Ty Majeski ended the Snowball Derby arguing that he’d been robbed of a win, talking about filing a formal protest after officials hit him with a black flag in the final laps. He’d dominated most of the afternoon, only for the late restarts to turn the finish into a mess and leave him pleading his case on the frontstretch. But despite his pushback, the call stood, and attention shifted to how race control would justify it.

Snowball Derby turns a deaf ear

“Race director Nicholas Rogers says the black flag decision is final and they will look at re-writing the rule for next year. Ty Majeski says he doesn’t care about next year and this is about $50,000 and now there’s a black cloud over the race,” journalist Matt Weaver updated on X.

At the heart of Majeski’s outrage was the restart procedure itself. The Snowball Derby rulebook lays it out in strict terms: “Leader must fire first once in the box. No slowing, weaving, brake checking or decrease in acceleration once the pace car leaves the field. Cars must stay in their lane until the start/finish line. No jumping a start or passing before the start/finish line.” The rule also specifies that if a restart goes sideways and the field doesn’t complete a green-flag lap, officials should revert to the prior running order— “except any cars that are involved, penalized, receive assistance or cars that pit.”

Ty Majeski had dominated the 300-lap Snowball Derby race until twin controversial restarts popped up with 13 laps to go. Officials issued a warning the first time, but waved the black flag on the second. So, although Majeski finished way ahead of Stephen Nasse, the latter bagged the Tom Dawson trophy and $50,000. This unfortunate climax left Majeski so tattered that he desperately protested the race results.

One of the biggest points of contention was that chief technical inspector Freddie Query had been monitoring the restart zone during the race and was the one who radioed in that Majeski had jumped both restarts, the first by what Rogers called “two and a half car lengths,” and the second by “half to three-quarters.” Because the second violation came immediately after a warning, Query’s judgment effectively triggered the black flag.

Majeski refused to pit after the penalty and stayed on track, which forced officials to stop scoring the No. 91 with 10 laps remaining. That detail: Majeski racing on despite the black flag, is what made the scoring and final order even more contentious in race control.

Sadly, however, Snowball Derby director Nicholas Rogers turned down that protest. When the black flag was presented, there were still 8 laps left. And officials would have to stop scoring the No. 91, as Majeski stayed on track and raced Nasse to the finish. That is what made things more complicated, and as Matt Weaver wrote, the race director indirectly admitted to his fault, as he vowed to change the rules for next year.

Inside the former tech shed, the “Room of Doom,” Majeski showed officials video of the restart, insisting “there is no way” the second launch violated the rule. He openly declared, “I am protesting the results,” but Rogers reiterated there was no formal protest mechanism for this type of call, and that overturning it would undermine his officials.

Rogers defended the ruling by citing the rulebook’s language requiring a “slow, steady increase from Turn 3 to the box,” arguing that Majeski’s rapid pull-away didn’t meet that standard. He also pointed out that Majeski himself had lobbied years ago to eliminate the old “fast restart” format, the very change that brought in the restart rule now being debated.

Stephen Nasse became the first driver without a NASCAR resume since Derek Thorn in 2022 to win the non-NASCAR-sanctioned race. He is also only the second non-NASCAR driver to win the race since 2020. Majeski’s fellow Craftsman Truck Series drivers Dawson Sutton and Jake Garcia would finish second and third behind Nasse. The other trendsetting finishers include David Gilliland in 12th, Derek Kraus in 17th, Kyle Busch in 19th, and Kaden Honeycutt in 26th. Ty Majeski washed up in 23rd place.

For Nasse, who had previously lost a Derby win in 2019 due to a disqualification over titanium brake parts, this finish carried a full-circle irony. His spotter instructed him to run “10 qualifying laps” after Majeski’s penalty reflected how suddenly the race flipped in his favor.

“I don’t know. I feel like we won this race. Had the best car all day and yeah, going to try and argue it, of course.” As we all know, Ty Majeski could not succeed in his argument. However, fans are not happy about it.

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Fans bash officials over dramatic finish

The controversy whipped up a storm among fans, who pointed out the arbitrary nature of the Snowball Derby. Although Ty Majeski could not succeed in his protest, the Snowball Derby officials acknowledged a shortcoming. One fan wrote, “So the race director admitted that there is a problem but still upholding the black flag…… please make this make sense.” Somebody else chimed with this sentiment: “We’re gonna re-write the rule” is absolutely not the thing to say right now. That’s practically an admission that they’ve made the wrong call. Yeesh.”

Tim Bryant, the owner of Five Flags Speedway, was also seen listening to Ty Majeski’s qualms. So another fan pleaded with Bryant to do something drastic about the situation. “Tim Bryant needs to dismiss Nicholas Rogers after that embarrassment to short track racing.”

Somebody else compared the 2025 Snowball Derby fallout with the 2021 Abu Dhabi F1 scandal. Race director Michael Masi had allowed only a partial number of lapped cars to unlap themselves before the restart, a highly controversial move. “Welcome to the American version of the Abu Dhabi scandal,” the fan wrote.

What’s more, this is not the first controversy for the Snowball Derby. Back in 2019, Stephen Nasse officially won the race but was disqualified due to a brake issue, handing Ty Majeski the win. This time, the situation has flipped. So a fan wrote, “This race loses it prestige every year. I wouldn’t come back if I was Ty.”

Adding to the emotional swirl, Majeski said the call left “a black cloud” over the biggest short-track race of the year and that he needed a “racing detox” after the week-long grind and the dramatic ending.

Clearly, the Snowball Derby scandal is making waves in the community. Let’s wait and see how Ty Majeski processes the results and prepares for a good comeback next year.