Up until early December, Nick Sanchez thought he would be returning to Big Machine Racing for the 2026 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series season. Four months earlier, the two sides mutually agreed that they would run it back for his sophomore campaign.
But then came the dreaded call from Big Machine’s management, informing Sanchez that it would be going in a different direction with its race team, despite the 2025 rookie scoring the team’s first win in more than three seasons at EchoPark Speedway last June. Instead, Big Machine welcomed newcomer Dr. Patrick Staropoli, graduate from the PEAK Stock Car Dream Challenge to the organization, who at 36 years old, has never ran a full season at the national touring level.
“I think it made it easier because I knew it wasn’t about Nick the race car driver,” Sanchez told Jayski.com about the split. “It was a business decision. At the end of the day, these race teams don’t fund themselves. It would be ignorant of me to be mad. I surely wasn’t happy, but I understand it. It’s a business and someone came in with a bigger check. He’s probably a great guy, but I know he doesn’t have the credentials or capability that I have as a race car driver.
“Every team needs to sit down and think of what their goals and aspirations are. They made their bed and did what they wanted to do.”
With the season opener at Daytona International Speedway looming two months away, Sanchez was in a bind to find his next stop. The first team he met with was AM Racing, which was coming off a postseason run of its own with Harrison Burton, who joined Sam Hunt Racing for 2026.
Joining AM was a natural fit for Sanchez, though it meant leaving the Chevrolet camp for the first time in his young career. Admittedly, he wasn’t certain if he would be competing at Daytona until a week prior to the event.
“I think it was a risk I was willing to take as a driver to put myself in a situation,” Sanchez added. “It was a relief because I put all of my eggs into this basket and closed out some previous relationships in hopes of getting this deal.”
At the same time, AM was in a transition of its own. Burton helped bump the organization up 19 spots in the owners standings compared to the year prior. It also lost crew chief Danny Efland to Viking Motorsports, which put 29-year-old brightmind engineer Dewey Townsend IV in charge.
The organization has the same equipment that it ran in 2025, though it lost its alliance with Haas Factory Team as that two-car organization swapped to Chevrolet. Despite the change and increased workload among AM employees, the team expects to have similar numbers to 2025, when Burton posted a pair of top-five and 10 top-10 finishes.
The most glaring difference between the team, however, is the two drivers. Burton is known for having a methodical race craft, always taking care of his equipment. Meanwhile, Sanchez has an aggressive nature that bodes well for him. Wade Moore, president of AM Racing, believes Sanchez is the perfect clash between Burton and the company’s first driver, Brett Moffitt.
“Nick doesn’t take a lap off – he is fun to watch,” Moore told Jayski.com. “It’s great having a driver like that because you know he’s going to squeeze everything possible out of every lap. Over the last few months, I think you’ve really seen him mature. Last year, there were times where he pushed the equipment past its limit trying to get more out of it, and he’d be the first to admit that. Now, I think he’s in a place where he can show us week in week out exactly where our platform stacks up from a pure speed standpoint.”
Sanchez watched AM grow from afar last season, pointing out the season with Burton was impressive. A good foundation was built internally, which has helped the Florida native’s transition.
“My goal this year is to do what he did and step it up a notch,” Sanchez said. “My goal is to get them their first win. I joined a team last year that hadn’t won in three years and I was able to get them a win, so I don’t see why I can’t put this team in that situation.
“I tune everything else out and want to be known as someone who can make a difference on and off the track, shop morale, work ethic and outwork my competitors and be that difference maker and leave it all out on the race track.”
Expectations are high within the walls of AM Racing, too. Seeing the success it had in 2025, the company believes it can be playoff caliber again. Contending at the front of the field is the goal.
“I expect him to be a playoff contender,” Moore added. “I expect him to be a contender for race wins this year. Anything less than that is a disappointment. We put a lot of money into the program. I understand the days of outmotoring people or outengineering people are long gone, so there are a lot of challenges ahead.”
Through the first month of the 2026 season, Sanchez ranks 21st in driver points, with the No. 25 team slotting in 22nd in the owners standings, scoring a podium effort at EchoPark in the second race of the season.