Jeff Fultz Finishes On the Podium in Snowball Derby

Jeff Fultz makes his living in racing as a team member in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, but he isn’t actually a professional race car driver. He sure has the talent, as shown by his numerous short track victories, but he just doesn’t have the backing or the time to devote to being just a racecar driver.

That fact would have been hard to tell during Sunday’s 40th Annual Snowball Derby at lags Speedway in Pensacola, Florida though. Fultz ran strong against some better funded competition all day long and finished third in a field stocked with some of the best short track racers in the country.

“We’re really excited,” said Fultz. “We’re not the biggest team compared to some of these guys. [Team owner] Curtis [Veneble] gives us everything we need, though. We’re gaining each week. To come here and just to qualify for this show is one big thing. Some of the big guys this weekend went home.

Fultz drove his #67 Super Late Model like it was on rails during the race.

“Our car was really good all race. I could pass anyone I wanted to. We had a couple of issues in the pits that cost us some spots and we got stuck in the back twice. We took our time and got back up there though. We missed a lot of wrecks and got lucky some times. We’re really fortunate that we were able to come up as far as we were.

“At the end we were at the front, but the #2 (Clay Rogers) held me up just long enough that I burned my tires up. I just was so loose and we got into some oil that I was just sliding around so I couldn’t get up to [Second place finisher Matt] Hawkins and [race winner] Augie [Grill]

The Snowball Derby concludes Fultz’s 2007 racing season.