More than 120 late model race cars were parked in the infield of Pensacola’s 5 Flags Speedway Wednesday. Approximately half of those cars will try to enter the 44th Snowball Derby. Those Super Late Models will be driven by the best short track racers in the country. More than 20 drivers will leave the track before Sunday’s race, as Friday night qualifying will determine who makes the starting grid for the most important short track stock car race in the country.

Long lines of cars formed for technical inspections which were requried before the cars can practice Thursday. If any one of the scores of technical requirements is not met, the problem must be fixed and then the crews get back in line for re-inspection. Grant and the Bragg Racing crew were delighted that the #82 Prebble Rish machine had no major technical deficiencies. “This is the first year in my 8 Derby tries that we have been through tech only once. We had the car back in the pits ready to go before noon. We will be ready to be on the track first thing this morning.”

Because Grant has one of the only 2 guaranteed starting positions in the 300 lap Derby, he and the crew can afford to spend the majority of practice time working on race trim, including long runs and fuel calculations. The new Derby rules allow only 2 tires to be changed during a pit stop and strategy will be a key to winning the long distance contest.

Practice times Thursday and Friday will be accessible on www.speed51.com , as will live audio streaming of Friday night qualifying and Sunday’s race which begins at 2 p.m. CST. Speed51 will have updates and news from the track from Thursday morning through Sunday’s checkered flag.

The Bragg Racing crew worked hard at Pensacola’s 5 Flags Speedway Monday in the final practice session before 100 other late model teams invade the 1/2 mile facility tomorrow. Grant was pleased with the car’s performance, but knows that everything must be perfect for the #82 to post a top qualifying position. “We started off the session well, and worked on adjusting the car’s handling the rest of the day. We are working on the car in the shop in Mississippi all day Tuesday before taking the car back to Pensacola tonight, to be in line to enter the track Wedneday.”

Wednesday is one of the most important, but tedious, days of Derby week, as pre-qualifying technical inspections will be conducted on many different aspects of the race cars. If even one small technical deficiency is found, the car is sent back to the pits for repair and the crew must go back to the end of the line of more than 100 cars for re-inspection. If any car does not completely clear technical inspection Wednesday, that car can not enter the track for practice until all issue are corrected.

For a complete schedule of this week’s activities, leading up to Sunday’s green flag, visit www.Speed51.com .

GRANT TESTING AT 5 FLAGS TODAY

The last event on the 2011 racing calendar is almost here. The 44th Snowball Derby, the most important short track stock car race in the country, is set for Sunday December 4th at Pensacola’s 5 Flags Speedway. Racers from all over the country (and a few from Canada) are heading to Florida to try to make the field for Sunday’s race.

For the first time, Grant has a guaranteed starting position in the Derby field. The top 2 Blizzard Series points drivers are awarded provisional starting slots at the back of the Derby grid. While Grant and the Bragg Racing crew want to start the race from the front, a lot of pressure is removed in knowing the #82 will make the field. A lot of good cars are sent home after Friday night qualifying, as only the best of the best make it into the Derby. Virtually every driver who qualifies for Sunday’s race is either a track or series champion or has won a big race previously, and can win the Derby. NASCAR Sprint Cup, Nationwide & Truck drivers are entered, as they know the Derby trophy is something every stock car driver longs for.

Grant has been on the pole and has finished 2nd in the past. The only think he hasn’t accomplished in the Derby contests is finishing first. He and the Bragg crew will be testing the car at the speedway today,as they know that Thursday and Friday practice is both limited and dangerous. “Every year several cars are crashed during practice, as we all know the stakes are high in this last race of the year. I hope we can get the car close to qualifying trim today and then work on the race set up for the grueling 300 lap race.”

For more information on the Derby, including the schedule of activities which begin Wednesday evening, visit www.snowballderby.com and www.speed51.com .

RACING NEWSLETTER—NOVEMBER 21, 2011

CUP CAR NOT READY FOR PRIME TIME
GRANT MISSES THE CUT AT HOMESTEAD

THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE WAS POSTED ON AL.COM
SATURDAY EVENING

Grant Enfinger gets a baptism by fire in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series

Published: Saturday, November 19, 2011, 9:44 PM

Description: Doug Demmons – The Birmingham NewsBy Doug Demmons – The Birmingham News

It wasn’t the kind of weekend that Alabama driver Grant Enfinger was hoping for.

Enfinger went to Homestead-Miami Speedway to try to qualify his No. 93 Chevy in this weekend’s season-ending NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race. If he had raced his way in, he would have been his Cup debut on Sunday.

But it wasn’t to be.

“It was a struggle from the get-go,” said Enfinger, who is from Fairhope. “We had some issues in tech.”

The pre-race technical inspection issues were bad enough, he said, that NASCAR ended up confiscating the entire rear trunk of the car that the Sinica Motorsports team had bought from Richard Childress Racing.

Sinica is a startup team that plans to run 10 to 15 Cup races in 2012 but was determined to try to make the show at Homestead before showing up for the Daytona 500 in February. The team even had sponsorship from Hewes Concrete Polishing, an Indiana company.

But the team just wasn’t prepared to handle everything that came their way, Enfinger said, and it showed. Enfinger’s qualifying lap was almost 10 mph slower than Carl Edwards’ pole-winning speed.

“Honestly, they ran out of time trying to do everything,” he said of his team. “We made it better, but we started off way too far out in left field.”

But as badly as the qualifying effort went, he said, the weekend was an important learning experience. It was much better to make all those mistakes at Homestead than it would be to make them in February while trying to make the field for the Daytona 500.

“Absolutely,” Enfinger said. “That’s why it’s very important that we went to this race.”

He said that Hewes Concrete Polishing will be back on the car for Daytona and that the team plans to do some testing before then.

“It’s brutal the way it happened, but going into 2012 it’s good that we had these growing pains,” he said.

It was a hard lesson to learn, Enfinger said, but one the team will profit from down the road.

“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,” he said.

Grant spent yesterday testing David Ragan’s Super Late Model car at Pensacola’s 5 Flags Speedway. David was racing his Sprint Cup UPS car at Phoenix. “David is not only my landlord, he is a good friend. I am always happy to get in a race car and when my shop landlord asks me to help him, I will do most anything to avoid eviction.” Ragan will be racing against Grant in the 44th Snowball Derby at Pensacola December 4th. Grant will be testing his Derby ride (Bragg Racing #82) the day after Thanksgiving. After a full afternoon of testing, Grant flew back to North Carolina to help the Sinica crew finish preparations on the Cup car. The race car is due to leave Charlotte Tuesday evening, with Grant heading south Thursday.

From the 1/2 mile track in north Florida, Grant will next compete on the banked speedway at Homestead, for the final Sprint Cup race of the year. Grant will attempt to qualify the Sinica Motorsports Chevrolet Impala for next Sunday’s race. Because the new race team has no owner points, Grant will be required to post a qualifying time fast enough to beat out several other “go or go homers” who will be trying to make the race. Cup practice on Friday and Saturday and qualifying on Saturday will be televised live on Speed TV. For a complete schedule of the Homestead Championship Weekend activities, visit www.jayski.com .