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.