Johnny Sauter 2011 Headlines

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11-19-11

Johnny Sauter - Homestead-Miami Speedway Recap - Sauter & Shear, Jr, the "Dynamic Truck Duo," Prove Valiant Efforts and Lots of Heart Make it to Victory Lane

Johnny Sauter, driver of the No. 13 Safe Auto/Curb Records/MudJug Chevy Silverado, together with longtime crew chief Joe Shear, Jr and "team 13" executed a near-flawless performance at Homestead's NASCAR Camping World Truck Series finale - the Ford 200. The Victory Lane finish, second of 2011 for Sauter, marks the first truck series year he's "two-timed" - making for a happy crew.

Talk about the win tonight. Did you leave anything on the table?

JOHNNY SAUTER: "Yeah, what an eventful day. This place here during the daytime typically doesn't -- your truck doesn't handle very well, and last year same deal, and I knew the racetrack was going to come to us, or at least I thought it was, and sure enough, it did. Joe made a great change on that first pit stop and that thing came to life. Phenomenal year. I've always wanted to have two wins in the NASCAR series in the same year, and to some people that probably doesn't mean much. I've been fortunate to win some Nationwide races and some Truck races but never two in a year, so that was a huge accomplishment."

"To come out of here six points back is kind of a bummer with some of the problems we had or whatever throughout the course of the year, but I couldn't be more proud of Joe and everybody at ThorSport, Duke and Rhonda Thorson. This is essentially the race that I consider you thank everybody, and Safe Auto Insurance, Curb Records. Mike Curb has been a huge supporter, Mud Jugs, UCoat It, Carrier Heating and Cooling, Chevrolet, ECR Engines, Goodyear Tires, everybody that helps get this deal to the racetrack. It's a pleasure to drive this truck."

Crew chief Joe Shear, Jr., talk about the effort out there tonight by the No. 13 truck.

JOE SHEAR, JR.: "Just like Johnny said, we came here knowing we had to do what we did tonight. We had to dominate. We had to lead the most laps. And I can't thank my guys -- my guys worked hard all year, and it showed tonight. We had awesome pit stops. You know, we chased the track and everything and we made some adjustments, and we worked very hard to get where we were. It's just awesome to be here. Really, I'm kind of lost for words. Working as hard as we do, and we're working on it, and I think we're pretty strong, and I can't wait until next year."

For both you guys, with what Duke and Rhonda's organization has done this year, looking ahead and moving ahead, would you guys consider yourselves the championship favorite for next year, and why would that be?

JOHNNY SAUTER: "Well, first of all, I don't think it's any secret Duke and Rhonda's commitment to not only NASCAR but to the Camping World Truck Series, 16 seasons full-time. There's not a lot of people that can say that, whether they were sponsored or unsponsored. I know Duke and Rhonda spend a lot of their own money to make sure I get to the racetrack every weekend. I couldn't appreciate that more first and foremost. Built a brand new 100,000 square foot shop, we moved into it in August up in Sandusky, Ohio, which is an anomaly in this business, being outside the Charlotte hub, so to speak. I think it's a huge accomplishment, but I also know what I have for a team, and those guys work hard, and I guarantee you they work harder than anybody in the garage, and I guarantee you that we are a championship team. Even though we're not champions right now, we are a championship team, and I do believe we're the favorites for next year."

At what point did you know the rain was going to be an issue?

JOHNNY SAUTER: "I had no clue until there was rain on the windshield. That's the only time I knew. We went down into turn 3 there, the lap before, and it started to sprinkle pretty hard, and I came on the radio and I probably was yelling so loud that they probably didn't even understand what I was saying, and I said, "it's raining, it's raining," and we went down into turn 3 and it was pouring by the time I got to the back stretch, and I knew this was no good."

"So I just knew that Denny was running the high line, so I knew that I needed to run the high line, but I got really loose getting down in there and just washed up the racetrack. It's a good thing he's as good of a driver as he is, or that could have been ugly. He's amazingly talented and drove a hard race. I've gotta thank him for that."

11-14-11

Johnny Sauter - Homestead-Miami Speedway Preview -

EYE OF THE TIGER - OR UNDERDOG? The one man that NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship contender Johnny Sauter emulates is none other than...Rocky Balboa. With a second place point standings in the NCWTS after a strong top ten finish at Texas, his cool exterior hints one part "eye of the tiger," one part underdog- very much Rocky. Sauter isn't new to the game, knowing cooler heads can prevail in a championship run. He has made four appearances in NCWTS at Homestead-Miami Speedway, two with ThorSport Racing in 2009 & 2010 - with his best start at third in 2010. Sauter's infamous finish at the 2010 saw Kyle Busch in Victory Lane and him with his best track finish, on the podium at third.

Johnny Sauter, wife Cortney & son Penn. Cortney will accompany Johnny to Homestead-Miami Speedway this year

NO FEAR, NO TEARS: Sauter sits 20 points back from competitor Austin Dillon in the points standings, yet he knows that the points differential isn't a mountain to climb. Going into the season finale, his thoughts are set first to a pole position on the grid; second to leading laps; and third to winning the race - the strategy he and longtime crew chief Joe Shear, Jr. have employed during the entire 2011 season. While the statisticians can keep to the "mathematically possible," Sauter and team 13 look to show old-school, aggressive truck racing on track at Homestead-Miami.

SHOW US YOUR CANS, FANS: The No. 13 Chevy Silverado welcomes back an associate sponsor from earlier this year -Mud Jug Portable Spittoons - for the Homestead-Miami race. A sponsor from Bristol's race, Mud Jug looks forward to being a part of the championship weekend with contests for fans on Facebook and onsite. The "Show Us Your Cans" contest encourages fans to post pictures of current snuff brands and a reason why the fan needs a Mud Jug Portable Spittoon.

CHASSIS HISTORY: The No. 13 team will utilize chassis No. 039 this weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Considered one of the most successful chassis in the 13 fleet, it showed its speed at Texas just two weeks ago, as well as many of the intermediate tracks on the circuit in 2011. Its last appearance was in Texas on November 4th, where it finished seventh at the checkered flag.

PREVIOUS RACE RECAP: Sauter drove the No. 13 home to a seventh place finish at Texas Motor Speedway after starting in the 12th spot for the day. Sauter led laps, was fastest in practice and heavily raced in the top five most of the day. The top ten finish, 15th of his 2011 season, also bumped his championship points position to second behind leader Austin Dillon.

THOUGHTS FROM THE DRIVER: Johnny Sauter
Does Homestead-Miami Speedway put a smile on your face?
"It's a really good racetrack for me - a lot of guys say that, but I mean it. Since it was repaved a few years back, it's a lot of fun to race. There are just so many different grooves you can run. Last year, we had a little trouble in the pits at the end after leading most of the race; then getting a little caught up with Kyle (Busch). We feel like we can capitalize on that third place finish from last year - this is a track I'm confident running."

The championship hunt, for you, is very much alive - is it not?
"All you can ask for is a shot, and I'm privileged right now. It's a pretty tall order, 20 points, but there are a lot of competitive trucks out there. It's a full field and a tough road for anybody to hoe. We just need to sit on the pole, lead laps and win. That's the coolest thing about racing - you just never know how it's all going to turn out."

Are you looking to be more aggressive in Homestead?
"We are in a position to be aggressive here. I love to be the underdog, most people know that about me. Aggressive is the way I like to race, and it's the way my team likes to race. We've had such effort this year from all the guys - they've killed it on their pit stops, just nailing them every time for me; and we have great sponsors in Safe Auto and Curb Records who live with us right in the trenches. There is less pressure, not being on top of the mountain. We have some freedom to just get out there and race and see what happens as the night unfolds. It's the best spot for me to be in - no nerves, no pressure. Just great racing ahead."

11-05-11

Johnny Sauter - Texas Motor Speedway Recap -
Sauter "Gallops" Out of Lone Star State in 7th Place; 2nd in Overall Driver Championship Points Heading to Finale

Johnny Sauter, driver of the No. 13 Safe Auto/Curb Records Chevy Silverado, fought loose conditions and track grip issues all evening under the lights at Texas Motor Speedway to finish in the seventh position. The finish, along with leading 15 laps during the Winstar World Casinos 350k, helped Sauter move to the second position in overall driver championship points going into Homestead-Miami Speedway in two weeks.

Sauter, who started in the 12th position on the grid after having a strong set of practice sessions, quickly moved positions to settle into eighth place by lap six. Communicating loose conditions from early on, the situation progressed over the bumps throughout the race - while Sauter also encountered trouble with grip on the track in the cool temperatures. Despite multiple trackbar adjustments during routine and yellow-flag pit stops; along with on-track strategy to tighten up the truck, the 13 continued to loosen throughout the night.

"We had something for them when we had track position, but I was getting killed there on the straightaway," said Sauter. "We fought speed issues and it was just free off all night. By the end of the night, she was just rolling over. It was pretty bad there over the bumps, and the fastest guys would pick us off in three and four and we lost our track position."

Running as high as first mid-race, Sauter heavily ran in the top five all night. At the end of the race, when other teams fell victim to gas shortages, team 13 was able to capitalize on the track position for the seventh-place finish. "Obviously we wanted something better tonight, especially after running so well back in the Spring here until the penalty," Sauter continued. "We're not out of this, I've said it all weekend. We're going to regroup on chassis selection next week for Homestead and give it everything we've got. We have so much hometown support - I've got to thank everyone in Sandusky and all the kids who recently made us posters to cheer us on in the shop. That's awesome and makes the guys feel like they're doing it for something bigger than themselves. I hope we can pull off an upset!"

