With one win, six top fives, 10 top 10s and an ongoing spot in this year’s playoffs, 24-year-old Nick Sanchez has had a much more successful season than most NASCAR Xfinity Series rookies have had in recent years.
Yet despite all of that, he still won’t settle.
“It’s a whole different ball game, right?” Sanchez told Frontstretch. “It’s a whole different feel. I’m excited in my progress as a driver this year and jumping into a new team and a new car and picking up where I left off in my trucks, speed-wise.
“And I think that’s hard. I’m glad I’ve kind of overcame with that hump. It’s just focusing on the little nitpick things that separates you from having a year like [Connor Zilisch] or maybe a year like mine where you haven’t really executed or maximized races the way you wanted to, but we’re inching closer and closer to that.”
When he was tabbed to run the Xfinity Series for his first career full-time season in 2025, Sanchez had already established himself as a promising prospect among the ranks of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.
In two seasons, the 24-year-old earned two victories, 13 top fives and 26 top 10s in NASCAR’s third-highest division. By 2024, he was one of the top prospects in the sport’s garage and earned a full-time ride with Big Machine Racing, a playoff contending team that holds an alliance with Richard Childress Racing, in 2025.
Normally, most young drivers need more time to adapt to the drastic jump between the Truck Series’ 23 scheduled races to Xfinity’s 33.
But not Sanchez. In fact, the grind actually makes him more comfortable.
“Anyone who knows me knows that I can’t go to sleep at night without pulling on my iPad, and I’m on SMT,” Sanchez said. “So, [33 races] is probably the best thing for me. It’s actually made the off weeks tougher when I’m not racing because I’m so used to racing. But I would say the best way to describe it, I’ve had to manage my energy a little different than in the past. That’s just with race prep and stuff like that.”
The results speak for themselves. The year has included highlights such as a first career series win at EchoPark Speedway and third-place finishes at both Portland International Raceway and Charlotte Motor Speedway earlier in the year. Additionally, with one race left in the series’ Round of 12, Sanchez sits ninth in the standings only five points below the cutline.
To top things off, this Saturday’s (Oct. 4) elimination race will be at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL. It’s a road course, which is a track type the No. 48 BMR Chevrolet has earned three top fives out of the last four races.
“Honestly, if we’re eliminated, I’m going to go to [Las Vegas Motor Speedway] and try to win the race,” Sanchez said. “It doesn’t change, right? Our goals don’t change. We have a lot of good races ahead of us that we can contend in the playoffs or not.
“But how I see it, the ball’s in our court for the playoffs and advancing. Even the ROVAL. Look at it. Three of the last four road courses, top five. Stats are there in our favor. We’re fast. Even starting in the back of Portland and with all we faced, we’re able to drive to the front and make stuff happen. ROVAL is going to be that grind.”
Despite the decent season that most rookie drivers would rest their laurels on, Sanchez still believes he should be a winning driver every week — something he is aiming for when he returns to BMR in what will be the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series in 2026.
“Knowing the potential in the team, you look at the stats, I give myself a C,” said Sanchez when asked to grade his season. “A lot of people would probably say, ‘Man, that’s really crappy.’ But like I said, I think the upside is a whole lot more. I want to be winning every week.
“Whenever I see [Zilisch] in victory lane, it just motivates me to do better and figure out a way. There is a way, right? What do we need? What do we need to do different? Because that’s where I want to be. I want to be winning every week and until that happens, and even when that happens, we’re not going to stop. Keep on grinding, keep on focusing and we’re just getting better is the biggest thing.”
Overall, the Xfinity Series rookie has taken to the high tempo and more competitive nature of NASCAR’s second-highest division well, and even though they’re still fighting for a championship in 2025, he and his team are already prepping for 2026.
“Could we take all the learnings throughout the whole year and better them?” Sanchez asked hypothetically. “How we end this year is how we’re going to start next year, truthfully, and I think we’re in a good spot. We’re in a good place. I feel like I’m driving the best I have in my career, and I still have a lot of room to get better and grow.”
Dalton Hopkins began writing for Frontstretch in April 2021. Currently, he is the lead writer for the weekly Thinkin' Out Loud column, co-host of the Frontstretch Happy Hour podcast, and one of our lead reporters. Beforehand, he wrote for IMSA shortly after graduating from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in 2019. Simultaneously, he also serves as a Captain in the US Army.
Follow Dalton on Twitter @PitLaneCPT