Snider Wins 2018 Truck Series Rookie Honors at Homestead

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer

At Homestead-Miami Speedway, two titles were on the line as Myatt Snider fought to win 2018 Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors over Todd Gilliland. The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series duo were never far apart in the Ford EcoBoost 200.

In the incident-free race, Snider’s No. 13 Tenda Ford F-150 fell behind on the long green flag run. Luckily, his competition for ROTY honors, Gilliland also fell behind. Entering Homestead with a 22-Point advantage, Snider just had to keep the Kyle Busch Motorsports driver in his sights. With Gilliland in 13^th, Snider rode comfortably in 14^th until the checkered flag waved.

While Gilliland and Snider battled for the ROTY honors, the duo were mindful of the bigger picture. Both drivers gave the Championship Four competitors space on track. As the race neared the end, debris and an incident involving Chris Windom threatened to bring out the caution flag. With Gilliland in the free pass position, a caution could have altered the ROTY Championship battle. Luckily for Snider, the caution never waved.

“It’s just an awesome honor,” Snider admitted about winning Rookie of the Year Honors. “This is the third Rookie of the Year, with two different manufacturers, for ThorSport Racing. I can’t say enough about this whole group that I worked with all year. We’ve had some good runs, some bad runs, and some ups and downs for sure. We’ve learned as a team, that’s what we’re supposed to do, that’s what I’m supposed to do in my rookie year.

“I’m just so proud of everyone. We have some awesome partners, Tenda, Louisiana Hot Sauce, Ford Performance, Farm Paint, Carolina Nut Company, all of the guys that helped us out and made this year possible. Hopefully we’ll be able to run next year and be just as strong, if not stronger, and make the Championship Four hopefully.”

At season’s end, Snider finished ninth in the Championship Standings, best of the non-Playoff drivers. He also finished out the season with 21-Points above Gilliland. Snider’s 2018 Rookie campaign ends with three top-five and eight top-10 finishes.

Snider celebrated by ripping the Rookie Stripes off of the back of his Ford F-150 post-race.

…and the rookie stripes come off for @MyattSnider on the No. 13 @TendaGroom / @TendaHorse @FordPerformance F-150! #EcoBoost200 | #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/cvazRxWTq1

— ThorSport Racing (@ThorSportRacing) November 17, 2018