DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Myatt Snider was involved in what he described as a violent last-lap crash Saturday night during the NASCAR Xfinity Series season opener at Daytona International Speedway.
Once the No. 31 Jordan Anderson Racing Chevrolet came to a stop in the grass near Turn 3, Snider immediately put the driver net down, signaling he was OK. The American Medical Response safety team arrived quickly after to transport him to the infield care center. Snider walked under his own power into the van.
The 27-year-old was then treated and released from the care center. He addressed the media afterward while sitting in a golf cart.
“A little sore,” Snider said. “I mean, I got pretty banged up there, so I just want to make sure I’m being as careful as possible.”
RELATED: Official results | Watch last-lap wreck
Snider indicated his left foot was the area of concern. He might have it looked at again Sunday as a precaution.
“I think I should be fine to race,” Snider said. “It’s just a matter of getting the opinions of the experts. But yeah, I think I’ll be fine.”
The field was about two-thirds of the way down the backstretch during the final lap when the wreck began. Snider was pushed by the No. 23 Our Motorsports Chevrolet of Anthony Alfredo. Snider got turned in the draft, and the No. 48 Big Machine Racing Chevy of Jade Buford ran into the passenger’s side of Snider’s car, which then went airborne as it hit the wall.
Snider explained in better detail.
“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. “So, I felt the push and I started feeling the car go right. I’m like crap, I might be along for a ride here. And sure enough, I was. I got turned around to the side, and then I was facing backwards and started seeing the race track. I’m like hmm, this is getting better as it goes.
“I think what happened is that the left rear started yawing towards the fence, and then the fence caught it. … And then I got dragged into the grass, from what I could tell. But yeah, as I’ve said already, I’m extremely blessed to be as OK as I am and glad that Jordan Anderson Racing built us such a safe race car. And man, I really wanted to get the top-five finish. We were so close. I felt like we were in contention all day.”
RELATED: Austin Hill wins Xfinity race at Daytona
Snider ended up 22nd on the results sheet. Buford was 23rd. Alfredo turned out seventh. Austin Hill won the race, which was called once the caution flag came out.
Nine cars were involved in the incident total. Every driver exited on their own and were cleared by the care center. A NASCAR spokesman said the damaged catchfence will be repaired overnight in preparation for the Daytona 500 on Sunday (2:30 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
The next Xfinity Series event on the schedule is a week away – Feb. 26 – at Auto Club Speedway (5 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
“I just saw sparks and crap flying everywhere, and it was quite the adventure,” Snider said. “I’m just so glad that I’m safe, I’m not any more torn up than I am. Just wish we could have gotten a better finish out of it.”
*** Update at 9:52 a.m. ET Sunday ***
Sunday morning NASCAR officials announced the fence that was damaged during Myatt Snider’s wreck was repaired by 1:30 a.m. ET. Two fence posts and 200 feet of fencing were replaced. To the right is a photo of the repaired fence.