10-31-11

Johnny Sauter - Texas Motor Speedway Preview -

CHANNELING THE KULWICKI CHAMPIONSHIP? On Halloween week, everybody finds an alter ego. For Johnny Sauter, he arrives in Texas with two thoughts: first, redemption. Second, Alan Kulwicki's spirit sitting on his shoulder for guidance. Tied for third in driver championship points in the NCWTS after a strong top five finish at Martinsville, his underdog status is reminiscent of the 1992 championship run of Kulwicki - a brash perfectionist & fellow Wisconsinite who came from behind to take the title. Sauter has made six appearances in NCWTS at Texas Motor Speedway, five with ThorSport Racing in 2009, 2010 and 2011 - with his best start in pole position in 2009. Sauter knows that aggressive racing, sound pit strategy and Kulwicki-style bravado is what it's going to take to make the run at a track where he's dominated - with top six finishes in four of the last five races and podium visits for two.

NO LIMITS, TEXAS-STYLE...RETURNING TO THE SCENE: Sauter isn't skittish to return to Texas, scene of an unfortunate black flag which ended his Victory Lane run back in April - after leading the last 56 laps of the race. Out of his appearances with ThorSport Racing, statistically Sauter shows Texas as one of his best tracks on the circuit - starting out of the top seven only once, and finishing out of the top six only once due to the penalty. In 2010, both appearances at the fast intermediate track resulted in second-place finishes for the driver.

SHOWING HIS 'WOLFISH' SIDE TO TEAMMATE CRAFTON: Sauter and wife Cortney, along with the Bodine and Kyle Busch families, hosted a Halloween-themed wedding shower Monday for teammate Matt Crafton in his late model shop. The driver, known for a spry sense of humor, got to show his "wolfish" side to Crafton and fiancée Ashley Greer by dressing up as the Big Bad Wolf to wife Cortney's Little Red Riding Hood. Straight from the driver: no comment!

CHASSIS HISTORY: The No. 13 team will utilize chassis No. 039 this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway. Considered one of the most successful chassis in the 13 fleet, it showed its speed at Texas in the year's spring race. Its last appearance was in September in Atlanta, where it finished 29th after contact with a competitor and tire woes.

PREVIOUS RACE RECAP: Sauter drove the No. 13 home to a 4th place finish at Martinsville Speedway after starting in the 4th spot for the day. Sauter led 36 laps of 200 and heavily raced in the top four most of the day. The top five finish, tenth of his 2011 season, also preserved his championship points position - but tied him at third with Ron Hornaday going into Texas.

THOUGHTS FROM THE DRIVER: Johnny Sauter
So what's with the 'Kulwicki Path to glory?'
"I'm going to use the Alan Kulwicki approach to his championship run in '92. No one even considered him to have a chance but by the end of the day, he was champion. You can't listen to everybody and what they say. We just have to keep racing hard. Probably some things are going to have to happen, but you never know what will happen. That's what makes racing so great. I wouldn't want it to be a situation where somebody's ahead by 30. That's just not interesting."

So do you think it's going to come down to Homestead, based on that answer?
"I sure hope so. That's what I've been saying all year - that you can't focus on the points, and it's going to come down to the last race. It's been a hairy year for a lot of us. So I'm planning on the championship being decided just like Kulwicki's run - right there at the final race, lots of action. We've had top 10 finishes for the last few races and just had a little trouble in the pits last year. That's how I want to win and how I'd want anyone to win, you've got to earn this."

So you're liking the underdog status going back into Texas?
"That's fine with me. Most people who know me, know I don't really want the attention. We've just got to get out there, lead laps, fly under the radar and execute and do our thing. Everyone is focused on Hornaday and Dillon right now, and that's okay, they've both had great performances lately. To pull this off would be amazing and probably the biggest moment of my career - I can't even imagine what it would be like. It would mean so much to all of the Sauter family, Wisconsin and North Carolina. A lot of validation there for years of racing."

What would a win mean to you in Texas?
"It would mean a lot to my grandma! She's 92 and lives not too far from the racetrack, and I always stay with her when I come to Texas. I spend as much time as I can with her. She'd be over the moon if I won - she was when I almost did it last year, and back in April. It would just be really special."

10-30-11

Johnny Sauter - Martinsville Speedway Recap -
Sauter Short Track "Beats n' Bangs" for 10th Top 5 of 2011

Johnny Sauter, driver of the No. 13 Safe Auto/Curb Records Chevy Silverado, showed his short track roots once again at Martinsville Speedway Saturday afternoon. Sauter, who started the race in 4th position after wet weather cut practice times in half, led 36 laps and dominated the top five most of the day at the famed "paperclip." His eventual fourth place finish at the checkered flag after typical short track "beatin' and bangin," as the driver likes to say, tied him for third place in the championship points race towards Homestead. He is a mere four points out of second position and just fifteen back from the lead spot.

Early race tire strategy by crew chief Joe Shear, Jr proved nerve-racking but successful for the driver - knowing that at Martinsville, it's a place to trust track position and the ones who have the eyes to make the calls. "Ultimately, it all worked out," Sauter said after the race. "We found our way to the front. This was fun racing and anytime we see Martinsville on the schedule, I'm a happy guy. While I wanted to be a little closer to the front here, it worked out and we're already working forward to Texas."

Sauter, as well as the top five race leaders, narrowly missed several skirmishes on track as caution flags flew left and right during the short 200 lap race. After staying out when most leaders pit in the initial race caution, Sauter continued to post scalding hot lap times. He was involved in two separate freight-trained pileups with minor damage to the nose/hood and left rear quarter panel, neither of which affected late-race performance.

Sauter, while keeping the championship attitude, wishes he had a repeat visit to Victory Lane at Martinsville; but knows that the top five bodes well going into Texas next week. "I think we can go there and win the race, for sure," he said. "We ran second there in both races last year, plus led something like 56 laps back in the Spring there but got the penalty. It's a strong track for us historically and I'm looking forward to keeping up this momentum. To win this championship, we're going to have to prove the underdog and race really, really hard. It's going to be a battle to the end."

10-25-11

Johnny Sauter - Martinsville Speedway Preview -

MARTINSVILLE: CHECKERS OR WRECKERS? Returning to the "scene of the best day ever," Sauter's first win in 2011, he arrives in Martinsville, Virginia with nothing but winning on his mind. Sitting third in driver championship points in the NCWTS after a wild ride at Talladega, he

continues in the top three for the 20th race week of the season. Sauter has made seven appearances in NCWTS at Martinsville, five with ThorSport Racing in 2009, 2010 and 2011 - with his best start in pole position in April and finish as well. Sauter, recognizes that it's going to take wins over the course of the next three races to clinch a championship - and says it's time to race aggressive. He looks to make it a double at Martinsville - earning a trip to Victory Lane twice in one year.

GREEN CLOVERS, BLUE DIAMONDS...OR OTHER LUCKY CHARMS: Sauter will have a little lucky charm or two on his side at Martinsville this weekend. At his first appearance this year, he had to rush home post-race for the birth of his daughter Paige. This time around, he'll have the support of wife Cortney and son Penn on the pit box, as they watch dad run for the win.

NEVER, EVER GIVE UP - SUPPORTING SCRUGGS: Sauter and teammate Dakoda Armstrong will be the honored guests at the 2011 Scruggs Foundation Award Dinner for Scholarship Recipients at GR Chevrolet in Martinsville on Friday evening post-practice. Bobby Scruggs was a NASCAR Official for almost 40 years. He lost his thirteen-year battle with Cancer on January 22, 2005. His motto was "Never Give Up, Go Over, Go Under, Go Around or Go Through, but NEVER GIVE UP!" Continuing his legacy through fundraising, the foundation offers scholarships to students seeking a career in the Motorsport Industry as well as interns with Motor Racing Outreach and Wake Forest University Cancer Research Center.Forty- fourScholarships have been awarded to students from 17 high schools in Southwest Virginia.

CHASSIS HISTORY: The No. 13 team will utilize chassis No. 011 this weekend at Martinsville Speedway. A proven short track chassis for the team, it brought a successful podium finish at Martinsville earlier this year. Its last appearance was in September in New Hampshire, where Sauter powered home in fifth position.

PREVIOUS RACE RECAP: Sauter drove the No. 13 home to a 15th place finish at Talladega Superspeedway after starting in the 20th spot for the day. After an unavoidable incident on lap 30, Sauter rallied from three laps down to a lead lap p15. The effort not only helped preserve precious championship points, but also earned a "shout out" from Dodge - the Guts & Glory Award.
THOUGHTS FROM THE DRIVER: Johnny Sauter


Martinsville - are you confident, or is it a percentage of luck?
"It's a piece of cake! Okay, maybe not THAT easy, but it really is either you finish first, or you have trouble. Until April, I was part of the second bunch. I don't feel any pressure, being the previous race winner. It's just another day at the office for me and the guys. So I guess that makes us confident!"

Is there really a "checkers or wreckers" attitude on the 13 for these last three races? Go for broke?
"We don't have a choice but to win if we're going to pull off this championship. Being behind, you have no other option but to race aggressively. So yes, that's the general attitude with our team going into Martinsville - we're going to do whatever it takes to win, within reason. I don't look out for anybody but us - especially now with just three to go."

Daughter Paige born in Martinsville just days after your win. Sentimental track for you?
"Anytime you win at a track, it has some sentimental feel to it. Add in the birth of your second child, and it makes it that much more sentimental. Last time, Cortney was in the hospital about to give birth - this time, she and Penn will be with me in Martinsville. I'm excited to have them with me."

10-18-11

Johnny Sauter - Talladega Superspeedway Preview -

"IF YA AIN'T FIRST, YOU'RE LAST": One of two superspeedways on the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series circuit, Johnny Sauter arrives in Talladega, Alabama with a focused fire. Sitting second in driver championship points in the NCWTS, he continues in the top three for the nineteenth race week of the season. Sauter has made two appearances in NCWTS at Talladega, in 2009 and 2010 - with his best start in eighth position in 2010 and finish in third that same appearance. Sauter, like many other drivers, either loves or "hates" the superspeedways due to their high level of chance and luck to remain damage-free from "the big one." He looks to make his first appearance in Victory Lane ever at a superspeedway and to continue his hot streak in the NCWTS.

