Augie Grill Tabbed as Replacement Driver, Attempting to Make Snowball Derby

Through a series of surprising developments on Saturday, Augie Grill is now attempting to race his way into the 57th Annual Snowball Derby.

The two-time winner of the event at Five Flags Speedway from Hayden, Alabama, Grill woke up to a text message and a phone call from Jamie Yelton of Fat Head Racing.

Kasey Kleyn originally entered the Snowball Derby weekend as the driver of the No. 1 for Fat Head Racing. However, after failing to qualify on Friday’s Country Pleasin’ Sausage Pole Night, Kleyn announced Saturday he would not attempt the Last Chance Qualifier.

“Unfortunately, we did not qualify into the Snowball Derby on time, and will not be attempting to race the last chance qualifier,” said Kleyn on Facebook. “I’d like to thank Jamie Yelton's FHR Driver Development Program for their hard work all week, and Thaemert Farms L.L.C. for their support. I look forward to attempting the Derby again in the future.”

Enter Augie Grill.

“Jamie Yelton gave me a call this morning. Well, he texted me first. I was still laying in the bed. He gave me about five minutes and then he called. ‘Hey, you want to get in my car for a couple of laps and see what you think?’

“I can probably squeeze that in. Let me look at the schedule and get back to you. I came into the track and people were asking me, ‘I heard Fat Head talked you into running his car in the Last Chance Race.’ I was like, whoa! That’s not what we talked about.”

Grill and Yelton touched base soon thereafter, and solidified the plan for Grill to practice the car on Saturday and start at the rear of the Last Chance Qualifier.

The Fat Head Racing team re-wrapped the car’s entry on Saturday, and Grill piloted the car during the final Super Late Model practice session of the weekend. Now, he hopes to race his way into the Snowball Derby for the 17th time in his career.

In an odd way, this has turned into one of the least stressful possible scenarios for the veteran racer.

“It’s a no-pressure situation,” said Grill. “All we can do is try to make the race in the 50-lapper. That ain’t half bad, so it should be fun.

“I’ve actually gotten in Jamie’s car a few times over the years when he wanted a second opinion. I’ve worked with him a tad bit, so we had a relationship already. It’s interesting. They make changes in a hurry and get things done. I’m more laid-back and take my time. It is what it is.

“Hopefully, it’ll be fun. That’s why I didn’t bring my Super, I didn’t want any stress. Jumping in somebody else’s car isn’t stressful. I’m just going to run as fast as I can and see what I can do.”

Grill left Saturday’s final practice session content with the pace in the Fat Head Racing entry.

“I needed more security. We worked on it a little bit and they’re working on a few things right now. It took me about three runs to get reacclimated to running a Super rather than a Pro or one of these Outlaws. It’s just a different ball game.

“By the end of it, I got pretty comfortable in the car and they’re making a few changes to help me with that.”

“It showed some speed there in the last practice. Overall, it wasn’t too terribly bad. We’re going to give it a try and hopefully be back tomorrow to race.”

Grill will now be very busy on Saturday, as he is also competing in both the Allen Turner Snowflake 100 and the Faith Chapel Outlaws 50. Therefore, 200 laps of racing await Grill on Saturday, with the possibility of another 300 laps on Sunday.

Earlier this season, Grill won in the Show Me the Money Series at Montgomery Motor Speedway, then shared in victory lane he had diagnosed with cancer in June.

-Photo credit: Will Bellamy, Racing America