The 57th Annual Snowball Derby at Five Flags Speedway, one of the most prestigious Super Late Model events of the season, is officially underway.
Thursday's first one-hour practice session produced no surprises, with Derek Thorn pacing the session in his No. 07 entry, laying down a time of 16.508 seconds.
NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Chandler Smith, looking for his second victory in the Snowball Derby, was the second-quickest driver in the session, just 0.013 seconds off the lead.
Buddy Shepherd (No. 22S) was third, with Haeden Plybon, and Cole Butcher rounding out the top five. Brent Crews, Kaden Honeycutt, Jeremy Doss, Giovanni Ruggiero, and Michael Hinde completed the top-10.
Results: Snowball Derby Practice #1
| Pos | # | Driver | Time | Diff |
| 1 | 07 | Derek Thorn | 16.508 | |
| 2 | 2S | Chandler Smith | 16.521 | 0.013 |
| 3 | 22S | Buddy Shepherd | 16.530 | 0.022 |
| 4 | 55 | Haeden Plybon | 16.536 | 0.028 |
| 5 | 28B | Cole Butcher | 16.568 | 0.060 |
| 6 | 24 | Brent Crews | 16.582 | 0.074 |
| 7 | 21 | Kaden Honeycutt | 16.589 | 0.081 |
| 8 | 44D | Jeremy Doss | 16.603 | 0.095 |
| 9 | 22R | Giovanni Ruggiero | 16.603 | 0.095 |
| 10 | 69 | Michael Hinde | 16.606 | 0.098 |
| 11 | 26P | Bubba Pollard | 16.619 | 0.111 |
| 12 | 91 | Ty Majeski | 16.636 | 0.128 |
| 13 | 35 | Jake Garcia | 16.669 | 0.161 |
| 14 | 76R | Kole Raz | 16.685 | 0.177 |
| 15 | 51F | Jake Finch | 16.689 | 0.181 |
| 16 | 8S | Sammy Smith | 16.738 | 0.230 |
| 17 | 08 | Jace Hansen | 16.743 | 0.235 |
| 18 | 8K | Carson Kvapil | 16.746 | 0.238 |
| 19 | 28W | Timothy Watson | 16.748 | 0.240 |
| 20 | 44J | Conner Jones | 16.750 | 0.242 |
| 21 | 23 | Bill VanMeter | 16.754 | 0.246 |
| 22 | 26S | Dawson Sutton | 16.755 | 0.247 |
| 23 | 51N | Stephen Nasse | 16.761 | 0.253 |
| 24 | 82 | Michael Scott | 16.783 | 0.275 |
| 25 | 98 | David Gilliland | 16.782 | 0.274 |
| 26 | 54C | Matthew Craig | 16.783 | 0.275 |
| 27 | 5C | Vito Cancilla | 16.791 | 0.283 |
| 28 | 89 | Dylan Fetcho | 16.810 | 0.302 |
| 29 | 62 | William Sawalich | 16.823 | 0.315 |
| 30 | 14 | Connor Okrzesik | 16.825 | 0.317 |
| 31 | 9 | Derek Kraus | 16.831 | 0.323 |
| 32 | 33 | Dustin Smith | 16.836 | 0.328 |
| 33 | 2B | John Bolen | 16.884 | 0.376 |
| 34 | 43 | Nick Loden | 16.884 | 0.376 |
| 35 | 4 | Luke Fenhaus | 16.891 | 0.383 |
| 36 | 25 | Nicholas Naugle | 16.915 | 0.407 |
| 37 | 1 | Kasey Kleyn | 16.952 | 0.444 |
| 38 | 30S | Kyle Steckly | 17.023 | 0.515 |
| 39 | 76T | Cayden Lapcevich | 17.037 | 0.529 |
| 40 | 30G | Noah Gragson | 17.059 | 0.551 |
| 41 | 54S | Conner Sutton | 17.221 | 0.713 |
| 42 | 121 | Joseph Meyer | 17.432 | 0.924 |
| 43 | 32T | Treyten Lapcevich | -- | -- |
| 44 | 123 | Ed VanMeter | -- | -- |