Nicholas Anthony Sanchez (born June 10, 2001) is an American professional

stock car racing Stock car racing is a form of Auto racing, automobile racing run on oval track racing, oval tracks and road courses. It originally used Production vehicle, production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifical ...

driver. He competes full-time in the

NASCAR Xfinity Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level NASCAR Cup Series, Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a Undercard, support ...

, driving the No. 48

Chevrolet SS The Holden Commodore (VF) is a full-size car that was produced by Holden between June 2013 and October 2017. It was the second and last significantly restyled iteration of the fourth (and final) generation of the Holden Commodore to be manufac ...

for

Big Machine Racing Big Machine Racing is an American professional stock car racing team that fields the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driven by Nick Sanchez. It is owned by Big Machine Records founder and American record executiv ...

and part-time in the

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is a pickup truck racing series owned and operated by the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), and is the only series in NASCAR to race production pickup truck-based stock car racing, s ...

, driving the No. 07 Chevrolet Silverado RST for

Spire Motorsports Spire Motorsports is an American professional stock car racing team competing in the NASCAR Cup Series, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, the ARCA Menards Series, and the ARCA Menards Series West. The teams ownership group consists of co-founder ...

. He is the

2022 ARCA Menards Series The 2022 ARCA Menards Series was the 70th season of the ARCA Menards Series, a stock car racing series sanctioned by NASCAR in the United States. The season began at Daytona International Speedway with the Lucas Oil 200 (ARCA), Lucas Oil 200 o ...

champion.

Racing career

Sanchez began racing at the age of twelve in go-karts at his home track of

Homestead–Miami Speedway Homestead–Miami Speedway (formerly known as the Homestead Motorsports Complex from 1995 to 1998) is a oval-shaped Oval track racing#Intermediate, intermediate speedway in Homestead, Florida. It has hosted various major auto racing series thr ...

. Sanchez tried out for NASCAR's

Drive for Diversity The NASCAR Driver Development Program (formerly known as Drive for Diversity / D4D) program is a development system instituted by the American auto racing league NASCAR. The program's purpose is to attract minority and female individuals to the ...

program and was accepted into it, and as a result, was given a ride with

Rev Racing Rev Racing, short for Revolution Racing, is an auto racing team competing at the regional level of NASCAR. Owned by former Dale Earnhardt, Inc. president Max Siegel, the team primarily fields participants in the Drive for Diversity, an initiat ...

in the

NASCAR Whelen All-American Series The NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series (formerly the Whelen All-American Series, Winston Racing Series and the Dodge Weekly Series) is a points championship for NASCAR-sanctioned local short-track motor racing in the United States and Canad ...

as well as the then-

NASCAR K&N Pro Series East The ARCA Menards Series East (formerly known by other names) is a regional stock car racing series owned and operated by the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) and the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). Races are hel ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

. He made his debut in both races of the doubleheader at

South Boston Speedway South Boston Speedway, or "SoBo", is a short track located just outside South Boston, Virginia. SoBo is located approximately east of another area familiar to most NASCAR fans, Martinsville. It is owned by Mattco, Inc., the Mattioli family tr ...

and then made another start later in the year at

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

. In only his second start in the series, Sanchez would win the pole for the second South Boston race. He was also the recipient of the

Wendell Scott Wendell Oliver Scott Sr. (August 29, 1921 – December 23, 1990) was an American stock car racing driver. He was the first African-American driver and team owner to compete and win in all divisions of NASCAR at its highest level. Scott began his ...

Trailblazer Award in 2019. When ARCA and NASCAR merged, the East Series and the

ARCA Menards Series The ARCA Menards Series is an American stock car racing, stock car series, the premier division of the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA). It is considered a minor, semi-professional league of stock car racing, used as a feeder series into ...

were brought together and rebranded in 2020, and Sanchez continued to compete for Rev Racing in the renamed ARCA Menards Series East. Sanchez became a full-time driver for the team in

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

, replacing Rubén García Jr. in the team's No. 6 car. In 2021, Sanchez moved from the East Series to the main ARCA Menards Series, competing full-time in Rev's No. 2 car. (It was initially going to be the No. 6.) The team also switched from

Toyota is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on August 28, 1937. Toyota is the List of manuf ...

Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ) is an American automobile division of the manufacturer General Motors (GM). In North America, Chevrolet produces and sells a wide range of vehicles, from subcompact automobiles to medium-duty commercial trucks. Due to the promi ...

that year. Sanchez got his first career ARCA win at

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

in the season finale, while

Ty Gibbs Tyler Randal Gibbs (born October 4, 2002) is an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 54 Toyota Camry (XV80), Toyota Camry XSE for Joe Gibbs Racing and part-t ...

won the championship for that season. On October 19, 2021, it was announced that Sanchez would be driving part-time in the

for B. J. McLeod Motorsports while continuing to drive full-time for Rev Racing in the main ARCA Menards Series. He would first pilot the No. 5

Phoenix Raceway Phoenix Raceway (formerly known as ISM Raceway from 2018–2020, Phoenix International Raceway from 1964–1973 and 1976–2017, and FasTrack International Speedway from 1973–1976) is a Oval track racing#Unique shapes, dogleg oval track in A ...

