Eckes Beats Nemecheck in Photo Finish at Snowball Derby

JR Motorsports developmental driver Christian Eckes won the rain-delayed Snowball Derby in Pensacola, Florida on Tuesday night, beating John Hunter Nemecheck to the finish line by a nose in a side-by-side duel. Eckes, 16, swapped the lead with Nemechek several times over the last five laps of the race, a race originally scheduled for Sunday but delayed twice by rain.

Ty Majeski finished third, Donnie Wilson was fourth, and Chandler Smith rounded out the top five.

The last lap was the only one that Eckes led in the 300-lap event that was plagued by numerous cautions.

Eckes finished 22nd in his Snowball Derby debut last year. He is originally from Greenville, New York but moved to Cornelius, North Carolina to be a part of the JR Motorsports organization.

49th Annual Snowball Derby Official Results

showing position, car number, driver name

1 15 Christian Eckes
2 8 John Hunter Nemechek
3 91 Ty Majeski
4 2W Donnie Wilson
5 26S Chandler Smith
6 7 Casey Roderick
7 82 Grant Enfinger
8 77 Zane Smith
9 5G Noah Gragson
10 99L Raphael Lessard
11 26 Bubba Pollard
12 43T Derek Thorn
13 14C Connor Okrzesik
14 99 Casey Smith
15 29 Spencer Davis
16 07 Corey LaJoie
17 4D Dalton Armstrong
18 55 Dalton Sargeant
19 01 Derek Scott, Jr.
20 42 Chad Finley
21 51N Stephen Nasse
22 9B William Byron
23 98 Daniel Hemric
24 3 Kaz Grala
25 9K Derek Kraus
26 97 Cole Anderson
27 112 Augie Grill
28 5 Jerry Artuso
29 9C Jeff Choquette
30 83 Scotty Ellis
31 14 Chris Davidson
32 51 Christopher Bell
33 11 David Rogers
34 12 Harrison Burton
35 4 Kyle Plott
36 16 Brandon McReynolds