Nick Sanchez will be graduating to the NASCAR Xfinity Series division on a full-time basis in 2025, where he will be piloting the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro entry for Big Machine Racing.
The news comes as the 23-year-old Sanchez from Miami, Florida, is campaigning in his second full-time season in the Craftsman Truck Series with Rev Racing. It also comes a week after Parker Kligerman, who currently drives for Big Machine Racing in the Xfinity circuit, announced that he will not be returning to the organization nor pursue any full-time NASCAR driving activities next season.
The move for Sanchez to Big Machine Racing marks a reunion for both parties after the Miami native drove for the organization in six of the final eight races of the 2022 Xfinity season. During the six-race stint, Sanchez’s best on-track result was seventh at Martinsville Speedway. Amid his part-time Xfinity campaign, he was competing full-time in the ARCA Menards Series for Rev Racing, where he would proceed to win the championship.
For the 2025 season, Sanchez’s No. 48 Big Machine Racing Chevrolet entry will continue to receive primary sponsorship support from Big Machine Vodka SPIKED Coolers. In addition, Gainbridge, which sponsors Sanchez in the Truck Series, will continue to support the Miami native in his first full-time Xfinity stint by serving as his associate sponsor.
“I couldn’t be more excited to join Big Machine Racing with Chevrolet next year in the Xfinity Series,” Sanchez said in a released statement. “I’m grateful to get the opportunity to work with [CEO] Scott Borchetta, [crew chief] Patrick Donahue, and the whole Big Machine team next year. This amazing opportunity would not be possible without Big Machine Records, Big Machine Vodka SPIKED Coolers, Chevrolet, Gainbridge, the NASCAR Diversity program, Rev Racing, Bono, and everyone at Spire, who made this dream a reality. As a driver, I feel that I’m ready to move to the next level and I look forward to competing for wins and ultimately a championship next year driving the #48 for Big Machine Racing!”
Sanchez, who grew up competing in go-karts before transcending his way to compete in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series for Rev Racing and as a Drive for Diversity member, is a recipient of the 2019 Wendell Scott Trailblazer Award. After inking a full-time ARCA Menards Series East deal with Rev in 2020, he notched his first ARCA Menards Series career victory during the 2021 season-finale event at Kansas Speedway.
During the 2022 season, Sanchez notched the first ARCA Menards Series drivers’ championship for himself and Rev Racing in a season where he recorded three victories. He also made his first eight career starts on the Xfinity circuit, six with Big Machine Racing and two with BJ McLeod Motorsports. The following season, Sanchez became a full-time competitor for Rev Racing in the Truck Series. Despite missing the cutoff to the Championship 4 in a tie-breaker during his first Playoff run, the Miami native notched the series’ Rookie-of-the-Year title. He commenced this season by winning for the first time ever at Daytona in February before winning the series’ 700th Truck race overall at Charlotte in May. To go along with a total of seven top-five results and 10 top-10 results throughout the 16-race regular-season stretch, Sanchez made the Playoffs for a second consecutive season.
With a 10th-place result during the Truck Series’ Playoff opener at the Milwaukee Mile, Sanchez is ranked in fourth place in the Playoff standings as he continues his pursuit to win his first Truck title while also continuing to impress Big Machine Racing’s CEO Scott Borchetta.
“In 2022 we put Nick in our car for a handful of races and he was fast right out of the gate,” Borchetta said. “At Martinsville in particular, I watched him go full-on, elbows out, putting the car right where it needed to be, with no fear against the best-of-the-best in the series. Since then, he’s done a fantastic job in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, and I know that he and Crew Chief Patrick Donahue and the entire Big Machine Racing Team are going to be a force to be reckoned with in 2025.”
Amid the excitement of Sanchez joining Big Machine Racing in 2025, Borchetta also took a moment to recognize the team’s current driver Parker Kligerman’s contributions since both first joined forces at Talladega Superspeedway in October 2022 before campaigning on a full-time basis in 2023.
Through 58 races, Kligerman piloted Big Machine Racing’s No. 48 entry to a total of 12 top-five results, 30 top-10 results, 58 laps led and average-finishing results within the top-13 mark. Kligerman also made the 2023 Xfinity Series Playoffs, where he settled in 10th place in the final standings, and is in a prime position to make the Playoffs for a second consecutive season in 2024.
“I am so grateful to Parker Kligerman for coming to Big Machine Racing for the 2023 and 2024 seasons,” Borchetta added. “He was the perfect driver at just the right time to help us go to the next level in the Xfinity Series. His smarts as a race driver have been on display since his first race with us. He’s simply a very fast driver that makes very few mistakes and unforced errors.
“His ability to bring home race cars with all four corners intact while battling door to door is absolutely top percentile in the series, which is fully on display with him on the eve of clinching our second consecutive playoff appearance. He and the team are determined to go as far as we possibly can in the playoffs and, who knows, maybe we’ll cap this off at the finale in Phoenix! I have nothing but great things to say about Parker and I hope that our relationship continues at the highest level as he navigates his next career moves. He will always be a Big Machine Driver.”
With Sanchez securing next year’s plans for himself and Big Machine Racing, any future plans involving Rev Racing within NASCAR’s top three national touring series remains to be determined.
Prior to the 2025 season, Nick Sanchez’s 2024 Truck Series Playoff run with Rev Racing continues with the upcoming UNOH 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway this Thursday, September 19, at 8 p.m. ET on FS1. Big Machine Racing’s Xfinity Series season with Parker Kligerman also continues at Bristol for the Food City 300 and the series’ regular-season finale that will air this Friday, September 20, at 7:30 p.m. ET on the CW Network.
