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.
"Where is the engine?"
Here's a replay of Myatt Snider's scary crash at Daytona. He's okay. pic.twitter.com/py3Xxt5CVA
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) February 20, 2022
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.”
#NASCAR … @MyattSnider describes his crash pic.twitter.com/8F3Oev33IC
— Dustin Long (@dustinlong) February 20, 2022
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.
Snider added that "it is just the foot" that is sore. https://t.co/EumLjDNamw
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) February 20, 2022
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.
Where do I start?
I'm thankful my @TaxSlayer guys built a fast, safe Camaro. We were up there!
Thankful the man upstairs kept me safe. I prayed for it with 5 to go. He knew
We had a verse on the door. That + my seat were the only bits NOT hit. Wild
We'll be back in Fontana🤘 pic.twitter.com/1y7OMXROFG
— 𝘔𝘺𝘢𝘵𝘵 𝘚𝘯𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳 (@MyattSnider) February 20, 2022
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.
Glad @MyattSnider is okay! Crazy wreck right in front of us. Scary stuff pic.twitter.com/68nSCemwdV
— Bubba Wallace (@BubbaWallace) February 20, 2022
Michael Jordan and Bubba Wallace had a close up look at Myatt Snider's scary Daytona wreck. pic.twitter.com/XWWG5HLeE4
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) February 20, 2022
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.
From #NASCAR just now – regarding repair after @MyattSnider crash in #NASCAR_Xfinity race last night
The fence repair was completed at 1:30 a.m.
2 fence posts were replaced.
200’ of fence were replaced.
Photo of repaired portion of fence attached. pic.twitter.com/X4SfXvd3Ti— Claire B Lang (@ClaireBLang) February 20, 2022
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.
