For the sixth time in his career and first time this season, Nick Sanchez wins the pole award in the NASCAR Truck Series. Sanchez will lead the SpeedyCash.com 250 to green later tonight in the Lone Star State.
Kyle Busch and Stewart Friesen laid down fast laps in qualifying, testing these young drivers. Throw in Grant Enfinger and three of the five fastest trucks were from seasoned veterans. Busch is the youngest among the three at 38 years old.
Speaking of Friesen, he had the pole locked up until Nick Sanchez knocked him from the board. Those two had a post-race altercation earlier this season.
Friesen fell to P3 before qualifying was over, Christian Eckes just beat him for that front-row position. This is the second year in a row Sanchez has won the pole at Texas.
This has been a strong season so far for Nick Sanchez. He won the opening race at Daytona and followed it up with a top-5 at Atlanta. He had a tough time in the next three races, finishing P17, P17, and P18. However, last week at Martinsville, he was able to bounce back and finish P4.
Sanchez led all but four laps last season at Texas. He came up short, finishing P16 in a DNF finish. The Rev Racing driver already has more top-5 finishes this season than he had all of last year.
I love that Kyle Busch is in this race. He has five career Truck Series wins at Texas. That 7 truck was very fast and will be tough to beat tonight. Rajah Caruth, Busch’s Spire teammate this weekend, was fastest in practice and in the five-lap average. The 71 fires off P10.
Nick Sanchez wins pole award at Texas
Practice wasn’t completely inconsequential. Today the Texas track got to a couple of drivers. Both Tyler Ankrum and Tanner Gray found themselves wrecking their trucks. It was a shame, especially for Ankrum who had one of the best trucks in practice.
Of course, there is going to be a change to this track. The race isn’t until 8:30 PM EST. It will cool off before and throughout the race. The good news is that we will have competitive pit stops this year. Last season this was a stand-alone Truck Series weekend and there weren’t enough pit crews to go around.
Nick Sanchez has his eyes on a championship this season. He was great at this track last year. Why not repeat his dominant performance but make sure he ends up crossing the finish line first?
Texas Motor Speedway is going to be challenging for these young drivers. I do expect those veterans, Friesen, Busch, Enfinger, even Matt Crafton, and Johnny Sauter who start closer to the rear, to perform well tonight.
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