Man, this one was terrifying.
The NASCAR season kicks off this weekend, with the Cup Series taking the green flag on their season today at the Daytona 500.
But yesterday was the start of the Xfinity Series season, and the race ended with an absolutely horrific crash on the last lap that left everybody holding their breath as Myatt Snider’s car went airborne and ended up in the backstretch fence, ripping the engine and the tires from the car before it came to rest.
The best part though? Snider was able to walk away from the crash.
He spoke about the scary experience after being released from the infield care center:
“It was violent. I saw sparks kind of going everywhere. You don’t really know what’s going on. You just know you’re going some direction and it is not the right one.
I was just kind of holding on, kind of hunching over and keeping everything together as much as I could…
The whole car was basically in shambles. I looked forward when I got out of the car and I see the motor is gone and it looked like the fuel cell was almost gone. There was not much left of that race car.”
Snider said that his left foot was sore, but that he expects to be able to race next week in California, adding that he’s “extremely blessed” to walk away safely after the crash.
And he shared pictures of what was left of his car on Twitter as it was on the back of the wrecker – and there ain’t much left of it.
Debris from the crash also narrowly missed team owner Michael Jordan and his driver Bubba Wallace, who were watching the race from behind the fence that Snider’s car flew into.
A section of the catch fence had to be repaired overnight, with two posts and a section of the fence being replaced ahead of today’s Daytona 500.
And the fact that Snider was able to walk away from a crash like that is a huge testament to how far NASCAR has come with regards to safety over the last 20 years or so – everything from the energy-reducing SAFER barriers to the Hans Devices to the cars themselves.
For Snider to be able to give an interview minutes after his car was shredded like that in the catch fence just shows how impressive the safety measures in these cars and at these racetracks really are.
And I think I can speak for everybody when I say how thankful we all are for that after Snider’s scary crash.
