Truck Series results at Daytona: Nick Sanchez opens 2024 NASCAR season with wreck-filled win
Nick Sanchez is the first NASCAR race winner of 2024.
The Craftsman Truck Series picked up right where it left off. The race was stopped for cautions 12 times, the most in series history at Daytona International Speedway.
The final carnage came in overtime, while Sanchez was holding a healthy lead on the last lap. Taylor Gray and Jack Wood spun, with Gray catching air as the rest of the field got caught up in a 12-car wreck.
This is the first win of the 22-year-old driver’s career.
“If you would have asked me yesterday, ‘What would winning at Daytona have meant?’ I probably wouldn’t have said a whole lot,” Sanchez told reporters in the infield media center. “I’m pretty sure I’ve said that in an interview.
“And honestly, after winning, it’s pretty surreal. You don’t realize how important it is to win here. The goal is to do this.”
Friday night’s triumph was special for Sanchez, the driver who made headlines during the playoffs after a post-race fistfight with Matt Crafton at Talladega. Toward the end of the race, he kept on telling himself he wasn’t going to win the race, knowing how many times he’d come that close.
Sanchez, a Miami native and the 2022 ARCA champion, becomes the first Cuban-American since Aric Almirola to win a NASCAR race.
“It’s definitely cool to be a little different in that sense,” he said about his heritage. “Sanchez — when a lot of fans see me, they definitely notice that. I might not look it, but I’m very much Cuban-American.”
Ben Rhodes, the Truck Series’ defending champion, lost his right rear tire on Lap 73. He moved toward the middle lane and quickly slipped farther and farther back, eventually colliding with Tanner Gray and Toni Breidinger.
Other observations from Friday’s Truck Series opener
▪ The race set the Truck Series record at Daytona with 12 cautions. After eight of 12 cautions in last year’s Truck Series championship race at Phoenix came during the final stage and overtime, the wrecks came even earlier in the series’ 2024 debut. Rhodes’ caution came after 12 uninterrupted laps, which was the longest green-flag run of the race.
▪ Even Friday night’s Truck Series race couldn’t escape the rain. Despite a beautiful day in Daytona Beach when rain wasn’t expected until early Saturday morning, a drizzle toward the end of Stage 2 prompted a caution and eventual red flag. Drivers stayed in their cars and resumed racing within about 15 minutes. There’s more than a 90% chance of rain on both Saturday and Sunday.
ARCA Menards Series opens its season after dark
At around 11:15 p.m. Friday, the ARCA Menards Series began its 2024 season, and the most famous driver in it quickly wrecked out of the race.
Shane Van Gisbergen, who will run in seven Cup Series races, had a short-lived superspeedway debut. The New Zealand-born international star got caught up in a 13-car accident on Lap 4.
Gus Dean took the checkered flag just past 1:30 a.m. Saturday morning. He battled throughout the race and grabbed the lead during the final lap. A hard crash occurred behind him as the race ended, and all drivers involved in it were released from the infield care center.
Official Truck Series results from Daytona
Post-race inspection complete around 12:30 a.m. Saturday. No issues.
Position | Driver | Car Number |
1 | Nick Sanchez | 2 |
2 | Rajah Caruth | 71 |
3 | Corey Heim | 11 |
4 | Bret Holmes | 32 |
5 | Spencer Boyd | 76 |
6 | Stefan Parsons | 75 |
7 | Matt Crafton | 88 |
8 | Timmy Hill | 56 |
9 | Bryan Dauzat | 28 |
10 | Christian Eckes | 19 |
11 | Tyler Ankrum | 18 |
12 | Jason White | 22 |
13 | Bayley Currey | 41 |
14 | Stewart Friesen | 52 |
15 | Ty Majeski | 98 |
16 | Tanner Gray | 15 |
17 | Grant Enfinger | 9 |
18 | Jack Wood | 91 |
19 | Taylor Gray | 17 |
20 | Corey LaJoie | 7 |
21 | Daniel Dye | 43 |
22 | Cory Roper | 04 |
23 | Codie Rohrbaugh | 97 |
24 | Dean Thompson | 5 |
25 | Mason Massey | 02 |
26 | Matt Mills | 42 |
27 | Toni Breidinger | 1 |
28 | Chase Purdy | 77 |
29 | Johnny Sauter | 45 |
30 | Ben Rhodes | 99 |
31 | Keith McGee | 27 |
32 | Lawless Alan | 33 |
33 | Layne Riggs | 38 |
34 | Jake Garcia | 13 |
35 | Ty Dillon | 25 |
36 | Thad Moffitt | 46 |
This story was originally published February 16, 2024 at 12:00 AM.
