A delayed journey is survivable for a python precisely because the snake does not need entertainment, food, or reassurance from you. It needs its tub to stay dark, secure, and within a safe temperature range while you deal with the delay. Manage the car around the snake, and resist every urge to open the lid and fuss.
First, make the tub safe where it sits
Keep the python in its travel tub with the lid latched and, if you use one, the tub inside a dark bag or under a light cover that still allows airflow. Place the tub on a flat surface where it cannot slide or be crushed by shifting luggage, and keep it out of direct sun through the windows. A tub that was comfortable while the car moved can overheat quickly once the car stops, because moving air no longer passes over it.
Do not transfer the snake to a pillowcase, a larger box, or your lap during the delay. Each transfer adds handling, escape risk, and temperature swings, and none of them helps the snake. A healthy python that was settled before departure will usually stay settled for hours if its tub stays dark and steady.
Manage heat and cold in a stopped car
Aim to keep the tub roughly between 75 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit (24 and 29 degrees Celsius). Check the temperature with a thermometer in or against the tub rather than guessing from how the car feels to you, because your comfort and the snake's safe range overlap only partly.
In hot weather, park in full shade, open windows for airflow if you stay with the car, and run the air conditioning when the engine can run. Never leave the python alone in a parked car on a warm day, even for a short stop, because a closed car can climb well past a safe temperature while you are away. If the car cannot be kept cool, carry the closed tub with you into a shaded, air-conditioned building rather than leaving it behind.
In cold weather, keep the tub away from draughts and off a cold floor. A wrapped heat pack placed against the outside of one end of the tub can hold a gradient, provided the pack is separated from the plastic by cloth so no spot becomes hot to the touch. Do not place a heat pack loose inside the tub, where the snake cannot move away from it.
What not to offer during the wait
Do not feed the python during a delay, even if the delay stretches past a planned feeding time. Snakes digest slowly, a meal in a stressed, moving animal can be regurgitated, and a delayed feed does the snake no harm at all. Do not add an open water dish inside the tub, because a spilled dish soaks the substrate and chills the snake as the water evaporates. If the delay extends overnight and the snake is in a safe indoor place, a shallow, stable dish can be offered then, in a tub that will not be moved again that night.
Know the point where a delay becomes a vet call
Phone a reptile vet promptly if the python becomes unresponsive, breathes with its mouth open, produces bubbles or mucus at the nostrils, cannot right itself when gently tipped, or feels limp rather than muscular when the tub is moved. Those signs suggest the delay has become a medical problem rather than an inconvenience, and a vet can advise you on the safest next step for the snake's condition and your location.
If you must hand the car or the snake to someone else, such as a recovery driver, tell that person three things only: the tub stays closed, it stays out of the sun, and it stays in a temperate place. Simple instructions survive a stressful day better than a full care sheet. KinsLe's Pet Services Directory lets you search for reptile vets wherever the delay leaves you, so an unfamiliar town still has a number you can call for the python.