Noah Gragson spun out exiting turn four.
In the final restart with just 21 laps remaining, Majeski and Honeycutt engaged in a fierce duel. Honeycutt aggressively nudged Majeski out of the lead on lap 282. Although Majeski attempted a comeback, he couldn’t reclaim his position.
With 9 laps left, Stephen Nasse surged ahead, capturing P2 place and relegating the defending Snowball Derby champion to P3. Jace Hansen and William Sawalich completed the top five, finishing fourth and fifth, respectively.
