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Pensacola’s Johanna Long Wins The Snowball Derby

Pensacola’s Johanna Long became the second, and the youngest, female to win the Snowball Derby Sunday in one of the wildest finishes short-track racing’s most prestigious event has seen.

Long, 18, shed tears of joy after hoisting the Tom Dawson trophy to celebrate a historic victory in the 43rd annual Snowball Derby.

Two North Escambia area residents placed in Sunday’s race. Brandon Carlson finished 33rd, while Eddie Mercer placed 37th.

Long  joins  Mercer (2005), Dickie Davis (1971, 1973) and Wayne Niedecken Sr. (1968) as hometown heroes to find Victory Lane at the Derby.

“It’s absolutely amazing,” Long, 18, said. “I can’t believe I did it. We worked so hard on this.”

Long shifted into another gear late when several of Sunday’s 16 cautions began to wave as the Derby neared its completion and drivers got antsy.

Fresh tires allowed her to pass Landon Cassill on Lap 316 for a lead she never relinquished, but not before Cassill went for a spin on the back straightaway and an ugly collision ensued behind him.

“She had new tires and was way faster than us,” said the 21-year-old Iowan, who finished fourth. “To run fourth here is a great accomplishment. I know I can win this.”

Five Flags’ asphalt is notorious for chewing up tires and spitting them out. This edition of the Derby was no different.

“(Cassill) understood,” said Long, who led 23 laps Sunday, including the final 13. “I had good tires and he didn’t.”

Several leaders lost their shot at racing immortality by foolishly believing their tires would hold up.

Chase Elliott, leading at the time, saw an unprecedented Snowflake 100-Derby weekend sweep fall by the wayside when Cassill spun him on Lap 298.

Before a green-white-checkered finish could be determined, the tower’s official ruling was that the drivers had to complete five total laps under green. Long sat outside the top five.

“I was nervous,” she said. “I was very concerned.”

She blew past Casey Smith and followed Cassill by then-leader Donnie Wilson on Lap 313.

Wilson was a terrific story Sunday. With Freddie Query, Long’s old crew chief, in his tower, Wilson made a valiant run playing the dark-horse role Sunday.

“Our track position was real good,” he said. “It was just our pit stops put us in a bad position. We still finished in the top five, so I’ll take it. I’m not gonna complain.”

Long finally won’t have to either. She was perfect on the green-white-checkered restart, pulling away from Wilson and never having to sweat in the final two laps.

Long stuck her fist outside the window into the cool air and pumped it as the checkered flag swayed in the wind.

A sometimes frustrating season was erased in a blink Sunday.

She came into the Derby win-less this year. Long gained invaluable experience while competing in seven NASCAR’s trucks series races, but her million-dollar smile paid the price for it.

Her confidence never wavered, though.

“I knew the team was working hard,” Long said. “They wanted to win just as much as I did. We finally did it.”

The home-schooled senior has faced many challenging tests this year. In her final exam, though, Long passed with flying colors.

“There’s been a lotta learning this year. It’s been tough,”said Donald Long, Johanna’s father and car owner. “We’ve made a few mistakes here and there, but we wanna race for a living. Hopefully, this gets us to that point.”