Both Stewart Friesen and Nick Sanchez missed out on top-10 results in Saturday’s Weather Guard Truck Race at Bristol Motor Speedway following a late-race accident between the two drivers, which simultaneously displayed a caution that threatened to alter the race’s finish.
While Sanchez finished the race 17th, and Friesen 22nd, the pair decided there needed to be a conversation after the checkered flag flew at the half-mile short track. As it turns out, at least one party was still pretty angry about things.
The accident was triggered by the pair racing side-by-side for eighth place, when Friesen came up the racetrack and attempted to clear Sanchez on the frontstretch, a task in which he was unsuccessful, sending the Halmar-sponsored truck into the wall while the No. 2 sustained decent right-side damage.
Frustrations were at an all-time high for Friesen, who has struggled to find speed in his Halmar Friesen Racing entry for the last two seasons, and was fighting for his first top-10 finish on the season, while the REV Racing driver has already been to Victory Lane, winning at Daytona.
After the race, on pit road, the two drivers were having a conversation, when Friesen, who looked to be visibly irritated grabbed the collar of Sanchez, and engaged in a bit of light shoving between the two parties — as crew members from both teams attempted to break up the tussle.
Devin Kupka, a writer for North Georgia Vanguard, captured the video of the incident:
Nick Sanchez and Stewart Friesen getting into it post race on pit-road. #WEATHERGUARDTruckRace #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/NOTABguGqA
— Devin Kupka (@Devin_Kupka) March 17, 2024
Believe it or not, this isn’t the first time this has happened to Sanchez, despite Friday serving as his 27th career NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event.
In October, at Talladega Superspeedway, Sanchez was involved in a major post-race altercation with series veteran Matt Crafton, in which the REV Racing driver was ‘sucker punched’ by the three-time champion in the NASCAR Truck Series garage. Both drivers were fined for that incident, and Sanchez’s father, Rene, was suspended.
Therefore, in the last seven races, Sanchez has been involved in a pair of altercations.
Now, the hope remains, that much like that incident from Talladega at the tail-end of last season, this doesn’t carry on to further on-track drama between the two drivers.
