Myatt Snider – Q&A

Going from a top-tier organization in RCR to a relatively new and much smaller group in Jordan Anderson Racing, what has been the biggest adjustment you’ve had to make? Have you had to change your mindset on how you approach a race weekend considering the differences between the two organizations? The biggest change I’ve had to make has been my expectations. Being a smaller team, knowing which changes we have to make to gain speed are harder to figure out. But, that’s probably the greatest strength I’ve found in my Crew Chief Shane Whitbeck, as well as this team. We have the same mentality of: we’re always fighting for everything. Fighting to get the most speed, fighting to get the most spots, fighting for every advantage we can gain. I think that’s where our strength is. At the end of the day, we can know that we’ve left next to nothing on the table, and we’re making the most out of everything we have.

After running trucks full time in 2018, you moved to the NASCAR Euro Series for 2019 and had a fairly strong season there finishing sixth in points. What is the biggest thing that you took away from your time in that series? The NASCAR Whelen Euro Series taught me quite a few things. The biggest things that applied to my racing career was just how every driver and team over there goes about approaching a road course. The way they broke the corners down, how they related to each other, that was really eye opening for me. I learned a lot, and was able to apply a lot to road courses over here. I always felt like I was a good road racer, but I really only had 1 race on a road course at that point in NASCAR: The 2018 truck race at Mosport. So this season of refined road racing really allowed me to refine my skills, sharpen them and turn them into a real strength over the next few seasons of Xfinity Racing.

Looking back at all the different cars and tracks you’ve had the privilege of racing in your career, what would be your favorite car and your favorite track and why? I wouldn’t necessarily say that I have a favorite car, or truck. But track, that’s a different story. My favorite track of all time is a hard one to pick, so I always give a few. My favorite intermediate is Homestead for obvious reasons. My favorite track that’s not quite and intermediate but not quite a short track is Darlington, just because of the history, the challenge in driving it, and all that it demands from car and driver. My favorite short track is either Bristol or Martinsville. I’ve had success at both, winning the US Short Track Nationals in 2017 and almost winning the Martinsville 300 in late models a few times. I’ve also had speed every time I’ve gone to those places. My favorite road course is either COTA or Portland.

As per some previous stories, you had intentions of getting your pilot’s license. How is that progressing and will you eventually fly yourself to your races? The pilots license is a little slow going. As I’ve gone on in my racing career, I’ve turned more and more of my focus towards exclusively racing, leaving less time to go flying. However I’m still determined to get my license once the offseason hits. I do intend on flying myself to races eventually. I’ve always had a dream of flying myself to Daytona for the first race of the year, and I intend on checking that box.

After your Daytona crash, was there anything that pertained to safety that jumped out to you in a positive or negative light? For example, something that you think stood out to have saved you or something that stood out that could have been a concern.  Nothing really stood out to me apart from the exceptional response from NASCAR to break down everything about the crash. Obviously a lot happened in a very short period of time, but everything operated as it was intended to. This is what I learned when NASCAR went through the crash with me. I learned about all of the G-forces involved, saw all the points where the car kept me safe, and it really gave me an appreciation not only for the cars’ current design, but the people before me who went through similar crashes that helped to develop the car in a way that kept me safe that night.

Do you have a pre-race routine? If so, explain. Yes and no, more so of a weekend routine. I try and have all of my notes ready to go before I even get to the racetrack. To me, being prepared is part of this job, and it’s not merely a choice but an obligation. So once I get to the racetrack, I try and go over all of my notes to make sure they’re more or less downloaded into my head. I also look at the racetrack and sometimes walk it to see any details I can further pick up.

What is your favorite track to race on? In any series. My favorite racetrack(s) (one that I haven’t mentioned previously) is Caraway Speedway in a late model stock. It’s such a fast racetrack despite only being 2/5’s of a mile. It’s also my home track and where I got my first win in late model stocks. Honorable mentions are Orange County Speedway – a very fast, multigroove 1/3 mile track close to Raleigh that has great racing thanks to multiple lanes – and Dominion Raceway – a newer racetrack close to Washington, DC that’s redefining what a short track can be – in late model stocks as well.

What is your most memorable career moment? The most memorable moment for me was the Homestead win. To give some context, Homestead – 3 years prior –  felt like my worst racetrack. I really struggled there in trucks. Mostly because I didn’t know what I needed to go fast there. I knew I would have to be by the fence, but in a truck that never really felt like it was all that fast. Well, fast forward to 2020, I was running the 93, I had just announced that we secured a full time schedule between the 21 and 93. I knew my past there, but I told myself I was going to figure it out. With that weekend being a double header, it was the perfect time to test out what worked and what didn’t. In the race, I was shocked, I figured out what I needed to do in 20 or so laps of the race. I spent the rest of both races refining what I had learned (I nearly got a top 5 in the 2nd race, tying the best finish of the 93 on an intermediate (7th) of all time) and I felt like I turned a weakness into a strength. It paid off the following year. We ran around the top 10 all race, but once we had a long run, it allowed me to get right up on the fence and make a lot of passes. We held out longer than others as they pitted for tires and fuel, and managed to catch a timely caution. So we pitted from 3rd and got to first, and well… the rest is history. 

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