PAYING TRIBUTE TO A CURB RECORDS TEAMMATE: The 13 team will pay homage to Curb Records teammate in the Izod IndyCar Series, Dan Wheldon, who tragically passed away during the last race of the season in Las Vegas. Team thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends at this time.


NOT JUST BROWNIE POINTS ANYMORE: Sauter has led the championship points for ten weeks this season, but he largely relishes his "underdog" status in the second spot. Five points out with four races to go, the 13 and its veteran driver know that cooler heads will prevail and strategy plays out in a superspeedway race. Look to find Sauter partnering in the two-car tandem with teammate and points pro Matt Crafton for potential success at Talladega.

CHASSIS HISTORY: The No. 13 team will utilize chassis No. 025 this weekend at Talladega Superspeedway. A proven superspeedway chassis for the team, it brought a successful podium finish at Talladega last year. Its last appearance was in Daytona at the beginning of the season, where Sauter finished seventeenth after a rough ride and historical set of cautions and incidents left him in the back of the pack.

PREVIOUS RACE RECAP: Sauter drove the No. 13 home to a solid fourth place finish at Las Vegas Motor Speedway after starting in the same spot for the day. Not only did the successful appearance deliver another top five for the driver, it also earned him the Exide Start Positive, Stay Positive award once again in 2011. He also left Las Vegas in the second place points position heading to Talladega.
THOUGHTS FROM THE DRIVER: Johnny Sauter
Love to hate Talladega? Or do you enjoy it?
"Talladega is a great type of racing - all racing is, but superspeedway racing is different. And Talladega really is different from Daytona. Unfortunately, there's typically a 60% chance you are going to wreck and that's not fun. So it's gotten a bad rap over time, and I've certainly been a part of a few of those wrecks before in my day."

At this point, in a close points battle - is this fun for you, or a job?
"Anybody that is having success in a job is usually having a good time. I'm definitely having a good time right now, and it's a lot of fun. I'm doing what I love to do, which is race. I can get pretty intense, but at the end of the day, if you're not having fun, you're making everyone else around you miserable."

How does it feel to see the championship in the crosshairs? Do you have a strategy at this point?
"Joe and I never talk or have strategy - for as strange as that sounds. We grew up racers, and our mentality is to win or at least try to every week. The rest just takes care of itself when you do that. So for the next four races, we're still about winning. The championship part just takes care of itself."

10-16-11

Johnny Sauter - Las Vegas Motor Speedway Recap -
Plays the Numbers to Beat the House - Top Five Finish Narrows Championship Differential to a Sliver

Johnny Sauter, driver of the No. 13 Safe Auto/Curb Records/Riviera Hotel Chevy Silverado, ran a strong race at one of his strongest racetracks on the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series circuit at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the Smith's 350. Under the desert sun, Sauter led 25 laps and sat heavily in the second position amidst a flurry of cautions, incidents and challenges for his eighth top five finish this season and third consecutive top five finish at Las Vegas.

Sauter was blessed by Vegas' own version of "Lady Luck" of sorts, when an early race incident damaged the bumper cover but team rallying and smart pitting got the 13 back into action under caution. Crew chief Joe Shear, Jr's decision to pit early helped Sauter gain track position later in the race - at a pivotal time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race schedule.

"The restarts there at the end absolutely killed us, and we definitely had something for Hornaday - we were running the fastest all day on timing and scoring - but we'll take a solid fourth place finish," said Sauter. "Our last adjustments tightened us up too much, so it was a tougher go, but we were able to pass for Bodine for the fourth spot. I'm proud of the guys, they did a lot to fix the truck there at the beginning after Carmichael got into us a little; and pit stops were fast all day. This was a solid run for us and a real points help."

Battling loose conditions most of the race, the 13 team battled through ten race cautions and restarts to power home in the fourth position at the checkered flag, just three spots from winner Ron Hornaday and two from teammate Matt Crafton. The 2009 race winner also encountered damage to the right front while going three wide at lap 66, driving hard through turns three and four. Under the race's last restart, Sauter was forced to the outside when the 17 spun his tires - relegating Sauter to the fifth spot behind Todd Bodine in the 5 truck. He was able to pass for fourth position with just four laps to go.

"I was hoping get to Victory Lane again here in Vegas, but it's okay, we literally beat the odds today. I can't believe we tore up our truck like that all day with incidents and still ended up as high as we did. That's a testament to how the guys set this truck up on my team. We were fast in race trim, fast in practice, fast off the hauler. I think we've got something for Dillon going into these last four races. This isn't our first rodeo."

Sauter sits just five points out of the lead in the heavy battle for the 2011 championship title. He also earned the Exide Start Positive, Stay Positive Award at the Smith's 350. The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series returns to the famous Talladega Superspeedway next week as the points battle continues.

10-12-11

Johnny Sauter - Las Vegas Motor Speedway Preview -
City of "Lost Wages" Pays Major Dividends for Sauter

ROLLING THE DICE: Hitting the West Coast for the first time since Spring of 2011 with the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, Johnny Sauter arrives in Sin City with winning momentum. Sitting third in driver championship points in the NCWTS, he has been in the top three for 18 of 20 weeks. Sauter has made three appearances in NCWTS at Las Vegas, in 2009 and 2010 - with his best start in second position in 2009 and finish in Victory Lane that same appearance. Sauter dominates at Las Vegas - with only podium finishes at his two appearances, as well as a p4 and p2 starting grid position. Coming off a sentimental win in his home state of Wisconsin on the off week, Sauter looks to maintain the "winning attitude" and get back into Victory Lane in the NCWTS - a place he's wanted to go since Martinsville earlier this year.

CELEBRATING OKTOBERFEST WITH A WIN: Sauter was crowned the ASA Midwest Tour Oktoberfest 100 Champion on the NCWTS off weekend last week - after a dominating performance in late models at LaCrosse Fairgrounds Speedway in Wisconsin. He led all 100 laps over his nephew, Travis Sauter, to take the checker in front of a home crowd - to include legendary Wisconsin racer, dad Jim - sitting in the stands.

LIVING THE RIVIERA LIFE: Sauter and the 13 team adds a new partner to the mix at Las Vegas on their Chevy Silverado - the Riviera Hotel & Casino - named the Official Las Vegas Hotel of ThorSport Racing. Sauter will take part in an autograph session with his teammates, Matt Crafton and Dakoda Armstrong, on Friday, October 14th at 7:30pm PST.

CHASSIS HISTORY: The No. 13 team will utilize chassis No. 038 this weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. A proven intermediate chassis for the team, it brought a pole and win Kentucky earlier this year. Its last appearance was in Kentucky in early October, where Sauter finished fourteenth after pit road woes relegated a pass through penalty.

PREVIOUS RACE RECAP: Sauter drove the No. 13 home to a fourteenth place finish at Kentucky Speedway after starting in the 17th position for the day. An unfortunate speeding penalty on pit road relegated a pass through, putting Sauter two laps down. His finish kept him third in overall driver championship points, only 19 behind leader Austin Dillon going into a strong track for Sauter at Las Vegas.

THOUGHTS FROM THE DRIVER: Johnny Sauter
How important was the Oktoberfest win to you?
"I'm still speechless, three days later. I have been fortunate enough to win some Nationwide and Truck Series races, but this one is pretty high up there. Ever win is special in its own way, but this one is obviously special because I grew up watching my dad and brothers race here. I don't know how you measure wins on a scale, but this one is big."

Does that give you any kind of advantage going into Las Vegas?
"Las Vegas is special for me too, knowing that I got my first Truck Series win there two years ago. It just feels right this week, the momentum I have and being able to take home the win in Wisconsin. We've had some challenges this last part of the year in Trucks for a variety of reasons, and it's time to take the gloves off. Everyone knows I'm a big Rocky fan, and I'm going to have to get back to my Rock and Mick quotes. With five to go, we're focusing on this championship and getting back to business."

Do you get nerves with five races to go?
"Right now it's business as usual. I've got to race as hard as I possibly can right now to make up for mistakes I've made. I have to be a leader to my guys and get us back on track. So I don't have much time for nerves. At the beginning of the race, I'm just anticipating anything and everything - trying to stay focused & give good feedback to my crew throughout the race. So I'm not nervous - just ready."

10-01-11

Johnny Sauter - Kentucky Speedway Recap - Johnny Sauter Survives Wild Kentucky Ride

Johnny Sauter, driver of the No. 13 Safe Auto/Curb Records Chevrolet Silverado, started the Kentucky 225 at Kentucky Speedway in 17th position losing speed on the qualifying run. The former Kentucky pole winner went on to lead laps and hang in the top 10, but pit road speeding penalties and competitor contact with 20 laps to go relegated a 14th place finish. Maintaining the third place in driver championship points going into Las Vegas Motor Speedway, team 13 is ready to rise above the challenges. Just 19 points separates the top spot occupied by Austin Dillon, second spot of James Buescher and Sauter's third.

"The truck was really plowing there at the beginning of the race, but the guys rallied and we made a gamble on fuel at the midpoint. It helped us to lead some laps for bonus points, but it's a shame to get a pit road penalty for speeding. When we had to fix the bumper cover after contact with the 18 truck, it just killed our night. We're not out of this championship hunt - actually, far from it. This is just beginning, going into Vegas, where I won two years ago."

As early as lap three, Sauter radioed to the box that he was "plowing throughout and bouncing into three and four." He maintained his position, moving up to 11th position and staying for fifty laps. Sauter went on to lead laps 67-71 on a fuel mileage strategy call by the crew chief. After a fast pit stop on lap 112, Sauter encountered a pit road penalty for speeding on exit - forcing a pass through and putting him a lap down in traffic.

Shortly after, he had contact with the 18 truck that required a bumper cover fix by NASCAR officials. After battling back from the woes, Sauter crossed the checkers in 14th position for the night. "That's racing. We'll come back to Las Vegas with confidence, because it's a place we compete well and win races."

He sits in third place in the the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver championship points lead, 19 points behind Austin Dillon and James Buescher, going into Las Vegas Motor Speedway on October 15th.

