MOORESVILLE, N.C. – Myatt Snider, the 2018 NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Rookie Of the Year, will race full-time in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series this season.

The 24-year-old Charlotte, N.C., native will drive in the ELITE 2 Division behind the wheel of the No. 48 Racing Engineering Ford Mustang, competing for the overall classification and the Rookie Trophy.

The son of popular NBC Sports pit reporter Marty Snider, the younger Snider earned four top fives and 12 top 10s in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series and will cross the ocean to race in Europe for the first time. He will take part in seven Euro NASCAR events, held in seven different European countries on some of the most prestigious tracks in the Old Continent, starting with April 13-14 season opener at Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia, Spain.

“I think it will be a lot of fun to race in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series. It will be my first ever chance to race in Europe and that’s not an opportunity you get very often. It is going to be an interesting change of pace and it is a fantastic opportunity to take on this challenge with a such a top-level team as Racing Engineering. I am really excited,” said the 24-year-old Snider “(NWES founders) Jerome & Anne Galpin and their team have put together a great series which goes to amazing tracks I have only seen as a very young Formula 1 fan, so excitement is the perfect word to describe what I’m feeling now.”

Snider will share the No. 48 Ford Mustang fielded by Racing Engineering with three-time NASCAR Whelen Euro Series champion Ander Vilarino in the team’s debut season in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series.

One of the most successful European teams in recent history, Racing Engineering was founded in 1999 by Alfonso de Orléans-Borbón and won 11 titles in eight years, including the Spanish Formula 3 and GT championships, the World Series title in 2002 and the GP2 drivers title in 2008 and 2013. Racing Engineering was GP2 vice-champion team twice in 2015 and 2016 and fielded cars for some of the most talented drivers in the world.

“It is really great to have Myatt with us this season. He is a big talent with an impressive track record. We are looking forward to working with him and getting his feedback and experience,” said de Orléans-Borbón. “It will be a completely new challenge for him, but we will do everything possible to have him in Victory Lane right from the first race meeting.”

Snider is not setting any specific goal, but the competitor in him says that bringing wins to the Racing Engineering team is what he’s coming to Europe for.

“I’m going to Valencia with an open mind. Despite having raced some road courses when I was a kid, I raced mostly on ovals after that and going back to road courses is definitely cool. I’m going in with an open mind but of course I want to perform because I’m a competitive guy and I want to win. I am with a great team like Racing Engineering and I will share the car with multiple champion, so I think winning is definitely a realistic expectation, I just have to get into the right mindset and see what these cars are capable of.”

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