Five Flags Speedway has long been a pain in Cody Stickler’s career until five months ago.

He took the proverbial monkey off his back with a Modifieds of Mayhem victory in July after years of close calls and a few podiums. Then came Night 2 of the 54th Annual Snowball Derby presented by Hooters late Friday night.

Stickler won the Modifieds 75-lap edition of the Derby, overtaking then-leader Stephen Nasse on lap 59 and hitting all of his lines en route to his stage victory. The Pinellas Park pilot has undoubtedly found his furrow in the right furrows of the high banks of Pensacola.

“It’s amazing,” said an elated Stickler, as steam poured over his shaved head. “We’ve been trying to get this one for five or six years now.”

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Augie Grill didn’t quite have the set-up he wanted, but the three-time Derby Modifieds champion made his way to finish second. Derrick Griffin, modified Derby champion last year, fought for a third place finish.

“We were just a tight tick,” Grill said. “I just missed the setup. We were good at training, but we lost that central rotation during the race.

Stickler had a top-five car all night in the 39-car field, but made his push into the clean air halfway through the 75th fastest time. He slipped under Grill for second place on lap 35 and gradually moved up Nasse. Stickler rounded his rival Pinellas Park with 16 laps to go. He had a phenomenal restart and was able to pass Nasse on the outside. He was preparing for a classic duel in the home stretch.

That was until Nasse had trouble chasing Sticker down the home stretch. Nasse is not in the rhythm and decides to park n ° 46 just three laps from the end. It was the first time that Nasse, an accomplished late model pilot, had driven the Modified owned by Doug Moff.

“Dude, that feels good,” Stickler said. “It’s crazy. Getting out front in the clean air certainly helps here.

Stickler joins Gavin Graham, 13, driver Molino Brannon Fowler and Robert Loper of Alabama as Derby winners so far this week.

Graham became the youngest successful driver in Snowball Derby history in the wee hours of Thursday night. Graham took the Pro Trucks Snowball Derby victory after Casey Roderick was disqualified during the post-race technical inspection. Fowler and Loper’s wins in the Sportsmen Snowball Derby and Pure Stocks Snowball Derby, respectively, were each driver’s third career title in the biggest week of short track racing.

The Pro Trucks race was marred by a violent and terrifying late-race incident involving Hunter Johnson, the Pro Trucks track champion this season. Johnson was running hard with Steven Davis at the exit of Turn 4 when things got intense with just two laps to go. Davis stepped behind Johnson’s back and sent him onto the running track. Unfortunately, it was just on the way to a John Heil in charge.

Heil slammed into Johnson’s right side and sent him flying. Johnson first crashed into the roof of the capture fence. No.138 sent sparks all over the place, bounced back, crashed onto the asphalt and shattered into pieces. The horrific incident reminded many of Ryan Newman’s stunt crash last year in Daytona. Surprisingly, Johnson crawled out of the truck on his own. An ambulance transported him to a local hospital for further examination.

The red flag remained up for almost two hours, as security and track officials not only had to clean up the scene, but also had the onerous task of repairing the capture barrier into which Johnson’s truck exploded. Pieces of the wall from Turn 1 were also missing as additional collateral damage at the scene.