Myatt Snider assumed the Championship Auto Racing Series (CARS) Late Model Stock Tour points lead with his second place finish at Concord Speedway Saturday. For Snider, consistency has been the key to a successful 2015 season so far
The 20-year-old Snider holds a two-point edge over Brayton Haws in the championship hunt. While Haws has won three of the season’s first eight races, with victories at Orange County, Hickory, and Tri-County, Snider’s consistency has moved him to the point with two races remaining. Snider is tied with Jamey Caudill for most top-five finishes in the series with five, and only Snider has finished in the top ten in every race of the campaign.
“It’s been a long time coming,” said Snider about his new placing in the standings. “I think we’ve been showing good, consistent performance throughout the season. Concord was not an exception, we dang near won the thing.”
While Snider would love to pick up his first CARS Tour win before the end of 2015, he has focused on winning the championship throughout the season.
“I obviously want to win, but you’ve got to cut your losses sometime,” Snider said. “I’ve done that in a couple of races this year. I think we definitely have the speed to win in every race that we ran.”
“If I can walk away with the $15,000 from the championship for consistent performances rather than a win and a twenty-somethingth place in the last two races, I’ll be happy.”
Snider’s rise to the top of the points standings has not been without incident, however, as illustrated by two episodes during the last two CARS Tour stops. At Orange County, a series of run-ins with Haws ended with Snider spinning across the nose of Michael Fose’s car on the final lap after Haws and Snider nearly took each other out on turn two of the same lap. Last weekend at Concord, a late-race battle for the lead with another championship contender, Deac McCaskill, ended with McCaskill spinning out of contention.
Despite the incidents with those contenders, Snider doesn’t believe emotions will carry over to the final two rounds.
“Me and Brayton talked about the Orange County race at Concord, on race day,” Snider said. “Things got a little out of hand with both of us, but that’s how things played out. Me and Brayton are good.”
“I’m sure Deac might be a little mad at me, but it was just a racing deal,” said Snider on their Concord collision. “I tried taking the wide line in with heavy braking, and he tried diving in, and it didn’t work out for either of us.”
“I can’t take it back, but we’ll have to see,” Snider continued. “Hopefully cooler heads will prevail. Deac is a great guy and a calm racer.”
McCaskill had pointed words for Snider following the 100-lap race at Concord, in which the winner of the series’ second race at Southern National called Snider a “spoiled rotten kid” who “ain’t gotta work on these cars.” Snider said that the comments didn’t bother him, understanding they came in the moments following an intense race.
“[McCaskill] said it in the heat of the moment,” said Snider on those remarks. “Heck, I would have been mad too, if it happened to me.”
With that said, he remarked that he puts plenty of effort into his racing endeavors.
“I try and work my hardest for the stuff I have in racing, and outside of racing,” Snider added. “I’ve never really been handed anything in life. It doesn’t really bother me. He was angry that it happened, when he was battling for the lead. I would be mad too.”
Snider hopes to seal the championship with strong runs at Myrtle Beach Speedway and Hickory Motor Speedway to finish the season. Snider finished seventh during the series’ earlier stop at Hickory, and he will be racing in Myrtle Beach’s NASCAR Whelen All-American Series program tomorrow to gain familiarity with that circuit.
“I’m running [Myrtle Beach] tomorrow, get a little research done in race trim,” said Snider. “With the recent tire swap and going to places like Myrtle Beach and Hickory, the style of racing will change, a little more of a conservation game than previously.
“I have a much better idea how to run Hickory than I did earlier this year,” Snider added. “And I’ll have a better idea about Myrtle Beach after this weekend. Tire conservation will play a big role.”
With strong runs at both of those tracks, Snider could etch himself into the record books as the inaugural CARS Late Model Stock Tour champion. A goal of Snider’s since the series was announced, claiming the season-long title would be a tremendous honor to him.
“It would be fantastic,” Snider said. “I’ve been thinking about this championship from day one, trying to be aggressive but also smart about my moves, and it’s paid off so far.”
“It would definitely put my name out there in racing,” Snider added. “It would just be fantastic, to have my name as the first person to do it.”
The next round of the CARS Tour, the bakerdist.com 200, will be contested at Myrtle Beach on September 19. The season finale at Hickory will take place on November 1, the lone Sunday race of the CARS Tour season.
