Snider Building Solid Foundation
NBC Broadcaster’s Son Adds To Family Tradition
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Myatt Snider is building a solid foundation in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series. The second-year driver completed 2013 with his first career win and began 2014 performing like a veteran in an all-star race.
Snider, 19, of Charlotte, N.C., is part of a longtime racing family. His cousin is noted race car chassis builder Jay Hedgecock and his dad is veteran television sports broadcaster Marty Snider, now of NBC and NBC Sports Network.
“It’s really all about learning,” the driver said. “I had a lot to learn last year just making the transition from legends cars to 200-lap late model races.”
Snider began his NASCAR late model racing career at Caraway Speedway in Sophia, N.C. The track nearest his family’s home in Charlotte seemed to be an ideal platform for a young driver to gain knowledge. Past Caraway late model champions include 2000 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Bobby Labonte in 1987, and 1995 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion Mike Skinner in 1993.
Snider eventually branched out from Caraway to experience other tracks including South Boston (Va.) Speedway, Southern National Motorsports Park in Lucama, N.C., and Motor Mile Speedway in Radford, Va.
So far this year he’s competed at Southern National and South Boston.
Snider is ranked 37th in this week’s NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Top 500. His record entering this weekend is two top-fives and six top-10s in 11 starts. He posted finishes of 10th and fifth in a pair of 75-lap late model features at Southern National last Saturday.
“We’ve had speed but we haven’t had luck,” Snider said. “We’ve had a couple of flats and a few small things that can make a difference. It’s not getting me down. We’re close.”
Car control and strategy are two elements of focus, Snider said. From his experience in bandoleros and legends cars, he said he has a good feel for correcting a slip. He also observes the competition.
“I always try to figure out other guys’ lines on the track,” Snider said. “A good portion of running a race is knowing how the others race. If you figure that out, then you have an idea about where to try a move. If you see two guys going after each other, you try to get away from that.”
Snider opened 2014 with a third-place finish in the first of two 75-lap features at Southern National. He led 30 laps in the second 75 before being caught up in a crash that resulted in a 19th-place finish.
Next up was twin 100s during South Boston (Va.) Speedway’s season opener March 15. After a seventh place finish in the first 100, he was wrecked so hard his new 2014 Hedgecock chassis was nearly demolished. The body of the car was so mangled Dale Earnhardt Jr. acquired it for his race car “graveyard.” A complete rebuild of the car at Hedgecock’s shop, including front and rear clips took some time.
In the April 24 non-points Danny Hamlin Short Track Showdown at South Boston, Snider was able to shine in his backup No. 2 MyattSnider.com Chevrolet. He started 30th, advanced 23 positions and posted a seventh-place lead lap finish.
“Our backup car is last year’s car,” Snider said. “It’s not as fast early but it’s really good in long runs. It doesn’t fall off.”
The old car served him well last year.
He put together a solid 2013 record of six top fives and 25 top 10s in 38 starts before adding the post-season win at Caraway. He ranked 58th in the 2013 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Top 500 and 14th in North Carolina state standings. He placed sixth in Caraway points, fifth at Southern National and won rookie-of-the-year awards at both.
At Caraway last October, he took the lead from 2010 track champ Mac Little III with 20 laps to go and held off challenges from Tommy Lemons Jr. to take the win. Lemons had recently won the Virginia Is For Racing Lovers 300 late model fall classic at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.
“After I took the lead it was a very hard run,” Snider said. “Tommy was on us the whole time but we held him off and took the win.
“For the first 100 laps I ran and about 85 percent of what the car had. I just saved the tires and ran around fifth place until it was time to go.”
Snider’s dad can be a hands-on crewman.
“Dad’s helped me so much and it’s amazing how hard he works at it,” Snider said. “It’s not just the racing. He has knowledge of social media and he’s just a great dad.”
Snider’s car is based in the shop of crew chief Jeff Caudill in Four Oaks, N.C., near Raleigh. Caudill formerly worked for JR Motorsports and is a longtime mechanic. Caudill’s brother, Jamey, a former Martinsville late model race winner, is a crewman and coach. Paul Griffin is spotter and David Drew is also a crewman. The car uses a Kowalsky racing engine.
Snider just concluded his freshman year at Belmont (N.C.) Abbey College and has been employed by Joe Gibbs Racing since March 2012. He’s worked in the fabrication shop, the assembly department for the No. 20 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series cars driven by 2003 series champ Matt Kenseth, and recently moved to the engineering department.
Snider started his driving career at age 10 in bandolero bandits and moved into legends cars a year later. He won legends track championships at Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway and Concord (N.C.) Speedway. He won the legends’ North Carolina state championship and was runner-up in 2012 legends national points.
Marty Snider is a veteran motorsports broadcast journalist. He joined NBC Sports Network earlier this year. He is a reporter for NBCSN’s “NASCAR America,” a daily 30-minute news program telecast at 5 p.m. Eastern. NBC and NBCSN begin coverage of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and NASCAR Nationwide Series events starting during the second half of the 2015 season.
Snider is also a pit reporter for NBC’s IndyCar coverage and TNT’s mid-season NASCAR Sprint Cup Series telecasts. He continues to contribute to Turner Sports’ NCAA Men’s Division 1 Championship and NBA playoff coverage.
He previously worked with NBC Sports Group for NASCAR on NBC broadcasts from 1999-2006. He contributed to NBC’s Football Night In America, coverage of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing. He also contributed to HBO, Sirius XM and NASCAR.com.
Snider has six network Emmy awards and in 2007 was named “Pit Reporter of the Year” by NASCAR.com.
Sources: Paul Schaefer/NASCAR PR