Nick Sanchez Wins in Charlotte

(CONCORD, NC – MAY 24, 2024 – RIS) Nick Sanchez led only the final eight laps after a late race caution and restart to win the North Carolina Education Lottery 200. Starting mid-pack in 16th to start the race, Sanchez avoided being caught up in one of the three incidents that punctuated the final stage of the race, after the first two stages ran cleanly.

“I sucked at the beginning,” said Sanchez, describing how the team kept working on the truck to get it better. A crew member on the No. 2 truck, Chris Showalter, has attended every one of the 700 Truck Series races that have been held and celebrated his birthday today as well. Showalter gave a very emotional interview over the track PA following the team’s victory.

The first incident caution flew immediately as the third stage began, with Tyler Ankrum, Keith McGee, Thad Moffitt and Jeffrey Earnhardt all involved. After an extensive track cleanup, the second caution came out just four laps later, with the single truck incident involving Matt Crafton’s No. 88 Ford in Turn Three. 

Chase Purdy’s Turn Two solo spin triggered the final caution, leading to the dramatic surge by Sanchez to his win.

Runnerup Corey Heim was disqualified in post-race inspection for three lug nuts ‘not safe and secure’, moving Stewart Friesen to second, followed by Grant Enfinger, Matt Mills and Ben Rhodes as the top five finishers.

Before the Truck Series  race, the ARCA Menards Series General Tire 150, Tanner Gray scored his first victory in the series, starting from the pole and overcoming an early blown tire that sent him a lap down. Gray raced back to the lead and in the final laps of the race had to withstand a challenge from Carson Kvapil. 

Unofficial Results: North Carolina Education Lottery 200, May 24, 2024 - Charlotte Motor Speedway
Fin, Str, Driver, Trk, Laps, St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
1) 16, Nick Sanchez, No. 2 Gainbridge Chevrolet, 134, , 8, 1, 9, 5, 43, Running
2) 12, Stewart Friesen, No. 52 Halmar International Toyota, 134, , , , , , 35, Running
3) 17, Grant Enfinger, No. 9 Grant County Mulch Chevrolet, 134, , , , , , 34, Running
4) 15, Matt Mills, No. 42 J.F. Electric/Utilitra Chevrolet, 134, , , , , , 33, Running
5) 13, Ben Rhodes, No. 99 Campers Inn RV Ford, 134, 8, , , , , 35, Running
6) 18, Jake Garcia, No. 13 Quanta Services Ford, 134, , , , , , 31, Running
7) 9, Kaden Honeycutt, No. 45 R.D.C. Shoe Company Chevrolet, 134, 1, 3, , , 1, 48, Running
8) 7, Connor Mosack, No. 7 Pinnacle Racing Group Chevrolet, 134, 9, 7, , , , 35, Running
9) 11, Dean Thompson, No. 5 Thompson Pipe Group Toyota, 134, 7, 4, , , , 39, Running
10) 35, Christian Eckes, No. 19 NAPA Auto Care Chevrolet, 134, , , 2, 37, , 27, Running
11) 25, Conner Jones #, No. 66 TSPORT Ford, 134, , , , , , 26, Running
12) 14, Taylor Gray, No. 17 JBL Toyota, 134, , 10, , , , 26, Running
13) 6, Chase Purdy, No. 77 Bama Buggies Chevrolet, 134, 6, 2, 2, 5, , 38, Running
14) 27, Bret Holmes, No. 32 Precision Garage Door Chevrolet, 134, , , , , , 23, Running
15) 19, Brett Moffitt, No. 1 Destiny Homes Toyota, 134, , , , , , 22, Running
16) 4, Rajah Caruth, No. 71 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, 134, 3, , , , , 29, Running
17) 1, Tanner Gray, No. 15 Dead On Tools Toyota, 134, 2, 1, 2, 11, 1, 39, Running
18) 29, Mason Massey, No. 02 RANDCO Chevrolet, 134, , , , , , 19, Running
19) 36, Daniel Dye, No. 43 Champion Container Chevrolet, 134, , 9, , , , 20, Running
20) 30, Spencer Boyd, No. 76 A&M Premier Roofing Chevrolet, 134, , , , , , 17, Running
21) 8, Jack Wood, No. 91 Cometic Gasket/Klotz Chevrolet, 134, , , , , , 16, Running
22) 26, Timmy Hill, No. 56 Coble Enterprises/UNITS Toyota, 134, , , , , , 15, Running
23) 3, Ty Majeski, No. 98 Soda Sense/Curb Records Ford, 134, 4, 5, , , , 27, Running
24) 20, Ty Dillon, No. 25 Rackley Roofing Chevrolet, 134, , , , , , 13, Running
25) 23, Stefan Parsons, No. 75 Popsells.com Chevrolet, 134, , , , , , 12, Running
26) 10, Bayley Currey, No. 41 Foundation for Pops Chevrolet, 134, 10, , , , , 12, Running
27) 24, Mason Maggio, No. 21 US Off Market Real Estate Deals Ford, 134, , , , , , 10, Running
28) 5, Layne Riggs #, No. 38 Infinity Communcations Group Ford, 133, 5, 6, , , , 20, Running
29) 28, Memphis Villarreal, No. 20 Laredo Trailer Supply Chevrolet, 131, , , , , , 8, Running
30) 21, Lawless Alan, No. 33 AUTOChargit Ford, 120, , , , , , 7, Brakes
31) 22, Matt Crafton, No. 88 Chi Chis/Menards Ford, 119, , , , , , 6, Running
32) 34, Tyler Ankrum, No. 18 LiUNA! Chevrolet, 67, , , , , , 5, Accident
33) 32, Thad Moffitt #, No. 46 Customers Bank Chevrolet, 65, , , , , , 4, Accident
34) 33, Keith McGee, No. 22 More Core Drilling Services Ford, 65, , , , , , 3, Accident
35) 31, Jeffrey Earnhardt, No. 67 Forgotten Coast K9 Toyota, 65, , , , , , 2, Accident
36) 2, Corey Heim, No. 11 Safelite Toyota, 134, , , 2, 72, , 1, Running
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie

