Nick Sanchez began his second full-time NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series on a high note by earning his first career victory in the season opener at Daytona International Speedway.
Since then, he scored another win at Charlotte Motor Speedway and sits third in the standings with one race remaining in the regular season.
Frontstretch spoke to Sanchez during the Nashville Superspeedway race weekend about the season for him and his Rev Racing team, the speed in his No. 2 Chevrolet and what he learned from his viral altercation with Matt Crafton in the 2023 race at Talladega Superspeedway.
Mark Kristl, Frontstretch: How would you describe your season?
Nick Sanchez: We’ve been consistent. I’ve been more consistent than last year. I think just about every race we have been in contention to win, which is always a positive to look at, and we have two wins.
As long as we are in contention, it is a good position to be in. So while I obviously have those two [wins], it could have been a lot more. I want to win them all. I want more; I’m not satisfied with just two wins. In the last few races, we’ll push through to try to win every single one.
Kristl: Which win was more special, Charlotte or Daytona?
Sanchez: Both. Every win, for me, is amazing. Anytime you win in your career, it is amazing.
It was more rewarding at Charlotte because Daytona is Daytona, right? It’s a plate track; we led the most laps, we dominated the later part of the race and we won that. The driver meaning more was more of a factor at Charlotte. Charlotte was more rewarding to win.
That night was a lot bigger than myself. It was Chris Showalter’s birthday, the 700th Truck race. So it was a win that you could not script a better press conference for him on that night.
Anytime you have a marquee event for someone in the team, as a driver, while I get a thrill every time I win, I probably enjoyed it a little bit more. It was an amazing feat to happen and celebrate, so it was awesome at Charlotte.
Kristl: You’re a sophomore now in the Truck Series. What has been your biggest improvement?
Sanchez: In these 20-minute practices, you cannot tune everything. So last year, I would drive whatever I was brought and not know what it would do on lap 20 or 30 in a run. I would just hit the gas and go.
This year, I’ve had the opportunity to take a whole year and digest everything I learned last year, work in the simulator to gain a better pace and at the end of the day as a driver, you need to know what makes you tick.
You need to know what you want in a vehicle. Every driver has a certain attribute that makes them faster and better than the rest. This year I’ve trained to make sure that attribute is there before I hit the racetrack. That comes from debriefs last year, voicing to the team what I think I need more of in the truck. Try to make the simulator better with so many factors.
Our speed has not changed from last year. We brought fast trucks last year, and every week we’re one of, if not the, fastest when you look at starting and finishing positions that’s dropped [for the better] from last year. That’s just from knowing where the truck is going to be at from lap 1.
Kristl: This year, you seem third fastest behind Corey Heim and Christian Eckes. Do you agree with that assessment?
Sanchez: Not necessarily. I could go down the list of races, right?
Bristol Motor Speedway, Christian [Eckes] won the race, and I passed him for second at the end of stage two. I had a loose wheel though. I was right up there in contention.
Circuit of the Americas, I was probably second to Heim all day. If you average it out, I’ve run second to those two a lot more but I’ve still had my success. At the end of the day, on raw speed, we have it. We just need the driver to do a little bit more.
At World Wide Technology Raceway [at Gateway], you saw Corey more than me. We had a fast truck, and it was just one or two times where I did not make the right moves. And that sucks. After that race, I left knowing that we are probably the fastest truck and I just have to work on some things on my end. Get a little bit better, not give away anything and be a little bit better outspoken with what I need in my truck.
You just want to be fast and win every race. We can win every race. We’ve led in eight of the races and been strong. At Gateway, the No. 11 won the race off pit road and put himself in position. That was me in Charlotte.
You put yourself in a position to keep doing that time and time again, eventually you’re going to win more. One thing I would like to do is dominate a race. Go out, lead a ton, win every stage and validate, for people watching, the speed that we have.
Kristl: We all saw the altercation last year at Talladega with Crafton. How have you grown from that moment?
Sanchez: The only thing I learned from that moment was what not to say. You just don’t say it. That’s the only thing I learned from that moment.
If someone pushes me around on the track, I don’t want to be pushed around. Hopefully, now I’ve voiced that. With harder racing, on occasion, you’ll have fights. That’s part of it, and I love that.
Kristl: Your Rev teammate Andres Perez leads the ARCA Menards Series standings. What is your relationship with him and what does it say about Rev as an organization that is competing for championships in two different series?
Sanchez: Honestly, I don’t communicate with the Rev drivers like I used to. I don’t spend much time with them. It’s cool to see the Rev ARCA team, that won the championship with me, competing for another one. It’s cool that we are in contention for ARCA and Trucks as well.
Kristl: How does competing for the Truck championship compare to your ARCA championship-winning one in 2022?
Sanchez: Honestly, there is not much comparison. In 2022, I was always in points damage limitation. I was not in the fastest vehicle on the track. It was tough not to be the fastest vehicle when I could not make it happen. I always lacked speed to another guy, and here I am in control.
I am racing one of the fastest trucks, and we are still getting there to find more speed. I just show up to the race weekend and focus on one person: myself. I don’t worry about who’s in the field, whether they have a Cup or Xfinity resume. I just show up to win and work to win, and focusing on myself has made that easier every week.
Mark Kristl joined Frontstretch at the beginning of the 2019 NASCAR season. He is the site's ARCA Menards Series editor. Kristl is also an Eagle Scout and a proud University of Dayton alum.