It isn’t the most traditional path, but Myatt Snider’s journey has led him to a full-time ride in the No. 2 Xfinity car in 2021, Richard Childress Racing announced Thursday.
Snider, who turns 26 on Dec. 30, will have TaxSlayer as sponsor and be with crew chief Andy Street.
Snider and Street were paired in the select number of races Snider ran for RCR this past season.
“We’re proud to be continuing our relationship with both Myatt Snider and TaxSlayer for the 2021 season,” said Richard Childress, chairman and CEO of Richard Childress Racing, in a statement from the team. “TaxSlayer is a great tax and financial company, who prides themselves on being family-focused, much like RCR. We’re looking forward to showing our fans the benefits of using TaxSlayer, as we approach both the racing season and tax season. I know that Myatt will do a great job representing both TaxSlayer and RCR on and off the racetrack.”
Snider’s journey to this opportunity includes a limited Truck ride in 2017 at Kyle Busch Motorsports, winning Truck Rookie of the Year in 2018 at ThorSport Racing, competing in NASCAR’s European series in 2019 and racing full-time in the Xfinity Series in 2020, split among two teams.
Snider drove eight races for Richard Childress Racing this past season. He drove the other 25 races for RSS Racing.
“The phrase that I can use is whatever works,” Snider, son of NASCAR on NBC pit reporter Marty Snider, said about his path the past few season.
“It’s definitely been a task that has not been a straight line, but I wouldn’t change any of it.”
Myatt Snider gained road racing experience while competing in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series in 2019. That will prove helpful with seven of the 33 Xfinity races this coming season scheduled for road courses.
That number increased this week when NASCAR moved its February races from Auto Club Speedway to the Daytona road course because of “challenges resulting from the ongoing pandemic and the need for significant advance planning.”
Just as important was Snider running a full season last year in the Xfinity Series between Richard Childress Racing and RSS Racing. Snider had two top-five and three top-10 finishes for Richard Childress Racing and three top-10 finishes for RSS Racing.
“Being able to be at the track every week, learning what works, especially at certain racetracks, what works for the season-long championship, doing all the right things, that’s kind of what I was able to get a perspective on,” Snider said.
“There are some races that I would like to improve on. There’s also a lot of races I can point to and say, ‘Hey, for what I had there I did a pretty good job there.’ I wouldn’t have had that opportunity had I not been in a car every week being able to prove myself.
“Just building on that knowledge and building a solid foundation for getting into a car like this is important. If you go in blindly and then have to learn all those things going a lot faster, mistakes mean a lot more, especially when you know you have a chance to fight for a championship.”
Snider is part of a loaded Xfinity field in 2021. Three of the four drivers in this past season’s title race, including champion Austin Cindric, return. Eight of the top 10 drivers in points are back. They combined to win 21 of the 33 races last season.
“It’s really going to be a great Xfinity field,” Snider said. “I absolutely love that. That makes the races more exciting, more fun to run. It’s going to make getting those wins a little bit harder, but that means they’ll be more satisfying when I get them.”