By: Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer
Though Myatt Snider ended Friday night 14th at Homestead-Miami Speedway, he left the track as a winner of something.
The No. 13 Thorsport Racing driver scored the Rookie of the Year Award, finishing the season ninth in driver points.
“You have to be on your game here — and once you are on your game, you can get some pretty good runs,” Snider said. “I could not have done that without everybody from Thorsport. It’s been a good year overall.”
Finishing 14th in the Ford EcoBoost 200, Snider felt improvements in his Toyota to end better than they started.
“I couldn’t really go anywhere with it,” he said. “We made some wholesale changes and got it to where I could really drive it. I went to struggling to run 18th and catching guys in the top 10. We definitely gained some spots.”
The Homestead result will only highlight the marked improvement for Snider. The 23-year-old scored three straight top-10 finishes in the playoffs, including a second place at Talladega and third at Martinsville in succession.
“During the summer, there were a lot of times we were just figuring stuff out,” he said. “The little ins and outs we needed to improve on as a team. That culminated in the fall stretch of races. For where we started and where we are now, I think it’s quite an improvement. I’m really proud of everyone for working on it.”
Snider will remember his early season potential as stand-out moments in 2018.
“The results didn’t quite show but that was showing what the raw potential this team was,” he said. “I definitely take away some of those runs and everything we improved on as a team.”
Snider hopes to have the opportunity to build off 2018 with a sophomore campaign with Thorsport in 2019.
“I think it’s the smartest move to stick with them,” he said. “To see what we can do next year as a non-rookie. I think we’ll be running for a championship next year if we do run.”