Race Length: 134 Laps, 201 Miles
Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 45 Mins, 40 Secs.
Average Speed: 114.132 MPH
Margin of Victory: 0.507 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 45, 15, 71, 98, 38, 77, 5, 99, 7, 41
Stage 2 Top 10: 15, 77, 45, 5, 98, 38, 7, 2, 43, 17

Comments: Nick Sanchez won the North Carolina Education Lottery 200 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, his second NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series victory.

Prior to the start, the Nos. 18, 19, 33 and 67 dropped to the rear of the field prior to green (unapproved adjustments).

Failed to Qualify: (2) 90 Justin Carroll, 10 Jennifer Jo Cobb.

Cautions: 5 for 31 laps;
Laps: 32-37 (Stage 1 Conclusion [56]);
62-67 (Stage 2 Conclusion [02]);
69-76 (Nos. 18, 22, 46, 67 Incident Turn 4 [76]);
82-87 (No. 88 Incident Turn 3 [21]);
121-125 (No. 77 Incident Turn 2 [41]).

Lead Changes:
8 among 5 drivers;
T. Gray 1-3;
C. Heim 4-33;
T. Gray 34-41;
C. Heim 42-83;
C. Purdy 84-87;
C. Eckes 88-107;
C. Purdy 108;
C. Eckes 109-125;
N. Sanchez 126-134.

