LAS VEGAS – After an early showing of speed with a pole qualifying effort at Daytona Int’l Speedway, Myatt Snider’s weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway got off to a rough start on Friday afternoon.
Snider was forced to a backup car for the NASCAR Xfinity Series Boyd Gaming 300 following a crash less than 30 minutes in to the lone practice session for the series at the 1.5-mile oval.
The 25-year-old was coming through turns three and four when the back end of his No. 21 Chevrolet Camaro stepped out, sending Snider spinning down the track and into the frontstretch grass.
At that point, the front end of Snider’s Camaro dug into the grass, causing heavy damage to the car as it skidded to a halt.
Snider was checked and released from the infield care center, but the front end of his car was too mangled to repair. The team will utilize the car scheduled to be driven by Anthony Alfredo next weekend at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., as its backup for the remainder of the event.
After exiting the medical center, Snider took full responsibility for the incident.
“I’m not sure what happened, but that one’s my fault,” Snider noted. “We had a fast car, and I was just trying to feel it out. Obviously, this is my first mile and a half (track race) in an Xfinity car, so it’s pretty different. That’s on me for not recognizing what differences (between the Trucks and Xfinity cars) there might be.
“It’s just a shame that we have to pull out a backup this early; I’ve got to be better than that,” Snider added. “We’ll have a good car for the race, though.”
Saturday’s event may be Snider’s first start at Las Vegas in an Xfinity Series car, but he does have three NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series appearances in Sin City, with a best finish of sixth in 2018.
Last week in the Daytona season opener, Snider led 22 laps from the pole before being collected in an accident coming to the end of the second stage that eliminated his No. 21 Camaro from the event.
Ross Chastain led Friday’s Xfinity Series practice session, less than a week after failing to qualify at Daytona and replacing Jeff Green in the RSS Racing No. 38 for the race.
Chastain turned a lap of 30.529 seconds (176.881 mph) around the 1.5-mile Las Vegas oval, with Brandon Brown, Chase Briscoe, Brandon Jones and Justin Allgaier filling out the top five on the speed charts.
Qualifying for the Boyd Gaming 300 is scheduled for Saturday at 1 p.m. ET, live on FOX Sports 1.