, and at

Charlotte Motor Speedway Charlotte Motor Speedway (known as Lowe's Motor Speedway from 1999 to 2009 due to sponsorship reasons) is a quad-oval Oval track racing#Intermediate, intermediate speedway in Concord, North Carolina. It has hosted various major races since it ...

in the No. 99. He would later depart the team afterward to drive a partial schedule the No. 48 for

starting at

Bristol Motor Speedway Bristol Motor Speedway (formerly known as the Bristol International Raceway from 1978 to 1996 and as the Bristol International Speedway from 1961 to 1978) is a oval Oval track racing#Short track, short track in Bristol, Tennessee. The track ha ...

. Sanchez would win three ARCA races (Talladega, Kansas, & Michigan) and the Championship in 2022 by 14 points over

Daniel Dye Daniel Wayne Dye (born December 4, 2003) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 10 Chevrolet Camaro (sixth generation), Chevrolet SS for Kaulig Racing. He has previo ...

. On November 4, 2022, Rev Racing announced its expansion into the

, fielding the No. 2 Chevrolet for Sanchez in

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

. His consistency made him the only rookie to make the playoffs in 2023. In addition, he won the

NASCAR Rookie of the Year The NASCAR Rookie of the Year Award is presented to the first-year driver that has the best season in a NASCAR season. Each of NASCAR's national and regional touring series selects a RotY winner each year. History of the Award The Rookie of the Y ...

honors in the Truck Series. Following the Talladega fall race, Sanchez got into a fight with

Matt Crafton Matthew Justin Crafton (born June 11, 1976) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 88 Ford F-Series (fourteenth generation), Ford F-150 for ThorSport Racing ...

in the garage area as a result of an on-track incident when both of their trucks made contact with each other, triggering a multi-truck pileup. Sanchez, with blood running down his face, yelled "I'm going to fucking kill you at Homestead. You fucked with the wrong guy motherfucker. It's on now." NASCAR fined Sanchez $5,000 and Crafton $25,000 for the fight. In addition, Sanchez's father Rene was suspended for two races for his involvement. Sanchez was eliminated at the conclusion of the Round of 8 at

Homestead Homestead may refer to: *Homestead (building), a farmhouse and its adjacent outbuildings; by extension, it can mean any small cluster of houses * Nguni homestead, a cluster of houses inhabited by a single extended family, typically with a kraal ...

Following the purchase of Rev Racing’s technical partner

Kyle Busch Motorsports Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM) is an American professional dirt racing team that competes in dirt divisions across the United States. They formerly competed in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series, CARS Tour, CRA Super Series, A ...

, it was announced that Sanchez would continue racing the No. 2 Silverado for Rev Racing for the 2024 season. Sanchez began the 2024 season with his first career win at

Daytona Daytona may refer to: Locations * Daytona Beach, Florida * Daytona Beach Shores, Florida * South Daytona, Florida * The Daytona Beach metropolitan area * Halifax area, also known as Daytona, the region around Daytona Beach Motor racing * Dayto ...

. Three months later, he scored his second win at Charlotte. Nick Sanchez 48 Xfinity Las Vegas 2025

In mid-September of that year, it was announced that Sanchez would return to the Xfinity Series and

to drive their No. 48 car full-time, beginning for the following 2025 season.

Personal life

Sanchez's father immigrated to the United States from Cuba on the

Mariel boatlift The Mariel boatlift () was a mass emigration of Cubans who traveled from Cuba's Mariel Harbor to the United States between April 15 and October 31, 1980. The term "" is used to refer to these refugees in both Spanish and English. While the ex ...

when he was eight years old. When Sanchez began competing in NASCAR, he moved from Miami to

Cornelius, North Carolina Cornelius is a suburban town located along Lake Norman in northern Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, United States. It is a major suburb of Charlotte and part of its metropolitan area. The population was 31,412 at the 2020 census, up from 24, ...

, which is located in the

Charlotte metropolitan area The Charlotte metropolitan area is a metropolitan area of the U.S. states of North and South Carolina, containing the city of Charlotte, North Carolina. The metropolitan area also includes the cities of Gastonia, Concord, Huntersville, and ...

where the majority of NASCAR teams are based.

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

( key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. ''Italics'' – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Xfinity Series

Craftsman Truck Series

Season still in progress
Ineligible for series points

ARCA Menards Series

( key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. ''Italics'' – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

ARCA Menards Series East

ARCA Menards Series West

References

External links

*
Official profile at Big Machine Racing
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sanchez, Nick 2001 births Living people NASCAR drivers ARCA Menards Series drivers Racing drivers from Miami American sportspeople of Cuban descent 21st-century American sportsmen