Ford Racing Notes and Quotes
NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series
Bennett 250 — EchoPark Speedway
Saturday, February 21, 2026
Ford Unofficial Finishing Results:
3rd – Nick Sanchez
20th – Luke Fenhaus
NICK SANCHEZ, No. 25 Paynuity/Travel Curious Ford Mustang Dark Horse – YOU DIDN’T HAVE ANY FRIENDS UP THERE, SO HOW DID YOU FINISH THIRD? “Just a lot of grit. I have a lot of experience at this track, but the Paynuity/Travel Curious Ford Mustang was really good. It turns out that our downforce package that we brought paid dividends in the race. I’m really just proud of the team. We had a really rough go at Daytona. We had a really fast car, but nothing to show for it, so I’m glad we could finish P3 tonight in only our second race together. I know it’s only gonna get better from here, so it’s really promising. I’m thankful for everyone at Ford Racing and everyone at AM Racing for all they do.”
YOU STARTED 28TH AND DROVE UP TO 8TH IN STAGE ONE. DID THAT TELL YOU THAT YOUR MUSTANG WAS GOING TO BE A CONTENDER? “Yeah. I know this sounds a little brash, but I expected to get stage points in stage one, just from what we know about the race car and what it could do. It wasn’t really a surprise there. I was just really trying to learn about the car and see what runs it was able to take, and it really set me up for the end of the race and my strategy going forward.”
YOU HAD A GOOD RUN UP THE MIDDLE LATE AND GOT UP TO SECOND OR THIRD. DID YOU NEED MORE HELP TO PUSH YOU? “Ideally, I would have liked to go for the lead on the 32 and take it, but my car just didn’t lead well, so I figured at the end of the day it was better to take my chances and see what happened if I just stayed behind him and try to time a run to where I had one corner to clear and there wasn’t any momentum to pass me back, but it was a little bit on me there at the end. I missed a really late block off of four, but I think that’s kind of what sealed my fate to not win the race.”