09-28-11

Johnny Sauter - Kentucky Speedway Preview

MAKING BLUEGRASS "HOT": Returning to one of the fastest tracks on the NASCAR circuit for a second appearance in 2011- Kentucky Speedway, Johnny Sauter arrives in the Bluegrass state on a hot streak. Sitting third in driver championship points in the Camping World Truck Series, he has been in the top three for 16 of 18 weeks. Sauter has made three appearances in NCWTS at Kentucky, in 2009, 2010 and earlier this year- with his best start at pole position in June and finish at second in 2010. His intermediate track dominance bodes well for the last six races of the season - with six to go, four are tracks where he's either won, poled or started in the top three (Las Vegas, Kentucky, Texas and Miami). In addition, he's won at famed Martinsville - returning in late October.

THE PROOF IS IN THE PUDDING: Team 13 looks to keep consistent top five finishes in the last six races of the 2011 season as the hunt for a championship continues. Chicagoland and New Hampshire delivered sixth- and fifth-place finishes, respectively - keeping him solidly in third position in driver championship points - just seven behind leader Austin Dillon.

BUILT LIKE FORT KNOX: Sauter and the 13 team will host Honorary Pit Crew members from nearby Fort Knox over the Kentucky 225 weekend.

CHASSIS HISTORY: The No. 13 team will utilize chassis No. 038 this weekend at Kentucky Speedway. A proven intermediate chassis for the team, it brought a pole and win Kentucky earlier this year. It's last appearance was in Pocono, where Sauter finished fourth.

PREVIOUS RACE RECAP: Sauter drove the No. 13 home to an inspiring fifth place finish at New Hampshire Motor Speedway after battling a tight, tight truck all night. Smart pit strategy and sound on-track decisions delivered the truck in one piece as other championship contenders fell to the back of the pack. His finish kept him third in overall driver championship points, a mere seven behind leader Austin Dillon going into a strong track for Sauter at Kentucky.

THOUGHTS FROM THE DRIVER: Johnny Sauter

How important are the last six races in the 2011 season?
"It's everything! Judging from what I've seen and how the 2011 season has gone so far, we're not going to know the Truck Series champion until the checkered flag falls at Homestead. Consistency in these final six races will win it, and cooler heads should prevail. That's what we're shooting for, and we don't freak out under pressure. We've been here before."

Are there any tracks with concerns or that you feel you have an advantage, like Kentucky?
"Going off the first half of the race season's statistics, we dominated Kentucky, Martinsville and Texas. We also had the truck to beat in Miami last year and won Vegas in 2009, so those are five top spots for me. We took the pole earlier here in Kentucky, and then we broke an axle while leading the race. So I'd like to have a second chance at that win."

Why is the "chase" for the NCWTS championship title so difficult this year?
"The new points system is a big part of why it's so difficult - in any given race, you can gain or fall five spots. We endured a lot of bad luck at the midpoint of the season, from broken axles when we're leading the race to penalties at Texas. We led so many races - Texas, Indy, Kentucky with nothing to show for at the end of the day, and that's racing. It was frustrating to say the least, but we kept momentum going. It definitely makes the points race exciting for the fans."

09-25-11

Johnny Sauter - New Hampshire Motor Speedway Recap

Johnny Sauter, driver of the No. 13 Safe Auto/Curb Records/Carrier Chevrolet Silverado, started the F.W. Webb 175 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in 14th position after a self-professed "head-scratching" set of practice sessions. The short track wheelman once again showed his stripes at the Magic Mile, matching his previous best finish here in 2010 with another top five. Maintaining the third place in driver championship points going into Kentucky Speedway, team 13 is still very much in the hunt. A mere seven points separates the top spot occupied by Austin Dillon, second spot of James Buescher and Sauter's third.

"We really were scratching our heads during practice with a lot of changes, so to pull off a top five here at New Hampshire is awesome. The first pit stop the guys pulled off a super fast round of changes to the trackbar and air pressure, and they put me out in eighth. I was still loose throughout the last 75 laps, but it gave me enough to take on the corners and hold onto that fifth spot. I'm proud of the guys - we're staying in the hunt for a championship and staying on top of quick changes. We'll be consistent in Kentucky, a place that we're typically super strong."

As early as lap three, Sauter radioed to the box that he was "extremely, extremely tight in, tight middle, sliding in the corners." He maintained his position, moving up to tenth position for the first green flag run. After a fast first pit stop, Sauter emerged in eighth and passed up to fourth position. When front tire chatter called for conservative driving, he settled into the fifth positon and remained there for the rest of the race - to include through a second round of pit stops.

"I'm looking forward to getting to Kentucky - we got through this one with a lot of good pit calls and diagnosing the issues on the truck during the race. Joe and I have a great relationship when it comes to heated situations, and he makes the calls to put us in the contention. I've said it all year - wins bring championships, and consistent finishes help tick up the points lead. We're still looking for another win."

He sits in third place in the the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver championship points lead, a mere seven points behind Austin Dillon and James Buescher, going into Kentucky Motor Speedway on October 1st.

09-20-11

Johnny Sauter - New Hampshire Motor Speedway Preview

TOP 10 LOVE IN LOUDON?: Returning to yet another strong historical short track on the NASCAR circuit- New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Johnny Sauter comes to Beantown sitting third in driver championship points in the Camping World Truck Series. Out of 18 previous weeks, Sauter has been in the top three for 15 and the top five in all 18. Sauter has made two appearances in NCWTS at NHMS, in 2009 and 2010- with his best start at seventh and finish at fifth in 2010. He has never started out of the top seven at the short track. He hopes to continue the "top 10 love" at Loudon this week.

THE HEAT IS ON, THE COOL IS COMING: Team 13 looks to keep consistent top five finishes in the last six races of the 2011 season as the hunt for a championship continues. Sauter made up six points in the deficit between himself and current leader James Buescher at Chicagoland - and he looks to continue the tick up the charts at six dominant race tracks for the seasoned driver.

A LITTLE LESS CONVERSATION, A LITTLE MORE ACTION: A primary sponsor of the No. 13 truck, Safe Auto, continues their "Race to Vegas" contest by wrapping up in Loudon. Entrants can go to www.facebook.com/SafeAuto to enter once for a chance to win a trip to Las Vegas as a guest of the No. 13 team and Johnny Sauter.

CHASSIS HISTORY: The No. 13 team will utilize chassis No. 011 this weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. A proven short-track chassis for the team, it brought a pole and win in Martinsville earlier this year. It's last appearance was in Indianapolis where Sauter started fourth - tire woes relegated him to a 24th place finish.

PREVIOUS RACE RECAP: Sauter drove the No. 13 home to an inspiring sixth place finish at Chicagoland Speedway after battling an extraordinarily loose truck all night. Smart pit strategy and sound on-track decisions delivered the truck in one piece as other championship contenders were behind the wall. His finish pushed him to third in overall driver championship points, a mere six behind leader James Buescher going into a strong track for Sauter at NHMS.

THOUGHTS FROM THE DRIVER: Johnny Sauter

Are you looking forward to Loudon?
"New Hampshire Motor Speedway is an awesome place to race. It is short track racing at its best. We use a lot of brakes and wear out the tires, and everyone that knows me knows I love the tires falling off and sliding and banging. The motor is just as important at a track like Loudon - almost as important as handling; it takes a lot of compromise with the truck and the driver has to feel it."

How do you feel coming out of Chicagoland?
"Man, we had to fight for that finish all the way around in Chicago. We were fighting a loose truck from the get go, even in practice, and we were trying to find speed throughout the weekend there. I knew I was in trouble at the first caution when it was ready to turn into the fence, but we kept our cool and Joe did some diagnostics, and we were able to work it out and hold on. I'm proud of the guys for performing in a clinch - we needed a top ten to get back into the points game, and we did it, even on an off week for us."

No. 13 Safe Auto/Curb/Carrier Chevy

Going into Loudon, what are your thoughts for that championship run?
"It's week to week now. We saw last week that we could move up in points and only be six down, but move down a spot in the ranks. This is close racing, folks, and it's how it should be. Only six points divides the top three guys, and we've got six to go. I don't feel pressure, this is my job and I'm ready to get to some of these tracks that I can do what I do best. We're going to keep making smart decisions on and off the track as we move towards Homestead."

09-12-11

Johnny Sauter - Chicagoland Speedway Preview - Good "CHI" in Chi-Town?

Returning to one of his best-performing tracks on the NASCAR circuit- Chicagoland Speedway, Johnny Sauter comes to the Windy City sitting second in driver championship points in the Camping World Truck Series. Out of 17 previous weeks, Sauter has been in the top two for 14. Sauter has made two appearances in NCWTS at Chicagoland, in 2009 and 2010- with his best start at fifth and finish at fourth in 2010. He hopes to improve on the last finish with the team's newest chassis - 42.

TOP DRIVER, TOP TRACK: The driver leads in consistency stats at Chicagoland for the NCWTS. Only Kyle Busch tops his streak of better finishes at the intermediate track with Truck Series starts. He looks to have a consistent top five finish- or the visit to Victory Lane.

RUNNING WITH EXTRA "FUEL": Sauter heads to Chicagoland with a little extra "fuel" in his pocket - from little Bryson Smith, a courageous young man battling leukemia in Mooresville, NC. Sauter and wife Cortney support Brysonsfuel.org, Bryson's organization dedicated to help shed light on the battle against childhood cancer. The family is hosting a balloon release at the Mooresville Chik-Fil-A on September 24th. More information is available at Brysonsfuel.org.

CHASSIS HISTORY: The No. 13 team will utilize chassis No. 042 this weekend at Chicagoland Speedway. Built for the 2011 season, this chassis is the latest to come off the ThorSport Racing production line. It will test at Sandusky Speedway this week before making its debut in Chicago with the 13.

PREVIOUS RACE RECAP: Sauter drove the No. 13 home to a disappointing 29th place after a wild ride at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Friday, September 9th. He qualified 12th on the grid; then ran much of the race in the top fifteen. After contact with a competitor, Sauter encountered tire woes that relegated him to pit road for four unscheduled stops throughout the night. His finish pushed him to second in overall driver championship points, a mere 12 behind leader James Buescher.

