Charlotte, N.C. (November 28, 2016) – 2016 ARCA Racing Series Rookie of the Year, Dalton Sargeant will make his third Snowball Derby start but with a new partner and an all-new look for the 49th annual event. Phoenix Construction have joined the super late model powerhouse of Accelerate Motorsports with Bond Suss and will give the 18 year old Boca Raton, FL native one of his best opportunities to win the elusive Tom Dawson trophy.
“I think our Phoenix Construction, Billy Ballew Motorsports, Windows 10 Toyota Camry looks great, it even looks fast just standing still in the shop,” said Dalton Sargeant. “We’ve known Billy Ballew and James Finch at Phoenix Construction for a while now and they’ve been just as excited for the Snowball Derby as we’ve been, so it’s really cool to see the energy from those guys. It’s an absolute honor to be carrying these colors and the iconic Phoenix Construction/Billy Ballew Motorsports name at the Snowball Derby where they’ve been in victory lane multiple times in the past. I‘m hoping to go out there and continue that legacy for those guys because that’s what they expect. Looking forward to hanging out with them and hearing all the old short track and NASCAR stories, they always entertain the entire crew for hours and keep us laughing.”
Along with Phoenix Construction, Billy Ballew Motorsports will also partner with Sargeant and Accelerate Motorsports for the 2016 Snowball Derby. James Finch and Ballew have an extensive history in NASCAR including Sprint Cup, Xfinity and Truck Series wins amongst the two of them as team owners. Phoenix Construction has sponsored the Snowball Derby winner a few times in the past as well, including Jeff Purvis in 1996, Erik Jones in 2013 and Chase Elliott in 2015. Sargeant has two top-5 finishes in his two Snowball Derby starts, including a second-place finish in the 2014 Snowball Derby to John Hunter Nemechek in his first attempt at the age of 16. Sargeant hopes that his new surroundings at Accelerate Motorsports with Bond Suss are exactly what he needs for a breakout win.
“We’ve been really good this season as a whole, we’ve probably had the most diverse super late model schedule out of anyone in the country this season. From the Oxford 250 to the Winter Showdown to the Winchester 400 to the Seekonk Speedway Nationals and now to the Snowball Derby, this race team has seen a lot of different race tracks and we’ve been in a position to win every weekend no matter where go. We put ourselves in position to win the All American 400 and Winchester 400 but couldn’t finish the deal, in both races we were leading at lap 300 and luckily for us the Snowball Derby is 300 laps so hopefully that plays in our favor. We have not tested at 5 Flags Speedway or even seen the race track this year but we’re still very confident and my crew chief Bond Suss’ previous success speaks for itself. We have a very specific strategy for all the practice sessions starting Thursday so looking forward to getting out there for the first session at one of my favorite race tracks.”
The 49th annual Snowball Derby takes place on Sunday, December 4 with practice beginning on Thursday, December 1. Speed 51 will be televising all four days of on-track action, for more information and live updates throughout the weekend, head over to Speed51.com. Follow @DaltonSargeant on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for all the live updates with the No. 55 Phoenix Construction, Billy Ballew Motorsports, Windows 10 Toyota Camry.