Stickler Smokes the Competition in Snowball Derby Modified win

Cody Stickler smoked the competition on Friday night at Five Flags Speedway, in more ways than one.

Stickler won the 75-lap Modifieds of Mayhem feature on Friday night of the 55^th Annual Snowball Derby, closing out a season that already included wins in the Hot Shoe 100 at Springport Mid-Michigan Speedway and the Run for the Gun 50 at Winchester Speedway.

WATCH THE 2022 SNOWBALL DERBY ON RACING AMERICA

However, the race started with plenty of tension for Stickler, as smoke billowed from his No. 46 during the opening laps. The smoke faded, and Stickler soldiered on.

“We’ve had this motor back and forth a couple of times and it keeps smoking,” said Stickler. “It was running great, though.”

It ran so great that it carried him all the way to the win. Stickler took the lead for the final time on lap 47, then held off three-time Modified Snowball Derby winner Augie Grill on several late restarts for the victory.

“I was hitting them good there,” said Stickler about the restarts. “I was trying to make sure I was in the box for them. Thanks to him for racing me clean, it was a lot of fun.”

Stickler even completed the evening with a series of smoky donuts on the Five Flags frontstretch, an exclamation mark on his dominant season.

Grill finished second, a strong start to a busy weekend for the legendary racer. Grill will also compete in the Allen Turner Snowflake 100 and the 300-lap Super Late Model main event on Sunday.

As strong as Grill was on Friday night, though, he had no answer for Cody Stickler

“They’ve got their car really good,” said Grill. “I thought we had a good car at the end, they were just a little bit better. We’re going to keep working and get it back where we need to be.

“Getting to race something is always fun. Three in a weekend is a little much on me, but it’s still fun. I like driving anything. I’d race a go-kart if somebody offered. It’s what I love to do.”

Derrick Griffin led for much of the early stages of the race but came home third to round out the podium. Like Grill, he felt he had a car capable of winning before Stickler flexed his muscle down the stretch.

“I guess I was naïve and thought that tire, you couldn’t hurt it,” said Griffin. “I did, Augie did too. I thougth we both had really good cars, and then we realized we’re not even in the same state as the 46. He’s in his own zip code. He could win the Super race on Sunday right now. We’ve got some work to do.”

The Modified feature also served as the season finale for the Modifieds of Mayhem Tour. With a fourth-place finish, Jaxon Bishop locked up the series championship for 2022.

“This is an awesome deal,” said Bishop. “You’re over here with Cody and Augie and DG, all those guys. They’re just badass race car drivers.

“I wasn’t even going to be racing any asphalt stuff about two years ago when they came to me. They built a brand new motor to come down here and finish off the year. We put together a good race.”

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UNOFFICIAL RESULTS - MODIFIEDS OF MAYHEM 75

1. Cody Stickler
2. Augie Grill
3. Derrick Griffin
4. Jaxon Bishop
5. Tim Moore
6. Matt Maurer
7. Todd Jackson
8. Kraig Hall
9. Jordan Key
10. Bruce Bennett, Jr.
11. Ryan Worsham
12. Donnie Hamrac
13. Dalton Nelson
14. Jason Windham
15. Cody Brake
16. Larry Hughes
17. Kevin Peel
18. Parker Pugh
19. Memphis Villarreal
20. Brandon Curren
21. Blake Ferguson
22. Clayton Green
23. John Walker
24. Dustin Arms
25. Max Calles
26. Jeff Letson
27. Todd Cooper
28. Stephen Nasse
29. Ricky Moxley
30. Hunter Evans
31. Josh Ware
32. Gary Tedder, Jr.