Photo: ARCARacing.com
Opportunity knocked and Nick Sanchez answered.
After Corey Heim and Drew Dollar crashed while battling for the lead, Sanchez took advantage of his track position, holding off Rev Racing teammate Rajah Caruth to win the Dutch Boy 150. The win was his second straight in the ARCA Menards Series as well as his second straight at Kansas Speedway.
After a quiet first half of the race that saw Heim lead 49/50 laps from the pole, the race flipped on its head after the lap 50 break. Battling for the lead on the ensuing restart, Dollar looked to clear Heim from the inside only to get loose and put both of them in the wall.
Dollar knew the restart was his best chance to take over the race and knew he took it a step too far.
“These restarts here are so important, especially with how these races have gone,” Dollar said.
While Heim was even-keeled after the crash, his owner, Billy Venturini, didn’t hold back his anger.
“Drew wrecks all your shit when he’s driving for you and then he wrecks it all when he’s racing against you,” Venturini said to FS1. “Great kid, does not need to be a race car driver.”
After the wreck, the race fell into the laps of Rev Racing. Sanchez, who came into the race third in points, was able to keep his momentum going, as he held off Caruth by .775 second. Daniel Dye, recently reinstated by NASCAR, finished third as Gus Dean and Connor Mosack rounded out the top-five.
Conditions on the day were hot and humid. Drivers were visibly exhausted, including Dye who went to the Infield Care Center after the race.
Caruth credited his endurance to his experience playing soccer and running track.
“I didn’t really feel it in the car,” Caruth said. “But I hate feeling beat afterwards.”
With the top-three drivers so close in the point standings, Sanchez, Dye and Caruth all know that the battle for the championship could very well come down to the last lap at Toledo.
“A win’s going to be important,” said Caruth. “It’s going to take consistency and the wins will come hopefully.”
“We race really hard and really respectful,” added Sanchez. “We’re mindful that we’re the same team. So if someone wrecks, it hurts both cars.”
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