THOUGHTS FROM THE DRIVER: Johnny Sauter

ThorSport Racing announced your 2012 contract. Thoughts?
"I couldn't be happier knowing we've got a place to hang our hat again next year. It just puts everybody at ease when you're going after a championship. I'm thrilled that we can go after it again next year with ThorSport Racing, and it puts us at ease to do our jobs the rest of this season. It's been such a good home for me with great resources, great people and a great chance to win."

How do you feel coming out of Atlanta?
"We had a hiccup in Atlanta, it's been tough and racing in general is tough - you never know what's going to happen. We struggled throughout the course of the weekend. I got on a plane right after the race and spent four days in Ohio, and we got our arms around where we think we went wrong. Anytime you've got trouble and incidental contact, it's not good. We gambled on a few decisions, and we didn't have the night we wanted. I know we've put that behind us and are ready to get to Chicago - a track I like a lot."

Going into Chicago, what are your thoughts for a championship run?
"You can look at a million different things all year and wish you'd done things a lot differently in many cases. We've agreed as a team not to dwell on anything, just focus on this homestretch. We live and die by our decisions in the heat of the moment, and I trust everybody of my team. We know we've got to be smart going down the homestretch and be a top truck week in and week out. When we do the right things, we win races. When we win races, we get that much closer to championships. We're hoping to be the 'team to catch' going into Homestead in a few months."

09-03-11

Johnny Sauter - Atlanta Motor Speedway Recap -
Qualifies 12th; Scuffles Bring Wall Contact, Multiple Pit Road Stops for Changes & Adjustments; Hope Remains for Championship

Johnny Sauter, driver of the No. 13 Safe Auto/Curb Records/Carrier Chevrolet Silverado, started the Atlanta 200 at Atlanta Motor Speedway in 12th position - positive for the team after some challenging practice runs at the track. After contact with the 8 truck, a night-long inescapable battle with tire woes commenced for the team - resulting in a hard-fought effort for 29th place. Hope remains, as Sauter came out of Atlanta just 12 points behind leader James Buescher.

"It was a tough day for us, from practice to the race. We were encouraged by the qualifying run, because it was better than we had run in practice - but we're going to need to get back to the shop and focus hard here. We've got eight to go, and we've got racetracks that we know how to race. This is when other teams start feeling the pressure, and we start excelling."

After early contact with the 8, the team watched the right rear tire closely for damage. Upon first inspection, the truck was fine - however the tire went down on lap 54, starting a chain reaction of stops to fix fenders, tires, toe and adjustments. The 13 rallied to get Sauter back on track to finish the race and preserve precious points. At the checkers, Sauter finished in the 29th position.

"We're going to bring a new chassis to Chicagoland, so the focus is getting back to the shop to possibly test and get that chassis perfect. It was a disappointing night, but that's racing. We'll get back at it."

He sits in second place in the the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver championship points lead behind James Buescher going into Chicagoland Speedway in two weeks. Next weekend is an off week.

08-29-11

Johnny Sauter - Atlanta Motor Speedway Preview -
HOT LAPS, FAST TIMES IN 'HOTLANTA'

Returning one of the fastest tracks on the NASCAR Circuit - Atlanta Motor Speedway, Johnny Sauter finds himself once again at the top of the driver points in the Camping World Truck Series. It is the 10th week out of 17 that the veteran driver has led the points. Sauter has made two appearances in NCWTS at Atlanta, in 2009 and 2010- with his best start at ninth and finish at eighth in 2010. He hopes to improve on the last finish with the team's newest chassis - 39.

DUGGER PLAYS COOL COUNTRY DESPITE THE HEAT: The No. 13 team hosts Curb Recording artist for the weekend - Tim Dugger - both in the pits and on the decklid. Dugger will play the pre-race concerts at both the NCWTS and Cup races in Atlanta and is one of the most promising young Curb artists.

WISCONSIN ROOTS RUN DEEP: Sauter heads to Atlanta after a return to his hometown of Necedah, Wisconsin for the 4th Annual Summerfest Olden Days Car Show on August 27th, sponsored by Sauter Family Racing. The annual festival is hosted by a local school and draws race fans and local supporters from all over Wisconsin.

CHASSIS HISTORY: The No. 13 team will utilize chassis No. 039 this weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Built for the 2010 season, this chassis has dominated on performance - with a potential win at Texas Motor Speedway. Its most recent appearance was at Michigan Int'l Speedway, where Sauter was caught in a spin and hit the interior wall. The chassis got a refresh at the Sandusky, Ohio shop and is game-ready for Atlanta.

PREVIOUS RACE RECAP: Sauter drove the No. 13 home to a podium finish after a wild ride at Bristol Motor Speedway on Wednesday, August 24th. He qualified 12th on the grid; then ran much of the race in the fifth to ninth position. With fifteen laps to go, Sauter's fuel maintenance strategy outlasted other teams, as well as driving past competitors to finish just behind winner Kevin Harvick. His second place finish preserved his points lead for the 10th week, by a narrow seven points over James Buescher.
THOUGHTS FROM THE DRIVER: Johnny Sauter

How do you feel going into the race at Atlanta?
"We're starting to bear down on some serious Fall competition, and I know the guys feel it in the shop. They are working really hard, and they busted their butts to get this chassis ready right after Bristol. We all know we can make a championship run here, we've just got to stay clean and make smart decisions all the way around from here on out."

What's the biggest challenge going into Atlanta?
"This is probably the fastest track we've got on the schedule, and it has a tendency to collect even the most veteran of drivers. It's going to be interesting to see how everyone handles the speed, especially if we have a full field. I'm pretty confident we've got what it takes to handle the speed this week."

What's it like to have country stars in your pit?
"My relationship with Mike Curb is special, and it's great that we showcase different Curb recording artists. Tim is very talented - we had him out at the ThorSport grand opening last month, and he blew the house down and wanted to play all day. We actually met at Curb at the Nashville race a few months back when we previewed his new song. I wish him all the success in the world, he shares so many of our roots and values."

How do you feel coming out of Bristol?
"That was a comeback, I'll tell you. It was a testament to the team - it was a pretty phenomenal tire that you can make one stop and get that far. I knew in practice we were good on long runs, just lacking in speed so I had to be patient. It was a good last start and we had it in us, now we kept the point lead and it worked."

08-25-11

Johnny Sauter - Bristol Motor Speedway Recap -
Qualifies 12th; Impressive Pit Strategy & Short Track Skills Put Him Back to the Front

Johnny Sauter, driver of the No. 13 Safe Auto/Curb Records/Mud Jug Chevrolet Silverado, started the O'Reilly 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway with points to gain - both on track and in the championship drive for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. 200 laps and two hours later, the driver sat in the second position in the Bristol media center answering questions as to how he gained not only the great finish, but also the points lead.

"I've said it a million times, the points can change in a heartbeat. Could be me, could be Buescher, could be Peters, could be anybody with this new system. It's nice and it's humbling. But tonight was about a major strategy with my team. Crew chief Joe Shear, Jr. just knew every lap on that fuel, and we were watching guys drop like flies. I was fighting our aero package and just trying to stay in there mid-race, but then I knew once we got clean air, we had a chance here. I'm so proud of the guys, we really busted tail to get this second place."

Getting to ninth position at lap two, Sauter radioed in early that he was tight, and even tighter in the second groove. After strategy with blower fans and patience in the pits, Sauter stayed out during three cautions to hang in eighth position. Pitting at lap 60, the 13 took four tires, fuel and a trackbar adjustment. Sauter spent the next 100 laps jockeying between seventh and tenth position. With twenty to go, he passed the 3 truck of Austin Dillon, then quickly notched down the 17 of Timothy Peters to put him in shouting range of a top five at sixth.

After leaders started dropping off the boards due to zero fuel, Sauter powered forward to the second position and fought hard to take the checkered flag against the 2 truck of Kevin Harvick. "If I had 10 more laps maybe, I feel like we could have really taken him on," he said in the post-race press conference. "I'll take second for sure for my guys. They have worked their hearts out since we got back to Michigan with wrecked trucks. We needed this finish. Today was a good day."

He keeps the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver championship points lead by seven over James Buescher going into Atlanta Motor Speedway on Saturday, September 2nd.

08-23-11

Johnny Sauter - Bristol Motor Speedway Preview -
From Irish Hills in Michigan to Short Tracks in TN

Returning to the famed Bristol Motor Speedway, Johnny Sauter makes his appearance once again at the top of the driver points in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. It is the ninth week out of 16 that the veteran driver has led the points. Sauter has made three appearances in NCWTS at Bristol, two with ThorSport Racing in 2009 and 2010- with his best start at 4th and finish at 11th in 2010. He hopes to improve on the last finish with a secret
weapon chassis - 27 - which delivered a podium 3rd-place finish at Phoenix last year.

A JUG FOR YOUR MUD? The No. 13 team hosts a new associate sponsor for Bristol - Mud Jug Portable Spittoons. An innovative solution for those who use loose tobacco, Mud Jug is available online at MudJug.com with a 10% discount for NASCAR fans using code "NCWTS."

ATKINS TO PLAY FOOD CITY RACE NIGHT: Co-primary sponsor Curb Records has artist Rodney Atkins, who is showcased on the No. 13 decklid for Bristol - playing at the Food City Race Night on Thursday, August 25th at 7:30pm. Tickets are $5 in advance at Food City or $6 at the gate. For more info, visit www.foodcity.com.

CHASSIS HISTORY: The No. 13 team will utilize chassis No. 027 this weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway. Built for the 2010 season, this chassis has dominated on performance - with the third place finish in Phoenix - and will make its first appearance this year.

