By Jerry Jordan, Editor
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – As drivers were maneuvering for position along the Daytona International Speedway backstretch on the final lap of the Xfinity Series race, several cars got together turning Myatt Snider around backward, forcing him airborne and into the outside catchfence.
The impact of the crash with the catchfence was so intense that it ripped the car apart, throwing the engine of the No. 31 Chevrolet onto the track and into the No. 5 car driven by Matt Mills. The rear axle and drive assembly also broke loose from the car as did the fuel filler assembly, the front right wheel and numerous other parts. As for the catchfence, at least, one of the retaining poles, four cables and a long section of chain link were torn apart or bent over.
Snider said he understands that it was the last lap and he knew that everyone was trying to jockey for position. At that point, he knew the inevitable was about to happen.
Glad @MyattSnider is okay! Crazy wreck right in front of us. Scary stuff pic.twitter.com/68nSCemwdV
— Bubba Wallace (@BubbaWallace) February 20, 2022
“I felt a push and I started feeling the car go right and I was like, Crap, I might be going for a ride here,’ and sure enough I was,” Snider said. “I got turned around to the side and then I was facing backward. I started seeing the racetrack and was like, ‘hmmm, this is getting better as it goes.’ So, I think what happened is the left rear started yawing towards the fence and the fence caught. That’s what really started tearing everything up. Then I got drug into the grass from what I could tell, so yeah, as I have said already, I am extremely blessed to be as okay as I am. I am glad that Jordan Anderson Racing built us such a safe racecar. Man, I really wanted to get a Top 5 finish. I felt like we were so close all but that is just the nature of the beast with racing.”
Snider said the impact was “violent” and that he saw “sparks, kind of, going everywhere. He began to laugh, saying he didn’t have any idea where he was going. He said he was treated for minor injuries to his left leg and foot in the care center but, “It is sore. I think it will be fine to race. Just a matter of getting the opinions of the experts.”
“You don’t know where you are going to go, you just know that you are going in some direction and it’s not the right one,” Snider said. “I was just, kind of, holding on, hunching over doing everything I could to keep everything together as much as I could. I can’t profess enough how glad I am that I am all good.”
Behind Snider was eventual 10th place finisher, Brandon Brown, who said he saw the No. 31 car with its nose down and tail up as he tried to take evasive action. At one point, his spotter came over the radio and told him that he had no idea where he was in all the chaos.
“It was a whole lot of chaos and held the gas down and went through it,” Brown said. “That was nuts. Like that was crazy. I have raced these superspeedways a few times now and seen just about everything you can see. The craziest thing I can think of was when was Ben Kennedy taking out the fence at Kentucky (Speedway). All I could see was the 31 going around and I am staring up at him like, ‘Oh, my God.’”
Brown said he didn’t have much time to do anything but react and he knew that he had to try and avoid the other cars that were also spinning or taking evasive action. He said, he wished everyone would have stayed in the gas because it’s a racer’s mentality to get the best finish they can but it’s a natural instinct for drivers to check up.
Myatt Snider says his left leg is "a little banged up," and that he will see how it feels tomorrow to see if it requires further evaluation.
It's the first time he's been upside down, so why not Daytona.
Praises car, track and safety initiates that he's as okay as he is. pic.twitter.com/uLnkmiqTjd
— Matt Weaver (@MattWeaverRA) February 20, 2022
“One minute he was there and the next he was turned around in a cloud of smoke, kind of, like Days of Thunder,” Brown said. “I was looking for any sort of light at the end of the tunnel, I was just bearing down because I saw cars sliding back up and I was aimed at cars the other way. All I could think was go left. It’s never good when the spotter says I lost you. Everyone assumed I was in it but I got on the radio and said, ‘Yeah I am good.’ I was riding around the bottom by then. That was nuts. It was one of those things where after the race, I got out of the car and texted Myatt to see if he was alright because that was nasty looking. I was so glad to see he was okay. He was nose pointing down when to the ground when I was driving away.”
Snider was credited with a 22nd place finish after running in the Top 5 when he was crashed.
“When I got out of the car, I noticed the whole car was in shambles,” Snider said. “I’m surprised because there wasn’t much more of the car left. I looked forward when I got out of the car and I see the motor is gone and the fuel cell is almost gone. There was not much left to that racecar. Yard sale.”