MORE: Full race results
Kyle Busch won the 2017 Snowball Derby, the 50th anniversary of the event, Sunday at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Florida.
Busch was the only Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver entered in the golden anniversary race, but he was joined by NASCAR Next and development drivers Harrison Burton, Noah Gragson, Corey LaJoie, Brandon McReynolds, Ty Majeski and Mason Mingus.
In 2009, Busch also won the Snowball Derby, one of the most prestigious late model races in the country. Other Derby winners currently driving in NASCAR’s national series are Chase Elliott (2011, 2016), Erik Jones (2012, 2013) and John Hunter Nemechek (2014).
Busch led the final 17 of 300 laps to take first. Veterans Jeff Choquette and Bubba Pollard finished second and third, respectively. Burton, the 2017 K&N Pro Series East champion, took fourth. Chase Purdy, a member of the NASCAR Next class, was eighth. McReynolds took 10th.
.@KyleBusch Keeps Eye on the Prestigious 50th Annual #SnowballDerby Prize. Unofficial results included – https://t.co/U8868Ni2Ma pic.twitter.com/3s0SiSZmyH
– Speed51.com – PFC Brakes News Feed (@speed51dotcom) December 3, 2017
Kyle is the man. Doesn’t get enough credit for what he does for the sport. That was impressive #SnowBallDerby
– William Byron (@WilliamByron) December 3, 2017
Congrats @KyleBusch and @KBMteam on the win in the prestigious #SnowballDerby late model race! https://t.co/xKiv9fz02s
– Joe Gibbs Racing 🚗🏁 (@JoeGibbsRacing) December 4, 2017
Love him or hate him, @KyleBusch just took a non winning race car & won with it by purely racing the race track, and then flat out out racing some of the best at the end to hoist the #SnowballDerby trophy for the 2nd time. Impressive! Dude is incredible, & incredible for Racing.
– Daniel Hemric (@DanielHemric) December 3, 2017