PREVIOUS RACE RECAP: Sauter drove the No. 13 home to an unfortunate but rallying 13th position, after a collision- and caution-filled race at Michigan Int'l Speedway. He qualified 14th on the grid; then ran much of the race in the third to fifth position. With fifteen laps to go, Sauter took a spin after experiencing an incredibly loose truck, which he was able to expertly steer to just a scrape with the infield wall. Sauter and team got to work, using cautions to fix everything from flat tires to track bar and front nose damage. The hard work paid off - delivering a lead lap finish for the team in 13th, while many top teams had to take their trucks behind the wall for the day. His 13th place finish regained his points lead for the ninth week, by a narrow five points over James Buescher.

THOUGHTS FROM THE DRIVER: Johnny Sauter

How do you feel going into the race at Bristol?
"Nursing some chassis and taking some deep breaths. We've had a tough few weeks with a lot of hard work on our finishes in Pocono and Michigan, and I give a lot of credit to every guy on my team for busting tail to get it all done...in the midst of a grand opening."

What's the biggest challenge going into Bristol?
"You need to start up front, just like any short track. You never know what can happen passing guys in front of you - a slip and a slide and you can get taken out in an instant. We're looking to lead laps and play out a great pit strategy this time."

How do you feel coming out of Michigan International Speedway?
"We had such a fast truck in practice, it was a little baffling to all of us to see the qualifying result we did. Regardless, we were running in the top five/six there for most of the race until the unfortunate spin - and the guys had to regroup and work hard to get me back out there. With all that happened, we were able to salvage a top 15 and get back to the shop to work on our short track truck."

How do you feel about the history of Bristol?
"It's an amazing place. Coming from short track roots, to me, driving in off Exide Boulevard gives me chills every time. It's an old school trophy, and it's a race I'd love to find our 13 in Victory Lane."

08-21-11

Johnny Sauter - Michigan International Speedway Recap -
Sauter Charges from Spins, Flats, Avoiding Collisions & the Back of Field to Lead-Lap 13th Place Finish; From Extreme Adversity to Pit Rallying & Points Lead

Johnny Sauter, after posting first and fourth fastest practice laps, came back from adversity to power home in a lead-lap finish in 13th position, when over half the field was out of the race due to accidents or incidents; in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series No. 13 Safe Auto/U Coat It/Curb Chevy Silverado. After strong practice sessions, Sauter placed 14th out of 33 on the grid for qualifiying.

Under shaky weather conditions Saturday in the Irish Hills, Sauter wheeled up to 6th position in six laps, when an early lap six caution came out. Two more cautions within the first twenty laps brought some smart decision making on the pit box - staying out when field trucks pit. Sauter drafted with the 2 truck into fourth position during green flag racing. The team pit on lap 38 and took four tires and fuel with no adjustments - with Sauter moving from 20th as he re-entered the field all the way to third within 10 laps.

On lap 74, Sauter came too close for comfort to the 17 truck out of turn four and took a spin into the infield pit wall - bringing him down pit road for major corrections by the crew. Through expert calls by Joe Shear, Jr over the next 14 laps to the end, the crew was able to quickly Bondo the nose, beat fenders back into place, change tires and make trackbar adjustments to get Sauter back to a lead lap finish as the field continued to dissolve during a series of cautions.

The 13 Pit Crew Rallies to Make Changes

Coming back out with three to go, Sauter held position and rallied to finish 13th at the checkers, as many points contenders worked on their trucks behind the wall, their days done.

"We had such a fast truck in practice on Friday, and we were really happy with our setup package. Unfortunately, we didn't start where we wanted to on the grid, but that was easy to overcome. It's unfortunate we had the spin, but we salvaged a lead lap finish with a truck we really had to nurse across the finish line - and that's thanks to all the hard work by my crew. To overcome everything the ThorSport Racing boys did this weekend was awesome, especially being tired after a big Grand Opening Week in Sandusky. The boys hustled all weekend, with the change, the rain, all the calls we made today - they are the reason we rally. Thanks to Joe and my boys on the 13."

He regains the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver championship points leader going into Bristol Motor Speedway on Wednesday, August 24th.

"We're proud to have such a great week of support from the Sandusky and Northern Ohio community - we had almost 8,000 people come to the Grand Opening on Wednesday, and it was unreal to watch. So much support that we never knew. That gives us a lot of momentum moving forward. Special thanks to the Dunn family on being our special guests - family of fallen Sandusky Police Officer Andy Dunn - and MIS Cares Winner Gloria Faucke."

08-17-11

Johnny Sauter - Michigan International Speedway Preview -

BRINGING THE HORSES TO MICHIGAN: Returning to the Irish Hills of Michigan, Johnny Sauter makes his appearance once again in the top two of the driver points in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. This time, he comes with not only an aggressive driving style on the intermediate tracks, but some help in the horsepower department. With the switch to ECR engines in 2011, it has helped finishes for the 13 team at all tracks. Sauter has made one appearance at Michigan in the NCWTS in 2010; however, it will be his tenth overall appearance at the track in NASCAR.

PUTTING THE GRAND IN GRAND OPENING: Sauter goes to Sandusky on Monday for the grand opening of the new 100,000 square foot ThorSport Racing shop with wife Cortney for two full days of festivities. In honor of the 40,000 square feet of premium epoxy floors from U Coat It, they will don the hood of the No. 13 truck for the Michigan weekend.

CHASSIS HISTORY: The No. 13 team will utilize chassis No. 039 this weekend at Michigan International Speedway. Newly built for the 2011 season, this chassis has dominated on performance – it debuted at the intermediate track of Texas and ran up front most of the evening. Sauter would have won the race minus a restart penalty. The team hopes its horsepower and speed keep it at the front at Michigan.

PREVIOUS RACE RECAP: Sauter drove the No. 13 home to an amazing 4th position, after starting last on the grid due to a truck change after hitting the turn 3 wall at Pocono. In a dramatic race, under rain conditions, Sauter came from 23rd position to fourth within 15 laps and was able to hold his ground. His fourth place finish still preserved his points lead for the ninth week, but a NASCAR penalty of six points due to rear end height leaves him one point behind Austin Dillon.

THOUGHTS FROM THE DRIVER: Johnny Sauter

How do you feel going into the race at Michigan International Raceway?
“It’s a big week – the grand opening, our Cedar Point World of Wheels, having U Coat It on the truck. There’s a lot going on, and that helps. We’re back to focusing on the summer and into the fall of racing. Lots of really hard racing is yet to come.”

What’s the biggest challenge going into Michigan?
“Fuel mileage and horsepower. It’s technically an intermediate track, being a two-miler, but it’s wide open the whole way. We’re going to have long green flag racing laps, even in trucks – so it’ll come down to pit strategy and making smart moves there. I really believe in Joe’s calls. I’m confident with our ECR horsepower this year. Last year, we just didn’t have it in us like some of the other teams. This year, we’re coming back with a lot of horses under the hood.”

How do you feel about the new shop and representing Sandusky?
“It’s awesome to see that shop come to fruition. You have no idea how much hard work from so many people that has taken to get up and running. The guys would come back from racing all weekend, drive 10 hours or more home, and help move stuff from shop to shop. And we’d get top fives. They’re just amazing. Also, to have Officer Andy Dunn’s badge on the truck – a fallen officer from Sandusky, where we are based – that’s special. It’s a small thing we can do for his family. The city as a whole has really rallied around us.”

How do you feel about the handling at Michigan?
“It’s big, there are lots of grooves to choose from, much like the Superspeedways. You’ll see guys trying all sorts of lines, but overall it’s foot to the floor and get that truck to the front. I feel like we’ve got the chassis to do it – Texas, we ran up front all night. That is one fast truck. I can only hope we can put it into Victory Lane.”

08-01-11

Johnny Sauter - Pocono Raceway Preview -
Bricks at the Bottom, Sauter at the Top

SHORT TRACKS MOVE TO THE 'TRICKS': Returning to Pocono Raceway's "Tricky Triangle," Johnny Sauter makes his appearance once again at the top of the driver points in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. It is the eighth week out of thirteen that the veteran driver has led the points, as well as the sixth week in a row. Sauter has only made one appearance in NCWTS at Pocono- starting 12th and finishing 14th in 2010. He hopes to improve on the last finish with a dominant chassis - 38 - which delivered a podium 2nd-place finish at Nashville in July.

NASCAR "U" CREW: The No. 13 team hosts two brand ambassadors from colleges and universities around Pennsylvania this weekend. The 13 "NASCAR U Crew" will have experience behind-the-scenes as honorary crew members and hospitality.

CHASSIS HISTORY: The No. 13 team will utilize chassis No. 038 this weekend at Pocono Raceway. Newly built for the 2011 season, this chassis has dominated on performance - with no less than a top 7 finish in completed races (April Nashville - (7), Charlotte - (6), plus a pole appearance in Kentucky. It's most recent appearance was at Nashville Superspeedway in July, with a sixth place start on the grid and a second place finish.

PREVIOUS RACE RECAP: Sauter drove the No. 13 home to an unfortunate 23rd position, after starting fourth on the grid; leading 36 laps and running in second for another 96 at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis, Indiana Friday night. Midrace, Sauter cut a tire, which eventually broke the swaybar on the truck. Sauter still held her steady for almost 40 laps, finishing the race with expert wheeling when many would have taken it into the wall. His 23rd place finish still preserved his points lead for the eighth week, by a narrow four points over Austin Dillon.

THOUGHTS FROM THE DRIVER: Johnny Sauter

How do you feel going into the race at Pocono Raceway?
"Regrouping. This is when it starts to count, over the summer series. Going into Pocono, it's a tough track for all of us in the series, so it takes a lot of focus. I spent time with my family and worked on my super late model, which takes my mind off things."

What's the biggest challenge going into Pocono?
"Saving the brakes is a big issue for any of the series that races at Pocono. With three turns, they have time in between to cool off - it's the opposite at most tracks, overheating our brakes because they don't have time to cool off. It can be a very intimidating track. It gives you more room to play with, but new challenges all the same in handling."

