Nick Sanchez looks to Kansas to keep his Playoff hopes alive. (Photo Credit: Big Machine Racing | X)

Lucky 13 rides along with the driver who qualifies 13th, keeping an eye on how their race unfolds. This driver could be sent to the back of the pack and still pull off a victory, or their luck could take a nosedive early in the race. With luck on their side – or against them – anything can happen! So, grab your four-leaf clovers, your lucky horseshoes, and maybe even a rabbit’s foot for the latest Lucky 13! Will it be fortune or misfortune? Let’s find out!

Kansas Lottery 300

Driver: Nick Sanchez
Organization & Number: Big Machine Racing, #48
Crew Chief: Patrick Donahue
Spotter: Michael Fisher

Stage 1

(Photo Credit: Big Machine Racing | Facebook)

Nick Sanchez entered Kansas Speedway ninth on the Playoff leaderboard, three points below the cut line. Sanchez was encouraged by crew chief Patrick Donahue, “We’ll take it 45 laps and then work on it all day.”

He immediately found himself middle of three as drivers took to every inch of real estate. The chaos of the opening laps saw him fall to P18. On Lap 4, he radioed in, noting, “So loose!”

By Lap 7, Sanchez was starting to make moves and had gained back a position. Within three more laps, Sanchez was running P16 and expressing concerns of a “small vibration,” and his gauges were “high.”

Lap 20, Sanchez confirmed he was still very loose and temps were still high.

As the stage came to a close, the No. 48 team took a great deal of time, trying to diagnose what Sanchez needed and was feeling, and what adjustments needed to come his way.

He finished the stage P16.

Stage 2

After a pit stop, Sanchez initially thought the vibration was gone, so Donahue worked to help his driver refocus. He lined up to start Stage 2 in P19. In the opening laps, he gained six spots, and as Jeb Burton wrecked and brought out the caution, Sanchez happily said, “Feels like a different car! I feel like I have a fighting chance, now!”

(Photo Credit: Nick Sanchez | Facebook)

He restarted P15 and was quickly on the move. On Lap 67, he finally returned to P13 but quickly lost the spot and noted, “Tight when running the top.”

It was a quiet remainder of the stage, and Sanchez finished P16, noting, “It’s 180 degrees different, just tight, tight everywhere.”

Stage 3

The final stage saw Sanchez restart P14 with 102 laps remaining. A wild restart allowed Sanchez to jump to P10, but as things settled down, he laid claim to P11. He lost one more position early on, but held steady at P12.

As green flag stops began with 59 to go, Sanchez informed his team he had hit the wall “pretty hard.” He asked his team to keep an eye out for a tire rub.

He cycled to the lead, awaiting his turn to pit. With 53 to go, Sanchez came to his team for the final scheduled stop of the day, and returned to the track in P19, down a lap.

(Photo Credit: Nick Sanchez | Facebook)

Within a couple laps, he was back on the lead lap and running P15 with top-10 lap times.

With 45 to go, Justin Bonsignore brought out the caution after contact with Sanchez.

 

Sanchez came to his team to check out any damage and add new tires.

He restarted P14 with 38 to go and elbowed his way to P10. Eleven laps later, Sanchez found himself in P9. With 10 to go, he moved to P8 and was reminded, “The last thing we need is a yellow.”

Finally, as Brandon Jones scored the win, Sanchez brought it home P8.

Spotter Michael Fisher said, “Good job getting a top 10 on what shouldn’t have been a top 10 day!”

(Photo Credit: Nick Sanchez | Facebook)

Sanchez heads to the Charlotte ROVAL five below the cut line.

NASCAR fans know sponsors make the sport go ’round. We want to give a shout-out to Big Machine Recording artist, Caroline Jones. Her recent album, No Tellin’, donned the No. 48 at Kansas Speedway.

Be sure to give Nick Sanchez (Facebook, Instagram, X) and Big Machine Racing (Facebook, Instagram, X) a follow to keep up with the latest news from the driver and team.