Myatt Snider has been in the headlines recently for his NASCAR debut with Hendrick Motorsports at COTA. Snider replaced Alex Bowman mid-race, as the latter fell ill. This was an opportunity that arrived out of the blue, thanks to Snider’s conversation with Chad Knaus, which the former recalled recently.

Myatt Snider recalls his lucky day

In a recent interview with SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, Snider recalled the day when he spoke to Knaus, the Vice President of Competition at Hendrick Motorsports. While addressing it, the 31-year-old driver from Charlotte revealed how Knaus had inquired about him moments before asking him to fill in for Bowman.

“I get a tap on the shoulder, and I look back, and it’s Chad Knauss, and he’s motioning me to come back to the garage, and he’s like, yeah, come on. And he tells me, do you have your gear? And I’m like, yeah, I do. And he’s like, just hang on a second; Alex might be stepping out of the car.” And I’m like, okay. And a couple of minutes later, he said, all right, he’s stepping out of the car; go get your gear, you’ve been approved.”

Following this, Snider shed light on how he embarked on the opportunity, changed the firesuit, and geared up to race in the final 19 laps of the race in a Hendrick Motorsports Cup Series car. Here’s what he further added:

“And I have never run faster in my life. So I get back to the TV trailer, and I make an absolute mess, throwing my crap about the entire place and changing as quickly as I possibly can. And by the time I got back, Blake Harris and the entire 48 crew had swapped out everything in the interior and had it ready for me to go. And they were just such professionals in that, in that time.”

Notably, Alex Bowman fell ill during the DuraMAX Texas Grand Prix last Sunday, and after diagnosis, doctors found it to be a vertigo issue. Drivers with vertigo issues risk fatal accidents, and as a consequence, HMS needed a driver who could fit in for Bowman immediately.

Snider, however, was no common name in the Cup Series fraternity. Despite this, NASCAR allowed him to race in Cup after considering his O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, where he picked up a win and a pole in 112 outings. As Snider stepped up, he raced till the 95th lap, but NASCAR handed the 37th-place finish to Bowman since the latter started the race.

While Myatt Snider replaced Bowman at COTA, he will no longer be the same driver at Phoenix. Instead, Anthony Alfredo will replace Bowman at the upcoming race this weekend.

Alex Bowman’s substitute opens up ahead of the Phoenix race

Anthony Alfredo will replace Bowman at the upcoming Phoenix Raceway Cup Series race on Sunday. With 43 Cup Series races under his belt, Alfredo comes with formidable experience to tame the #48 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1.

“First and foremost, I hate it for Alex,” Alfredo said on his Hendrick Motorsports opportunity. “No race car driver wants to be in the position where they have to give up their seat for a weekend to someone else. His health is definitely the most important thing, and I hope he gets back on track soon.”

This will be the third time Bowman has missed a NASCAR race after 2022 and 2023. In 2022, he sustained a concussion, leading to five missed races, and in 2023, he sustained a compression fracture, leading to three missed races.

On those two occasions, Noah Gragson and Josh Berry filled in for Alex Bowman. As Bowman is set to miss the Phoenix race and might miss the upcoming races too, Hendrick Motorsports will request a medical waiver to keep the #48 driver alive in the NASCAR Cup Series championship.