Hendrick Motorsports' Alex Bowman, one of just two drivers to have never finished outside the top 10 at Circuit of the Americas (on either layout) in the first five races at the Austin, Texas road course, has not had a strong start to the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season performance-wise.
The driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet entered Sunday's 95-lap DuraMAX Grand Prix around the 17-turn, 2.4-mile (3.862-kilometer) abbreviated COTA layout outside of the top 30 in the point standings, well outside of the provisional playoff picture, and he struggled throughout the afternoon, even after collecting four points with a seventh place finish in the first stage.
Aside from the stage breaks, there were no caution flags until a loose wheel escaped from the No. 1 Chevrolet of Trackhouse Racing's Ross Chastain, just past the halfway mark of the third stage.
Myatt Snider replaces Alex Bowman
At that point, Bowman, who had begun to feel sick as the race progressed, decided it was time to prioritize his health and get out of the No. 48 Chevrolet.
That's when Myatt Snider, who most recently competed in the NASCAR Xfinity Series (now the O'Reilly Auto Parts Series) in four races for DGM Racing with Jesse Iwuji Motorsports behind the wheel of the No. 91 Chevrolet in 2025, began to suit up.
Snider then entered the race in the No. 48 car in attempt to salvage some points for the team in the owner standings, although Bowman is still credited with the race result in the driver standings.
Snider entered the race five laps off the lead lap, after having spent the entire race pit spotting for Fox Sports pit reporter Jamie Little.
The 31-year-old Charlotte, North Carolina native, whose father is pit reporter Marty Snider, has never before competed in a Cup race. His most recent Xfinity Series start came in October at Martinsville Speedway, where he finished 14th.
He has not run a road course race since placing 14th at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval with Joe Gibbs Racing during the 2023 Xfinity Series season.
RFK Racing's Brad Keselowski, who entered the weekend knowing he may need a relief driver due to the broken femur he suffered back in mid-December, remained in the race, with Joey Hand on standby. Keselowski finished 20th.
Snider finished 36th, which scored just one point for both Bowman and the No. 48 team. Bowman and the No. 48 team are now 36th (last) in both the driver standings and the owner standings after three races.
Full race results can be found here, and updated point standings can be found here.