NASCAR driver walks away after wreck sends him airborne during Daytona Xfinity race

NASCAR driver Myatt Snider needed a few seconds to get his bearings before heading to the infield care center at Daytona International Speedway. Snider had just climbed out of his car after an airborne accident that separated his car’s engine from the rest of the vehicle.

“You don’t really know what’s going on. You’re just going some direction and it’s not the right one,” Snider said, speaking to media half an hour after the worst accident of his career.

Snyder’s No. 31 Chevrolet hit the outside wall on the final lap of Saturday’s Xfinity Series race. His car went airborne, hitting the fence, and skidded across the track and into the grass in flames. The back-half of his car was entirely ripped apart as Austin Hill surged to the front of the pack to win the season opener as cars collected behind him.

“Motor’s gone, fuel cell’s gone, there was not much left of that race car,” Snider said. “Yard sale.”

He described the situation that sent him for his first flip in his career, which was his 67th race in the series.

“It’s the last lap and everybody’s trying their best to push as hard as possible and I’m trying to keep as much momentum as I can get,” Snider said. “I felt a push and started feeling the car go right and I’m like, ‘Crap. I might be along for a ride here.’ And sure enough, I was.”

Despite the violent nature of the accident, Snider was able to walk away relatively unscathed. He said that he’ll have his left foot further evaluated, as he was experiencing some soreness there.

“It is sore but I think I should be fine to race, so it’s just a matter of leaving it to the experts,” he said.

Team owner Richard Childress described the relief he felt upon seeing Snider exit his vehicle after the crash.

“That was on our hearts and minds until he was safe and out of the car,” Childress said, adding that the car, including the rollcage and seats, worked as designed to come apart and protect the driver.

“I’m extremely blessed to be as OK as I am and glad that Jordan Anderson Racing built such a safe race car,” said Snider, who finished 22nd. “Man, I really wanted to get a top-five finish. We were so close. I felt like we were in contention all day. That’s just the nature of the beast in racing.

“I can’t profess enough how glad I am that I’m all good.”

This story was originally published February 19, 2022 at 9:57 PM.

Alexandra Andrejev

The Charlotte Observer

NASCAR and Charlotte FC beat reporter Alex Andrejev joined The Observer in January 2020 following an internship at The Washington Post. She is a two-time APSE award winner for her NASCAR beat coverage and National Motorsports Press Association award winner. She is the host of McClatchy’s podcast “Payback” about women’s soccer. Support my work with a digital subscription