Unofficial Points Report: North Carolina Education Lottery 200, Charlotte Motor Speedway
Rank  Driver Car    Starts GL     Points Ldr    Nxt    Race Wins    Stage Wins   Playoff Pts
1) Christian Eckes   19      11      0       453    0       0       2       3       13
2) Corey Heim         11      11      0       423    -30     30      3       4       19
3) Nick Sanchez       2       11      1       403    -50     20      2       1       11
4) Ty Majeski 98      11      -1      389    -64     14      0       3       3
5) Taylor Gray         17      11      0       354    -99     35      0       0       0
6) Rajah Caruth      71      11      1       336    -117   18      1       0       5
7) Tyler Ankrum      18      11      -1      320    -133   16      0       2       2
8) Tanner Gray        15      11      2       291    -162   29      0       1       1
9) Grant Enfinger     9       11      -1      290    -163   1       0       0       0
10) Ben Rhodes       99      11      -1      289    -164   1       0       0       0
11) Stewart Friesen  52      11      2       257    -196   32      0       0       0
12) Matt Crafton      88      11      -1      256    -197   1       0       0       0
13) Daniel Dye        43      11      -1      255    -198   1       0       0       0
14) Jake Garcia       13      11      0       237    -216   18      0       0       0
15) Chase Purdy      77      11      1       234    -219   3       0       0       0
16) Bayley Currey    41      11      -1      214    -239   20      0       0       0
17) Dean Thompson 5       11      3       212    -241   2       0       0       0
18) Layne Riggs #     38      11      -1      211    -242   1       0       0       0
19) Bret Holmes      32      11      -1      205    -248   6       0       0       0
20) Ty Dillon  25      11      -1      190    -263   15      0       0       0
21) Kaden Honeycutt         45      5       2       188    -265   2       0       1       1
22) Timmy Hill        56      11      -1      184    -269   4       0       0       0
23) Mason Massey   02      11      -1      170    -283   14      0       0       0
24) Matt Mills 42      11      1       163    -290   7       0       0       0
25) Lawless Alan      33      11      -1      140    -313   23      0       0       0
26) Jack Wood        91      7       0       139    -314   1       0       0       0
27) Spencer Boyd     76      11      0       137    -316   2       0       0       0
28) Stefan Parsons   75      6       0       128    -325   9       0       0       0
29) Conner Jones #  66      7       1       109    -344   19      0       0       0
30) Thad Moffitt #    46      11      -1      97      -356   12      0       0       0
31) Connor Mosack  7       3       7       66      -387   31      0       0       0
32) Brett Moffitt       1       2       4       59      -394   7       0       0       0
33) Colby Howard             2       -2      50      -403   9       0       0       0
34) Keith McGee      22      6       -2      49      -404   1       0       0       0
35) Mason Maggio    21      5       -1      49      -404   0       0       0       0
36) Johnny Sauter            2       -3      39      -414   10      0       1       1
37) Connor Zilisch            1       -2      38      -415   1       0       0       0
38) Brenden Queen           1       -1      33      -420   5       0       0       0
39) Bryan Dauzat             1       0       28      -425   5       0       0       0
40) William Sawalich         2       0       28      -425   0       0       0       0
41) Jason White               1       0       25      -428   3       0       0       0
42) Cam Waters                2       0       25      -428   0       0       0       0
43) Carter Fartuch            1       0       16      -437   9       0       0       0
44) Cory Roper                 1       0       15      -438   1       0       0       0
45) Codie Rohrbaugh                  1       0       14      -439   1       0       0       0
46) Memphis Villarreal       20      2       8       12      -441   2       0       0       0
47) Dale Quarterley           1       -1      11      -442   1       0       0       0
48) Toni Breidinger           1       -1      10      -443   1       0       0       0
49) Stephen Mallozzi          1       -1      9       -444   1       0       0       0
50) Dawson Sutton           1       -1      9       -444   0       0       0       0
51) Kris Wright                 1       -1      7       -446   2       0       0       0
52) Marco Andretti            1       -1      6       -447   1       0       0       0
53) Justin Carroll             2       -1      6       -447   0       0       0       0
54) Jennifer Jo Cobb         1       -1      5       -448   1       0       0       0
55) Josh Reaume              1       0       4       -449   1       0       0       0
56) Vicente Salas              1       0       3       -450   1       0       0       0
57) Blake Lothian             1       0       3       -450   0       0       0       0
58) Clayton Green             1       0       3       -450   0       0       0       0
59) Trey Hutchens            2       0       3       -450   0       0       0       0
60) Jeffrey Earnhardt         67      1       -60     2       -451   1       0       0       0
61) Kyle Busch(i)              5       -1      0       -453   2       2       5       0
62) Ross Chastain(i)          3       -1      0       -453   0       1       0       0
63) Zane Smith(i)              4       -1      0       -453   0       0       1       0
64) Sammy Smith(i)           2       -1      0       -453   0       0       0       0
65) Christopher Bell(i)                 1       -1      0       -453   0       0       0       0
66) Jack Hawksworth                 0       -1      0       -453   0       0       0       0
67) Corey Lajoie(i)             1       -1      0       -453   0       0       0       0
68) Aric Almirola(i)            0       -1      0       -453   0       0       0       0
69) Clay Greenfield            0       -1      0       -453   0       0       0       0
70) Ryan Huff         0       -1      0       -453   0       0       0       0
 -Ldr/-Nxt = Points behind Leader/Next higher, (i) Ineligible for driver points in this series

John Davison

Long-time RIS staffer, beginning in the mid-80s. Charlotte, NC area local contact.

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Volume 2024, Issue 5, Posted 11:45 PM, 05.24.2024