Red Flags Already Flying on Truck Series Season

In a Nutshell

Nick Sanchez finally sealed the deal.

The second-year NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver outlasted the field as they crashed behind him to win his first career race at Daytona International Speedway Friday night (Feb. 16). Sanchez came close to victory several times last season but never got the job done. This year, he wins the season opener and can now cruise to the playoffs after race one (assuming there are not more than 10 winners this season).

Defending regular season champion Corey Heim avoided the mayhem to finish second while Rajah Caruth finished a career-best third with his new team at Spire Motorsports. A pair of underdogs, Bret Holmes and Spencer Boyd, rounded out the top five with fourth- and fifth-place finishes, respectively.

Unlike last year, which was rain-shortened, the full 100 laps were completed this year. For good measure, the race went 101 laps, as one lap was needed for overtime. Unfortunately, with a combination of crashes and unnecessarily long caution periods, as well as a red flag for rain, the checkered flag flew almost three hours after the green flag dropped.

The Top Truckers at Daytona International Speedway

Winner, Most Laps Led (26 of 101): Nick Sanchez
Polesitter: Ty Majeski
Stage One Winner: Johnny Sauter
Stage Two Winner: Tyler Ankrum
Rookie of the Race: Corey LaJoie

Top Storylines of the Race

• Among the four drivers who failed to qualify, two were new teams attempting their first race. ARCA Menards Series driver Ryan Huff entered his self-owned No. 36 team into the race, and Mason Maggio drove the brand new Floridian Motorsports No. 21. They joined Jennifer Jo Cobb and Clay Greenfield on the sidelines for the race.
• There are a lot of new faces in new places to start the 2024 season, but perhaps none made a better impression than Ankrum. While Caruth also had a great finish with a new team, Ankrum found himself out front for 16 laps en route to winning stage two. After a subpar two seasons with Hattori Racing Enterprises, Ankrum joined McAnally-Hligemann Racing full-time for 2024 in a new truck, the No. 18. While 11th isn’t the result he hoped for, he is certainly off to a promising start.
• Several teams had collectively phenomenal efforts all-around at Daytona, including MHR. Spire’s new three-truck effort (plus Sanchez, as Rev Racing works out of Spire’s shop) and Niece Motorsports’ team with a brand new driver lineup both showed major speed in both…