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Nick Sanchez narrowly escaped some final lap havoc to secure his first-ever NASCAR Truck Series victory at the caution-filled Daytona International Speedway race.
Entering his second season as a Rev Racing driver, Sanchez started the race at P6. With just six laps in, he was running at P11 when he found himself in a multi-car wreck that spun his #2 truck out of the race track. This slimmed the odds of a first win at the opening Truck Series race of the 2024 season, the NextEra Energy 250.
The crash plummeted Nick Sanchez's spot from P11 to as low as P21 until the final lap of stage 1. It meant Johnny Sauter triumphed in the 1st stage of the 12-cautions-race.
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Nevertheless, the Florida native swooped past his rivals and climbed the charts during stage 2, settling at P9. The tables then turned during the final stage of the 2.5-mile track race when the 2022 ARCA Menards Series champion paved the way to his first-ever Truck Series win.
With only 28 laps to go, the eighth caution of the race was raised, and the 22-year-old found himself among the contenders, running at P3. By the time caution #9 came int, Sanchez was already dominating the race and went on to clinch the victory, narrowly escaping the final lap caution of the race.
Post his exhilarating run, Sanchez unfurled his thoughts, saying (via motorsport):
"Pretty Surreal, especially with how the race started, I'm covered in dirt from it. Thanks to my team for sticking with me all last year. We were winless and hurt, we should've won. But we redeemed ourselves in the first race possible."
A year before securing his first-ever win, Nick Sanchez entered the NASCAR Truck Series scene, driving for Rev Racing. In his debut Truck Series year, Sanchez secured two top-five and 12 top-10 finishes, and led 309 laps in his 23-race-stint during the entire season.
The Florida native even bagged a P6 spot at the Truck Series race held at Kansas Speedway. He ended the year at P6 and subsequently secured the NASCAR Rookie of the Year award.
Nick Sanchez escapes final lap wreck at Daytona but other podium aspirants falter
Nick Sanchez had a safe margin ahead of the #17 driver, Taylor Gray, who was running at P2, and #91 driver, Jack Wood, who was riding at P3 ahead of the last-lap crash. This enabled him to escape any damage and secure the win.
However, luck didn't favor Gray and Wood as they were affected by the crash initiated by Heim, who bumped into Wood's truck from behind. This ended the duo's Truck Series stint at a disappointing P19 and P18, respectively.
The final wreck of the race sent the contenders away from the main asphalt. As a result, #71 driver, Raja Caruth, who was behind Gray and Wood at P5, and Heim, who was ahead of Caruth at P4, found themselves running for a podium spot. Caruth eventually finished his Daytona run at P2, while Heim came in at P3.
