A surprise mid-race driver swap happened last weekend at Circuit of the Americas as Myatt Snider jumped into the No. 48 Chevrolet to replace an ailing Alex Bowman.
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This swap happened in the heat of the moment, which set Snider up to make his Cup Series debut after starting the day as a pit spotter for Fox Sports. So how exactly did he get approval so quickly?
Speaking with SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, Cup Series Managing Director Brad Moran provided further context. He explained that the team communicates with the tower and starts the process. NASCAR then gets official David Green over to ensure that the relief driver will not face any safety concerns due to size differences.
"(Bowman) started getting sick just prior to the race, so we were prepared," Moran explained. "Myatt Snider, obviously, we know he's won a race in the (O'Reilly Auto Parts) Series. ...We approved him on the spot.
"There's a process that they can get approved, but if he went through it, he certainly would have been approved for Cup road course. We had no issues there, but it was done kinda on the fly, which we've done in the past."
NASCAR Cup Series teams have relief drivers on hand who can step into action if necessary. RFK Racing and Brad Keselowski had road course veteran Joey Hand ready to climb into the No. 6 if the race proved too painful for Keselowski in his recovery from a broken femur.
Legacy Motor Club had O'Reilly Auto Parts Series driver Harrison Burton ready to roll at Circuit of the Americas. Burton is the relief driver for Legacy MC this year, and he remained ready for a driver swap as Erik Jones also dealt with an illness.
Legacy Motor Club has previously relied on Corey Heim to fill in for Jones due to a back injury while Joe Gibbs Racing relied on Ryan Truex to fill in for Denny Hamlin as the veteran driver missed Mexico City for the birth of his third child.
Anthony Alfredo is the reserve driver for Hendrick Motorsports, and he is the one who does all of the team's simulator work. However, he was not at Circuit of the Americas. He did not have the opportunity to step in for Bowman. Instead, Snider took advantage of the opportunity.
