Winter has arrived in the north country with football field and race tracks covered in snow; but down south the track is clear and only light jackets are needed as the world of racing gathers in Pensacola, Florida and Five Flags Speedway for the annual Snowball Races.
Delayed by rain, the racers were on the track for the Snowflake 125 in the early hours of Sunday morning. Among those drivers was 13 year old Keelan Harvick (son of NASCAR champion Kevin Harvick) driving the number 62 Hunt Brothers Pizza car making his debut run in the race.
There were 45 laps remaining in the race when Harvick had a bad restart that dropped the young driver to 15th place.
Battling with Tristan McKee and the reigning Snowball Derby champion and Craftsman Truck Series driver Kaden Honeycutt, Harvick worked his way through the field to take the lead in less than 20 laps.
Once Harvick took the lead, he never let it go and became the youngest driver to win the Pro Late Model Snowflake 125; surpassing Hunter Robbins who won in 2005 at age 14.
Over 60 cars were entered into the race.
An exhausted Harvick spoke on his win saying, “it’s just really cool. I’m thankful for] everything that everybody has sacrificed for me to get to this point. My dad took me to Italy when I was 10 to get the experience with all the other kids who are so much better. That helped me understand the value of racing and helped me get to this point.”
On the botched restart, Keelin said, “I thought I was in third gear, but I was in second gear. I just made a mistake, but I knew I had to fight back. [It would have been] a pretty embarrassing way to lose the Snowflake [125] after I had just got the lead. It was right at the top of my fingertips, but I really did not want that one to slip away.”
Father and son Harvicks spent a year racing alongside each other in Pro and Super Late Model cars to help Keelan prepare for the Snowflake 125.
Included in their racing was a little family competition they called the Harvick Cup that resulted in Keelen winning five of the seven races to win the Cup.
Speaking on the races the Harvicks choose to run, Kevin said, “we typically try to find the hardest races because you learn the most. This race is no different. Not going to find the best competition you can is detrimental to the kids. [Keelan] has done a great job, but Rackley [W.A.R.] has done a great job of preparing the cars all year and getting him used to driving the [Pro Late Models].”
Keelan Harvick joins an impressive list of winners including NASCAR Cup Series drivers Chase Elliott and John Hunter Nemechek, bubba Pollard, and Derek Thorn.
This was the eighth win of the season for Harvick in his rookie season driving full time in full-bodied stock cars.
Speaking on his son, Kevin Harvick said, “I’m really proud of him. We all work really hard at trying to keep the evolution of how he races, what he races and when he races. The best part about [the Snowflake 125]] was watching him through traffic. The laps at the end were good and he kept his head on his shoulders with two good guys behind him.
Harvick added, “it’s great to see him win, but I like to see the progression of different things throughout the night.”
On his preparation for the race, Keelin said, “learning off [so many other drivers] helps me a lot. [It all comes down] to preparing and watching all the videos. All the hard work that goes into this pays off. My guys worked so hard for this and it’s really cool to see it pay off [with a Snowflake 125].”
He added, “[now] I’m probably going to stay up and watch the Snowball Derby.”