How do you feel coming out of Lucas Oil Raceway?
"We were so strong in practice, leading lap times and really dominating on lap tracker - I just knew we had a win in us. It was our Martinsville chassis that we won with, and we were confident with the setup. It just goes to show you never know what's going to happen, and that's racing. I wanted that one pretty bad, but it just wasn't in the cards for us that race."

How do you feel about the handling at Pocono?
"It's a tricky track - they mean what they say when they call it the 'tricky triangle.' It's bumpy in certain points, and turns 1 and 2 have the most banking. It's a rough track at the bottom of turn 1, so it's critical that you drive good off the turn. It's a long straightaway with a kink in the back, so you have to carry a lot of speed in turns 2 and 3. Anytime we carry a lot of speed in the truck series, you're bound to see some excitement."

07-29-11

Johnny Sauter - Lucas Oil Raceway Recap -

Johnny Sauter Leads 46 Laps to Dominate First Half of Race Only to Encounter Right Front Flat & Broken Swaybar; Continues NCWTS Points Lead for Eight Weeks out of 13 Despite Race Struggle

Indianapolis,Ind. (July 29, 2011) - Johnny Sauter, after leading practice laps and qualifying sixth on the grid at Lucas Oil Raceway for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in the No. 13 Safe Auto/Curb Records/Carrier Chevy Silverado, had an eventful night. Settling into an early second position for 51 laps out of the first 57, he led the next 36 laps to dominate the first half of the race. At one point, Sauter and teammate Matt Crafton were the "one-two punch" in positions until the first pit cycle at lap 81. Coming off pit road in seventh position, he once again moved to the second spot on track behind James Buescher easily for the next 40 laps.

At lap 128, Sauter radioed the crew that he felt he had a flat right front tire - and continued to impressively wheel the No. 13 truck through lap traffic on severe tight conditions as the team waited for weather and debris cautions. Forced to pit at lap 134 for right side tires and fuel as the tire couldn't take any more stress, he emerged in 24th position only to uncover a broken swaybar. An expert wheelman and veteran short track racer, Sauter hung on to bring it home in the 23rd position at the checkers when others may have taken it into the wall. He remains the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver championship points leader going into Pocono Raceway this week, thanks to laps led and dogged determination by the driver.

"Joe and I were working on a lot of forward bite issues all day in practice, but it wasn't anything that worried us on a short track. The 11 chassis won at Martinsville, and we had high expectations for it here in Indy," said Sauter. "We started out loose off, then went tight in the middle but were good off the corner. We had planned on making it on fuel to the end, but the tire going down just ended the charge. I wanted to win this one really bad for my team owner, Duke Thorson, who started ThorSport Racing here for his first race in 1995. It's just bad luck, and we've had some heartbreak this year. There's nothing more to say than we'll get it back together and focus on Pocono."

The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series goes to the mountains on August 6th for the Good Sam RV Emergency Road Service 125 at Pocono Raceway.

07-26-11

Johnny Sauter - Lucas Oil Raceway Preview -
Bricks at the Bottom, Sauter at the Top

BRICKS AT THE BOTTOM, SAUTER AT THE TOP: Returning to Indianapolis (LOR) for one of his favorite races of the year, Johnny Sauter makes his appearance once again at the top of the driver points in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. It is the seventh week out of twelve that the veteran driver has led the points, as well as the fifth week in a row. Sauter's best finish at LOR was first in the ASA Championship battle in 2001 with crew chief Joe Shear, Jr. His last appearance resulted in a fourth place finish after leading the race but encountering pit woes - starting from the back and catapulting to fourth in a matter of laps.

BITTERSWEET SYMPHONY: Sauter looks to Victory Lane in LOR after many good experiences here - to include building a truck in 2004 with current crew chief Joe Shear, Jr in the parking lot and almost winning the race. As a longtime short-track racer in Wisconsin, he hopes to clinch a win at what he calls "one of the most famous short tracks in the country, and the most fun to race for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series."

CHASSIS HISTORY: The No. 13 team will utilize chassis No. 011 this weekend at Lucas Oil Raceway. This is the winning Martinsville chassis for Sauter back in April, as well as a fourth place finish in Phoenix over the winter.

PREVIOUS RACE RECAP: Sauter drove the No. 13 home to a second place finish at Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon, Tennessee on Friday night. After super stellar pit stops for track position, Sauter made the jump from eighth to first late in the race. After leading 22 laps, Sauter got loose and was eclipsed by Austin Dillon. His second place finish delivered the fifth top five of the season for the 13 team and preserved his points lead for the seventh week.

THOUGHTS FROM THE DRIVER: Johnny Sauter

How do you feel going into the race at Lucas Oil Raceway?
"There are a lot of short track fans in that part of the country that have grown up watching some exciting races, so I'm always looking forward to going to Indy. To win there would be really special, because the place means so much to me personally as a short track racer. Joe and I have so many memories there."

What's the biggest challenge going into Indianapolis?
"As are most short tracks, you've got to drive the fenders off these trucks at LOR. It takes a lot of handling and communication with the team to get the setup right, and you have to drive your tail off. That's what I grew up doing, so I'm not afraid of that type of racing. But some of these guys who are used to running wide open on the fast tracks like Nashville and Kansas, it's an eye opener. So it's time to get back to beating and banging to get where you want to go. I'm excited."

How do you feel coming off a successful run at Nashville?
"I'm so proud of my guys on the 13 - they had phenomenal pit stops in both cycles. It's why we had that second place at the end of the race. I knew I was looser that Dillon, so it was a matter of time before he could reel me in. I really wanted that Gibson for Mike Curb, but we'll take second place right now and build on it going into LOR."

How do you feel about the handling at Indianapolis?
"I've always had good handling trucks at LOR, so that's what I attribute my success at the track to - and now we're bringing back our Martinsville chassis, so I think that says a lot right there. This is one track where it's all about handling and in my opinion, that's short track racing at its best. You have to get in a rhythm and be aggressive."

07-24-11

Johnny Sauter - Nashville Race Recap -
Sauter Takes "Second Fiddle" in Nashville but Remains Lead Dog in NCWTS for Seventh Week

Narrowly Misses Victory Lane in Nashville to Austin Dillon; Second Place Finish Continues Points Lead for Seventh Week of 12

Johnny Sauter continued his consistent top five finishes with a podium finish in second place at Nashville Superspeedway Friday night after starting sixth in the Lucas Deep Clean 200. Sauter, whose impressive run at last weekend's Iowa Speedway resulted in a fourth place finish, continued with a strong performance at Nashville by both driver and the No. 13 Safe Auto/Curb Records/Carrier Chevy team, despite being overtaken by race winner Austin Dillon with 35 to go. He remains the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver championship points leader going into Lucas Oil Raceway this week.


Taking the green flag from the sixth place spot, Sauter quickly navigated to third position and remained in the top five through two early cautions. He reported being loose in, tight off from race start throughout - with crew chief Joe Shear, Jr. advising on a series of blowers on and off the tires and air pressure adjustments during pit stops. Green-flag conditions dictated a pit stop at lap 56, with a stellar stop by the pit crew - taking four tires, fuel topped and a half pound out of the rear tires. Sauter restarted ninth and continued to take positions to fourth within 15 laps.

The race completion came down to pit strategy, with Sauter taking four tires, enough fuel in while tires were being changed and an air pressure adjustment - while Dillon took four. Sauter had the fastest pit cycle of the leaders once again, emerging in second place and overtaking leader Dillon for 22 laps. Holding his ground as long as he could, continued loose conditions held off the truck from staying in the first position at the checkers. Sauter finished in second position, a second off the leader but a half second in front of third place finisher Timothy Peters.
Thoughts from Sauter:

"My guys were phenomenal here, what an amazing job by Joe and the 13 boys. They have worked their tails off to move a race shop, build these trucks, work on them all day, travel from Ohio, then go over the wall and be the best. All of the training they've done in the offseason is paying off. The truck is one of the fastest in our fleet - chassis 38 hasn't had worse than a second place finish all year, and we just built it in the offseason. After leading practice all day, we knew we had a potential winner. I took four tires because I knew we had a loose truck there at the end - and you choose your tires based on track position and how the truck's handling. Dillon just had a fast, fast truck and didn't need four. It was great strategy for them and a good win. We did our best and came home with a good finish."

Sauter is ready to continue his streak heading into Indianapolis. "This is one of my favorite, favorite racetracks and I love how it runs. I've done really well at Indy, so this is when it gets fun. It's nice to be leading the points, sure, but again - with the new system, things change all the time. We're focused on winning at every track, and the points will follow. That's when you're doing your job, and anybody who knows me knows how competitive I am - I want to be in Victory Lane."

The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series goes under the lights next Friday, July 29th for the AAA Insurance 200 at Lucas Oil Raceway.

07-19-11

Johnny Sauter - Nashville Race Preview -

TOPPING THE CHARTS IN NASHVILLE: Returning to Nashville for the second time this year, Johnny Sauter makes his appearance at the top of the driver points in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. It is the sixth week out of twelve that the veteran driver has led the points, as well as the fourth week in a row. Sauter's best finish at Nashville was fifth in the spring race of 2010. His last appearance resulted in a seventh place finish - and out of four appearances, Sauter has never finished out of the top 11.

PLAY IT AGAIN, SAM: Sauter will visit the Curb Records studio on Music Row in Nashville on Thursday, July 21st with NASCAR's First Officially Licensed Artist, Sam Bass to experience his first "jam session" with Curb artists Rodney Atkins and Tim Dugger. Atkins will be on the decklid of the No. 13 truck in Nashville in honor of Curb Records; Dugger will be the featured artist playing at the ThorSport Race Shop Grand Opening Celebration on August 17th in Sandusky.

CHASSIS HISTORY: The No. 13 team will utilize chassis No. 038 this weekend at Nashville Speedway. This is chassis is well-known on Nashville's concrete surface and helped Sauter drive home in the seventh position earlier this year at the track.

