Video: Nick Sanchez Gets ‘Cheap Shot’ from Matt Crafton in Post-Talladega Altercation

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoff contender Nick Sanchez looks to have been involved in a post-race fight, following Saturday’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Love’s RV Stop 250 at Talladega Superspeedway.

Sanchez, who drives the No. 2 Chevrolet Silverado for Rev Racing, was captured on video – by Justin Watson of Frontstretch – in the aftermath of the fight, where he was lying on the ground being restrained by Cory Roper.

EXCLUSIVE: @Nicksanchez080 involved in a post race fight after Talladega. #NASCAR #NASCARPlayoffs

📹@WyattGametime pic.twitter.com/3qy3RxDH4Y

— Frontstretch (@Frontstretch) September 30, 2023

The 22-year-old driver then began to stand up and get himself sorted, revealing his face mostly covered in blood, from what appeared to be the altercation, where he began yelling across the garage: “I’m going to fucking kill you at Homestead. You fucked with the wrong guy motherfucker. It’s on now.”

After the altercation, Sanchez went to the infield care center to get his blood-covered face attended to. Upon exiting, he spoke to members of the media, and confirmed that it was indeed Matt Crafton that perpetrated the incident.

“I was walking back to the hauler, tap on my back, got punched in the face,” Sanchez explained. “Cheap shot, but it is what it is, I guess. I’m all for fighting, but you know, no cheap shots. He got a cheap shot, and I never really had a chance to get him back. It is what it is, it’s part of racing.”

Nick Sanchez states he felt a tap on his shoulder, turned around, and got punched in the face by Matt Crafton. After visiting the infield care center, Sanchez spoke to us about what happened. pic.twitter.com/GaOtzBK0YS

— Toby Christie (@Toby_Christie) September 30, 2023

Sanchez, who ran near the front throughout the entire event, played a role in triggering a 15-truck accident late in the event, which involved Crafton, who after the fact, appeared to be upset with the driver of the No. 2 Chevrolet after emerging from his damaged truck.

An alternate angle of the altercation, which shows a little bit more of its root cause, shared by @ChrisSportsCard on X, shows some of the punches thrown by Crafton to Sanchez, as well as another party involved in the altercation, as well.

Here’s an alternate angle and part of the beginning pic.twitter.com/du7hseZ3xQ

— Chris (@ChrisSportsCard) September 30, 2023

After the fact, crew members from McAnally-Hilgemann Racing, GMS Racing, and various other teams in the surrounding areas, rushed in to break up the fight, before NASCAR Officials got on the scene to make sure everything beyond that remained peaceful.