NASCAR
Nick Sanchez Ahead at Right Time When Caution Ended Daytona Truck Race
EDITOR’S NOTE: Rajah Caruth has been moved back to a third-place finish in official results. Corey Heim is now the second-place finisher.
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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – A wild, chaotic, and crazy Daytona Truck race ends with a new face in victory lane. After surviving three major wrecks and an overtime restart, it was Nick Sanchez taking the checkers. Rev Racing also picks up their first win as a team in NASCAR National Series competition, with alum Rajah Caruth also placing second.
The unpredictability factor began early on in the 100 lap race, with the first big incident on lap five. Bump drafting from midpack sent several trucks around and out of contention. Ending their days after such a brief stint would be Ty Dillon, Layne Riggs, Jake Garcia, and Thad Moffitt.
The Stages would be won by Johnny Sauter and Tyler Ankrum. Stage 2 would be followed by a brief pause for rain, with a seven-minute red flag.
Ben Rhodes quickly asserted himself as a winning threat in the final Stage after starting last. Rhodes’ run to a second Daytona win was not meant to be however, with a cut tire and a broken fuel line putting him in the garage prematurely.
With few laps remaining, Nick Sanchez came to the lead and hardly relinquished the top spot. An overtime restart would be triggered by a small backstretch incident, putting all bets out the window. Despite a strong challenge from Rajah Caruth, Sanchez held steady and did not flinch. The race would end a half lap early due to a major field-clearing crash that saw Taylor Gray go airborne. Drive for Diversity program graduates Sanchez and Caruth would go 1-2 at the checkers.
“This is pretty surreal, especially with how the race started,” Sanchez said. “I’m covered in dirt from it. But just a big thanks to my team. Sticking with me all last year, we were winless. It hurt. We should have won.”
“But we redeemed ourselves in the first race possible. Big thanks to Rev Racing, Inspire, Max Seigel, Gainbridge, Dan Towriss, everyone that helps us, and it’s definitely going to be a good year.”
Following Sanchez and Caruth, the rest of the top-five were Corey Heim, Bret Holmes, and Spencer Boyd. Other top finishers included: Stefan Parsons, Matt Crafton, Timmy Hill, Bryan Dauzat, and Christian Eckes. Hear from some of these drivers below.
The Craftsman Truck Series will be back in action next Saturday from Atlanta Motor Speedway. The Fr8 208 will go green at 2:00 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. Christian Eckes will look for back-to-back wins on the hybrid intermediate superspeedway track.
Written by Peter Stratta
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Photo Credit to Peter Stratta/TSJSports
