“This is bigger than the Daytona 500 to me.” These words should tell you how much Noah Gragson is invested in the Snowball Derby. The former Stewart-Haas Racing driver has been making waves for the past two years in the NASCAR Cup Series. Now that his Cup season is over with a 19.56 average finish, Gragson is prepared to shine at a Late Model event where he won 6 years ago. But an encounter with Joe Gibbs’ rising star ticked him off in this endeavor.

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Xfinity Series driver William Sawalich is supposed to be a Late Model sensation. The 18-year-old won the 2023 ARCA Menards Series East championship while scoring wins in all three ARCA platform divisions. Yet in his 2024 Snowball Derby attempt, he could not help getting into a rival’s bad books. Gragson made that very clear with his scathing comments.

Noah Gragson aims guns at Joe Gibbs’ talent

The Snowball Derby is a colorful summit featuring some of the best drivers from many series. Being a sporting fixture for 57 years, the event values camaraderie and respect among drivers. Festivities kicked off on Thursday, where we saw 2022 race winner Derek Thorn post a fastest speed of 16.508 in the first practice. Then the second practice witnessed Chandler Smith taking the lead with a 16.498 speed. However, 2018 Derby winner Noah Gragson was mired in the back – clinching 40th and 34th spots in the two sessions. He has a feisty explanation for it as well, pointing fingers at Joe Gibbs’ upcoming star.

In an interview with FloRacing, the Cup Series star unloaded his frustration. He called William Sawalich a ‘Dip Dot’ that threw a wrench in his race week plans. “It’s Thursday at the Snowball Derby, it’s a long week, and the dip dot and the 62 just running over us. We’ve been working really hard in this race car, the No. 30, but we’re not quite where we need to be yet… got a little bit to go. Man, like I said, it’s a long week down here – there’s a lot of practice. To be p–sing me off in the first practice, you know, twerks me up.”

Sawalich posted better finishes in the two practice sessions – 29th and 25th. However, that came at the cost of dumping Noah Gragson dived into the details and continued his diatribe. “I guess he’s on a mock run. I’m on a race run, I’m already on the racetrack. He blends up right in front of me. I’m going through 1 and 2, he’s blended on the racetrack. He blends up in the middle of 1 and 2, has his right sides over the line. Normally you blend up down the back straightaway. That p–sed me off. He’s tucked up behind me on a mock run, which doesn’t make any sense. Then he picks us up and sends us down in Turn 1. Just, it’s unnecessary, but you just can’t fix stupid.”

Another turn of events indeed made the week ‘rough’ for Noah Gragson. And that probably heated him more about Sawalich’s actions.

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When Noah Gragson set his target for the Snowball Derby, he was in high spirits. First of all, he wanted a clean win. During his 2018 Snowball Derby victory, his teammate led the most laps that day but suffered an engine failure. That allowed Gragson to take the lead and hold it for the remaining 16 laps. So this time, he was setting his sights on clinching another Tom Dawson trophy fairly. Speaking to Short Track Scene before race week, he said, “I want to win a second one just because this is the biggest race I run every year.”

Then the Derby is a setting where he can enjoy some quality time with friends. They are racers from California, Wisconsin, Canada, and other places and he hadn’t seen them since last December. “Like, this is the only Super race I will have run this year and so I haven’t seen everyone in a while.”

“Everyone here is family to me and it means more to race with family. I spent a lot of time early in my career wanting to beat Bubba Pollard and Derek Thorn. I think Bubba Pollard is one of the best race car drivers of his generation and he doesn’t have a Tom Dawson Trophy yet.” said Gragson, who is a huge admirer of Pollard and also very close to him, calling him one of his ‘best friends’.

Yet as the week-long activities kicked off, misery kicked in for Noah Gragson. Not only did he face hostility on the racetrack from William Sawalich, but he was also down with a fever. He admitted as much during the interview: “It’s been a rough week so far. We’ve got leader’s golf tournament… but I’ve been sick all week. I’ve had a fever for the last couple of days. I was sick here last year on race day. Hopefully, I’m getting it out of the way, I’ve got an IV tonight… gonna try to get it back to normal… The dip dot and the 62 don’t make it any better.”

Evidently, there are multiple reasons for Gragson’s frustration. Hopefully, he can wade through his illness and grudge for Gibbs’ star and perform well on race day.