Johanna Long, Pensacola’s 18-year-old phenom, outlasted 36 other drivers to take the checkered flag at the 43rd Annual Snowball Derby and become just the second female to win America’s most prestigious short-track race. Long held off Donnie Wilson over the final 13 laps to secure the win. The crowd was on its feet for the race’s final 30 laps, many hoping Long, Pensacola’s racing darling, would take home the $22,500 winner’s check. When she did, the reaction was deafening. “She’s been a favorite among our local fans since she started racing here at age 14,” Five Flags Speedway owner Tim Bryant said. “I’m not sure many of our out-of-town fans came in Johanna Long fans, but they probably left as one.” And after what Long – who follows in the footsteps of Tammy Jo Kirk, the first female Derby winner in 1994 – did to secure the victory, it’s no wonder the crowd went wild in jubilation. On lap 315, Long finally got what she wanted and passed Wilson on the inside. She held her lead through two more cautions and five green laps. And winning wasn’t easy in the 16-caution race that saw multiple wrecks, spin-outs and car malfunctions. Long was one of just 12 drivers who finished the race. Of those, only eight cars finished on the lead lap.(Pensacola News Journal.com)(12-6-2010)
