All Myatt Snider wanted was a chance.
As the pace car pulled off with two laps to go in the NASCAR Xfinity Series’ Contender Boats 250 on Feb. 27 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Snider could see his career hanging in the balance. He was under no threat to lose his ride at Richard Childress Racing, but the 26-year-old son of acclaimed broadcaster Marty Snider knew a golden opportunity when he saw one.
This was it.
Snider had lost the lead to two-time series champion Tyler Reddick on a restart five laps earlier. He earned a reprieve moments after Reddick passed him, when an accident behind the two leaders brought out another caution flag.
Overtime.
“Damn it,” Snider yelled to himself after he spun his tires and learned he wouldn’t control the restart. “I’ve got one more shot.”
Snider restarted on the inside lane of the front row and had to wait for Reddick to get the field up to speed. He was one good push, one solid launch from scoring his first win, locking his No. 2 TaxSlayer Chevrolet into the playoffs and, potentially, boosting the rare contemporary career forged in skill instead of money.
Snider nailed it. He forgot about spinning his tires and focused on not mashing the throttle too hard or too quickly. Moments after the leaders crossed the start-finish line with two laps remaining, Snider rocketed past Reddick and withstood the NASCAR Cup Series star’s last-lap challenge to score an emotional victory.
It was special for everyone who’s ever supported the Charlotte, N.C., native. It meant the world to the man behind the wheel, too.
For a driver who has spent a lot of time beating himself up over mistakes, the win represented a change in approach. Instead of crumbling when he lost the lead, Snider used it as motivation.
“I knew that when (Reddick) became the control car on the last restart, he had even more of a chance to spin his tires as I did,” Snider said. “I’ve always been better when I have a rabbit to chase, so to speak. I knew he could make the same mistake I did, and I needed to be there to capitalize. It ended up working out really well for me and we got TaxSlayer in victory lane.
“Honestly, a lot of the races last year (when I drove the) No. 21 (for Childress), I made little mistakes that I let get to me. I’ve kind of learned how to compartmentalize that stuff and make sure that stuff doesn’t get to me. I’m getting to a point to where I can do that, where I can treat every restart the same, do things consistently and honestly, it’s paid off.”
Snider has always thrived on keeping his foot in the door, too. While his father’s prowess in front of a camera has aided Snider in terms of awareness, it wasn’t like companies were blowing up his phone to sponsor him.
It’s never been that way and Snider believes he’s benefited from having to dig a bit harder than the average up-and-comer in a sport fueled by cash.
Snider’s first foray into NASCAR’s national series came in a one-off for Tim Self’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series team in 2016. He bagged an eight-race deal with Kyle Busch Motorsports for 2017, scoring a third-place finish at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.
“That was an eye-opening experience for me, because it taught me how much I didn’t know about NASCAR racing,” Snider said of his KBM tenure.
There was no budget for a full-time ride, so Snider had to look around for opportunities once he didn’t re-sign with KBM. Snider landed with ThorSport Racing, another of the Truck Series’ most accomplished teams, for 2018 — scoring three top-five finishes and eight top-10 efforts en route to a ninth-place finish in points. Sponsors must have been looking for drivers who’d already won, though, because piecemealing support wherever possible was Snider’s only option.
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