Racing at hometown track, Miami’s Nick Sanchez just misses Truck Series Championship 4 berth
Saturday was a full-circle moment for Nick Sanchez at Homestead-Miami Speedway. His love for racing began here, with Sanchez starting with go-karts before progressing to starting his career in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series this season.
Fast forward to Saturday, and Sanchez, 22, found himself on his home track in a prime position to advance as one of the final four drivers in contention for a championship in his rookie season.
But despite a couple breaks going his way early, one mistake down the stretch proved costly.
A minor collision with Tanner Gray heading to pit road led to an extended time trying to fix things and put Sanchez too far behind to catch up.
Sanchez finished in 17th place on Saturday in the Baptist Health Cancer Care 200 and wound up tied with Ben Rhodes for the final spot in the Championship 4 but lost out on the spot due to tiebreakers. NASCAR’s first tiebreaker is wins during the season. Rhodes had one. Sanchez never finished better than second.
“Yeah, obviously I lost a lot of time there, lost time in the pit trying to fix it,” Sanchez said after the race on FS1. “It’s my fault. No two ways to it. I didn’t know 15 was pitting. I had time to slow down but I didn’t. It’s on me. I apologize to my team and everyone who supports me.”
Carson Hocevar won the 134-lap race, edging out Zane Smith by 2.705 seconds to secure his spot in the Championship 4 along with Corey Heim, Grant Enfinger and Rhodes.
Heim, who finished third on Saturday, already had his Championship 4 spot secured after winning last week at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Rhodes finished second and Enfinger fourth on Saturday to take the final two spots via points.
That left Sanchez just on the outside looking in.
“To miss by one point is pretty rough,” Sanchez said.
While he won’t be competing for a championship, Sanchez’s first season in the NASCAR Truck Series has been a successful one.
Driving the Rev Racing No. 2 Chevrolet Silverado, Sanchez was the Truck Series’ Rookie of the Year after posting two top-five finishes and 11 top-10 finishes, including each of his three races entering Homestead, over 22 races.
Sanchez on Saturday began the race in pole position but struggled in the opening stage and was in eighth after the opening 30 laps. He spent a little extra time on pit road to tighten up the truck entering Stage 2 and the move paid off. He had a better run in the second set of 30 laps and executed in the final three-lap dash in that phase following a late caution to get up to fourth place.
He also had a pair of big breaks at the end of that stage with two of the main drivers he was competing with for a Championship 4 spot being handed penalties before his own struggles surfaced.
Enfinger, who entered Saturday three points behind Sanchez for fourth place in the playoff standings, had to drop to the back of the pack following the caution due to a pit road penalty for an uncontrolled tire. Christian Eckes, who was six points ahead of Sanchez, received a restart penalty once the race resumed. Eckes was handed a second penalty during a pit road stop with about 35 laps to go and ultimately finished 21st.
But Enfinger rebounded from his penalties to make up enough time to stay in contention for a championship. Sanchez couldn’t do the same.
This story was originally published October 21, 2023 at 2:24 PM.
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