Nick Sanchez will leave Talladega with a P22 finish and a whole lot of frustration. He blames NASCAR officials for taking him out of contention. Sanchez drove to the front twice and ended up wrecking a few times in the process.

I’m not sure anyone passed more trucks on the track tonight than Nick Sanchez. He was involved in multiple incidents on the track. Then late in the race coming off a pit stop under caution, he was told to go back down pit road, just as the field was taking the green flag.

NASCAR officials claim that Sanchez had to get his spoiler checked out. Once that was approved, he was able to make his way back onto the track and race. But it was too late.

“Definitely a frustrating day, right? We took the lead twice, wrecked from the lead twice and the truck’s still rolling,” Sanchez explained. “And probably could have won given the opportunity again. So yeah pretty frustrated.

“Kind of got screwed there having whatever NASCAR officials had going on. I had to come back down pit road again after they took the green flag just for them to okay my spoiler and send me on my way. So, that definitely took me out of contention at the end of the race and you know wherever I ended up on track is where I finish and sadly, that’s what happened. So yeah really not happy the way it ended.”

Nick Sanchez enters Homestead-Miami 20 points below the cutline. He has a real chance to win that race or perhaps he can put it all together and win at Martinsville.

Nick Sanchez not the only driver frustrated

After the race, Nick Sanchez was not the only Truck Series Playoffs driver wondering what could have been. Rajah Caruth was upset with himself after the race. He suffered a speeding penalty on pit road that he thinks cost him a chance at the win.

Still, P4 on the day isn’t anything to be too upset about. Caruth’s former GMS Racing teammate Grant Enfinger won the race. He also made it to the Championship 4 with his victory.

“Pretty mad at myself for taking us out of the game with pitting and we got lucky with catching that yellow,” Caruth explained. “I’m just super proud of everybody on this HendrickCars.com Silverado group, I gotta think Mr. H and Ms. Linda and everybody at Ally for supporting me and letting me run this thing full-time.

“So, I’m just pretty frustrated that I took us out of it there because we were right there with the 9 and the 19 there before the pit cycle started and you know we’re right in the mix. So, wish I could execute better but to leave Talladega a little bit better than we came in is good. Props to Grant he did a great job today and he’s one of the best plate racers, so no surprise that he was the class of the field today.”

These two drivers will live to fight another day. Two more races in the Round of 8 to get points or a win. Those aren’t the worst odds in the world. Rajah enters Miami only five points below the cutline. Will either of these two make the Championship 4?

Nick Sanchez wants to finish the season strong. He moves on to the Xfinity Series in 2025. Having a Truck Series championship before that would be great.

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