By: Mitchell Breuer 

NEWTON, Iowa – The 2021 ARCA Menards Series season has been a good one for Nick Sanchez, headed into this past weekend’s event at Iowa Speedway already having five top-five finishes in 10 races.  

However, it had been two races since the 20-year-old placed in the top-five, putting a little pressure on Saturday’s Shore Lunch 150.  

In a race that featured strong competition from not only ARCA’s national series but, as well as drivers from the East, Sanchez proved to have a strong showing.  

The day did not start off without its struggles though, as he would have to work his up from after placing tenth in qualifying. However, the driver of the No. 2 Rev Racing Chevrolet and his team were able to make the right adjustments, as they not only worked their way inside the top-five but, also stayed there for most of the race, hanging tough with the likes of four-time winner, Corey Hiem.  

By the end of the race, Sanchez would snap his top-five drought, and finish in the fifth position.  

“We struggled initially off the trailer, made big swings at it through practice and qualifying, and even started off the race, I think we fell back to 12th in the early stages,” Sanchez told News From The Pits. “So, me and my crew, we worked on the car all day, kept our heads under us, and we came out in the top five.” 

While the day was not his strongest finish of the year, it was still a confidence builder for Sanchez as the series heads into one its busiest parts of the year, with seven races in the next eight weeks.  

“We are running right up there with our 20 and the 17,” Sanchez said. “So, we are right there with them. We just have to work on executing a little better overall, not just a car standpoint, but me, but we’ll go to work, and we will continue grinding.” 

While a fifth is a nice, Sanchez is setting even higher expectations for the rest of the year, hoping that he can break through and grab his first win.  

“We’ve had a lot of bad luck this year, but we’ve fought through it,” Sanchez said. “So, I think one of these days when everything goes our way, I think we’ll get a win.”