MYRTLE BEACH, SC – Nick Sanchez picked up his first career Late Model Stock Car victory, driving for Rev Racing, at Myrtle Beach Speedway on Saturday night.
Sanchez, 18, from Miami, Florida, entered Saturday night’s race with eight top-five finishes in 10 starts across multiple different tracks – but he had never won a Late Model Stock Car race. In the second of two races in a Late Model doubleheader, Sanchez was able to hold off four-time Myrtle Beach Speedway track champion Sam Yarbrough to score the victory.
“This still feel unreal,” Sanchez told Race22.com in victory lane after the race. “We’ve come way too close this year. I think six top-three finishes. We’ve just had wins taken away in the worst ways. To win one, to seal the deal, it feels unreal.”
Sanchez started the race in the seventh position and quickly worked his way to the front of the field in the 40-lap feature. By lap four, Sanchez had raced his way up to the second position. On the 15th lap of the race, he was able to get by Jeremy McDowell for the lead.
Yarbrough had closed in on Sanchez during the midway portion of the race, but lapped traffic aided Sanchez as he was able to pull away in the final laps.
“In all honesty, I don’t know if I was really that nervous in the final five laps,” Sanchez said. “But the five before that, I was pretty nervous. Once we got to lapped traffic, I think I finally started believing, ‘man, I think we can finally get this.’ Finally getting it, crazy.”
Saturday’s triumph not only boosts confidence for Sanchez, but for Rev Racing’s entire Late Model Stock Car program. It was the first win for Rev Racing in a Late Model Stock Car race since Macy Causey’s lone victory at South Boston Speedway on May 20, 2017.
“It just boosts our confidence, finally sealing the deal,” Sanchez stated. “Just having confidence in having a win, I haven’t won in a couple years, and this just feels amazing. It boosted my confidence level times 1,000.”
Sanchez finished fourth in the first feature race, which was won by Sam Yarbrough.
RESULTS: RACE 1 RESULTS | RACE 2 RESULTS
