Cameron Leytham Goes From Swimming Pool to Snowball Derby Podium

As Late Model teams gear up for the Snowball Derby and Snowflake 100 this weekend, one driver has notably stood out.

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Cameron Leytham and family were driving from their home in Mobile, AL to Five Flags Speedway Wednesday night when the unthinkable happened. A broken strap caused his No. 8 Pure Stock to roll off their open trailer, through a chain link fence and into the hotel pool at the Red Roof Inn & Suites in Tilllman's Corner, Alabama.

A scene that could easily be mistaken for a film plot unfolded just over 24 hours after a boom truck was used to retrieve Leytham’s car from a pool. Celebrating his third-place finish in the Lloyd’s Glass Pure Stock feature, Leytham was found jubilant on the frontstretch.

It was a trying 24 hours getting the since-dubbed “Submarine Machine” ready to go for Thursday night’s feature. The team arrived just after the conclusion of practice, with Leytham’s first laps since the car was pulled out of the pool coming during qualifying.

Leytham narrated, “While we were on the road, a strap on the trailer broke, causing the car to roll into a swimming pool. We brought it home, removed the motor and the transmission, drained all the fluids, and rebuilt everything. We made it here in a rush, so let’s see what it can do now.”

In qualifying, Leytham ranked his machine seventh on the board. He then steadily maneuvered through the field as others dropped out during the 35-lap event. By the race’s conclusion, he had made his way to third place, rounding off an intense 24 hours.

During the Snowball Derby weekend, Leytham was fixated on securing a win, particularly after finishing second in last year’s race. However, after the occurrences of the past 24 hours, he was satisfied with a podium finish.

“We exerted a lot of effort to prepare this thing and these guys certainly did not let us down. We even emptied all the water and everything else. Although it didn’t operate at full capacity, it functioned.”

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