PREVIOUS RACE RECAP: Sauter drove the No. 13 home to a fourth place finish at Iowa Speedway in Newton, Iowa on Saturday night. After battling back from a right rear flat tire (due to a slow leak) and out-of-cycle pit stop to fix, Sauter made the jump from 20th position to fourth in just eight laps. The finish was well-earned by the pit crew, crew chief and driver; it also gave ThorSport Racing owner Duke Thorson two trucks in the top four - as teammate Matt Crafton reached victory lane for the second time in his career.

THOUGHTS FROM THE DRIVER: Johnny Sauter

How do you feel going into the race in Nashville?
"Nashville is a great town, and it's a great racetrack. I said it earlier this year - I have sentimental ties here, not just for the relationship with Curb Records, but also because I won at Nashville Fairgrounds back in the day in ASA Racing. I've already got one guitar. Two would be better - in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. That's the trophy that everyone wants...it's about going for that Gibson."

What's the biggest challenge going into Nashville?
"There is limited banking at Nashville, and that poses a problem for a lot of drivers - but to us short track racers, it's just fine. It's such a unique track and the concrete definitely sets it apart somewhat. The fastest groove, by far, is on the bottom here. It's a one groove racetrack, but there are tons of different ways to get through the corners to get the truck where you want it. Take your choice of how you want to lift. The winning driver is going to be decided this week by the corners."

How do you feel coming off a successful run at Iowa?
"Iowa was redemption for the No. 13 guys, for sure. We didn't finish where we wanted to exactly, because we did have a winning truck and I've raced really well there in the past. But after having horrible luck in Kentucky and unfortunate circumstances in Texas, we just needed a solid top five. So we achieved our goals there. Now it's time to take chassis 38 to Victory Lane here in Nashville, because I'm itching for that guitar. I say it all the time - the guitar and the Monster Mile trophies are the two that I really want."

Are you looking forward to spending some time at the Curb Records Studio with the artists?
"Rodney has been on my decklid a lot over the last two years, so it's kind of sentimental there too. He was on the decklid for the April race when Mike Curb got his 500th career start as a team owner, so it was really special. I feel like Rodney's one of the team guys at this point. To have Sam Bass there is great too, so I can see the guitars. Now playing one, I don't think you want to hear me doing that...I'll leave it to the pros!"

07-17-11

Johnny Sauter - Iowa Race Recap -
Sauter Battles Back for Fourth Place Finish at Iowa Speedway

The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series points leader, Johnny Sauter, battled back from an early right rear flat tire to power home in the fourth position at Iowa Speedway's Coca-Cola 200 Presented by Hy-Vee. His fourth top five finish of the 2011 season and second since running second four races ago, the redemption was well-earned in the No. 13 Safe Auto/Karl Chevrolet.

"Coming into Iowa, we had some tough circumstances in previous races at Texas and Kentucky. We've been beating and banging for wins every week - every week with the truck to win. So it was one of those things that we all just wanted to prove we're still in the running here and get a solid finish. My guys worked really hard in practice - we weren't where we wanted to be, and Joe and the boys kept coming back fighting on that truck. So after qualifying, we knew we were going to fight out these 200 laps."

Starting on the grid in sixth position, Sauter quickly gained momentum to third position by the second caution of the race at lap 15. He went on to lead eight laps from lap 22 to 29, then settle in to second position. The driver had consistent radio communication of being loose in, with little to no power off and grip woes. After a fast pit cycle under caution at lap 63 with air pressure adjustments, tires and fuel to free it up after becoming tight off, Sauter and crew chief Joe Shear, Jr. were dialing in grip and balance.

Under caution at lap 75, Sauter radioed the crew that a right rear tire was going down. A quick pit to fix originally showed no damage, but after later inspection by NASCAR officials and Goodyear, a slow leak was detected. Restarting in 20th position, Sauter and Shear, Jr, along with spotter David Pepper, went to work on pulling down positions - going from 20th to eighth in just eight laps.

He went on to restart sixth after a red flag delayed competition for over twenty minutes, then re-commence battle for fourth with Joey Coulter - holding the 22 off until the checkered flag as teammate Matt Crafton took his second career win.

"I'm really proud of Matt tonight, he earned this win. ThorSport Racing just moved all its racing operations this week into the new shop, and the guys are all working overtime. To come out here and get a win and a top five finish after a really long week in the shop, that's pretty amazing. We had more in us on the No. 13 Safe Auto/Karl Chevrolet team tonight, but we'll take a top five after all that happened to us in this race. It's a solid finish, and we'll build on that into Nashville."

Sauter leaves Iowa as the continuing NASCAR Camping World Truck Series points leader, 22 points ahead of Austin Dillon.

07-13-11

Johnny Sauter - Iowa Race Preview -
Sauter Seeks Redemption in the Corn State

CHILDREN OF THE CORN:
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series returns to wildly popular Iowa Speedway this week - a fan favorite, as well as a short track favorite of current points leader Johnny Sauter. The Rusty Wallace designed track offers 7/8 mile tri-oval racing with 12-13-14 degree compound banking in the turns and covers 600 acres of land - making it the most state of the art driver-designed facility in NASCAR....and right down the road from the farmlands of America.

FRIENDS OF KARL...CHEVY, THAT IS: Sauter proudly displays the banner of Karl Chevrolet, Iowa's largest Chevrolet dealership and the fourth largest dealership in the US, on the No. 13 at Iowa Speedway this weekend. On Thursday, July 14th, Sauter and teammate Dakoda Armstrong, who is debuting in Iowa, will be at the Ankeny Dealership signing autographs. The dealership is located at 1101 SE Oralabor Road in Ankeny, just outside of Des Moines from 5pm-8pm.
GOING TO THE FAIR: On Friday night, Sauter will have a busy evening in Iowa. He will travel from practice to the Iowa State Fairgrounds Speedway to wave the green flag in a Dirt Truck Racing Association event on the semi-banked half-mile.
CHASSIS HISTORY: The No. 13 team will utilize chassis No. 038 this weekend at Kentucky Speedway. This is chassis has driven home to top 7 finishes at Nashville and Charlotte already in 2011; as well as a pole appearance at Kentucky Speedway just last weekend.

PREVIOUS RACE HISTORY: Sauter finished a disappointing 24th after driving in the top 2 or leading much of the UNOH 225 at Kentucky Speedway. Starting on the pole, he dominated throughout the race but encountered a broken rear axle on the last pit stop of the evening - rendering the truck behind the wall for the finish.

THOUGHTS FROM THE DRIVER: Johnny Sauter

How do you feel going into the race in Iowa?
"I'm fired up. We're fired up on the 13. After taking the pole in Kentucky and really having it as my race to take home, we had something heartbreaking and unavoidable happen. That's racing, but that just fires us up to prove to everybody that we can come out and win races. It just makes us prepare more. I'm looking forward to getting on the track, because I've done well here in the last two years. Finishing fifth two years ago, then second last year, I think we've gotten this track somewhat figured out. Now we go racing and see if luck will be on our side too."

What's the biggest challenge going into Iowa?
"Everybody likes to treat this track like an intermediate track. Don't get me wrong, this is one fast racetrack. After the heat gets in the tires and we start laying rubber on the track, as well as ARCA racing the same day, it's going to perform like a short track. So the guys that are going to do well here are the ones that don't mind being loose and don't mind really having to slip and slide like a short track. You don't want to take any fenders off, but you can bump around a little and get where you want."

Do you feel like you're returning to your roots by being closer to Wisconsin?
"I don't think it's really super close....we're still a few states away! But it is nice to be back in the Midwest where there is lots of space and everyone is super friendly. That's what I'm used to, and it gives a certain comfort level for sure. Every time I've been here, the people of Karl Chevrolet, Newton, Ankeny and Des Moines have been great to work with. It's just a track that really does a good job."

Are you looking forward to going to the dirt track at Iowa State Fairgrounds?
"It's great to support local dirt track racing. I was able to try my hand at it last year, actually driving the truck on the dirt track for Karl Chevrolet - and I think I got a good understanding of just how many towels you need to clean off your truck and yourself after the dirt experience! I'm looking forward to supporting the guys and girls out there on Friday night and meeting the fans. Stock car fans are universal in their passion for the sport."

ABOUT SAFE AUTO INSURANCE COMPANY:
SafeAuto Insurance Company, founded in 1993, is the world's largest state-minimum property and casualty insurance carrier. Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, the company provides coverage to automobile drivers in 16 states including Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Georgia, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Louisiana, Mississippi, Illinois, Missouri, Arizona, Oklahoma, Virginia and Kansas; as well as four regional call centers. A direct-to-consumer auto insurance company, the mission of SafeAuto Insurance is to "keep you legal for less" - helping motorists obtain high quality yet inexpensive coverage. For more information, visit www.SafeAuto.com.

ABOUT KARL CHEVROLET:
Since 1978, Karl Chevrolet has enjoyed continued growth in all aspects of their business including new and pre-owned vehicle sales, parts and accessory sales, along with service and collision center work. Karl Chevrolet ranks annually as one of the top General Motors and Chevrolet brand sales leaders, ending 2010 as the fourth largest volume Chevrolet dealer in the United States; including being the #1 Chevrolet Certified Pre-Owned dealer in the Nation for the fifth consecutive year. More information on Karl Chevrolet can be found at www.KarlChevrolet.com.

07-07-11

Johnny Sauter - Kentucky Race Recap -
Late Lap Misfortune Deals Sauter a 24th-place Finish at Kentucky

Johnny Sauter, driver of the No. 13 Safe Auto/Curb Records/Carrier Chevy Silverado, dominated the week at Kentucky Speedway - leading practice times and rocketing to the pole position on the grid for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series UNOH 225. After leading early on in the race and running in the top three for the majority of the race, Sauter passed Kye Busch on Lap 103 and held the lead until pitting on Lap 124. Unfortunately, the rear axle in his truck broke on his last pit stop, taking the truck behind the wall and finishing 24th.

In practice, Sauter was the only driver over the 175-mph mark Thursday morning as he led practice for Thursday night's UNOH 225 Camping World Truck Series race at Kentucky Speedway. Sauter ran a fast lap of 175.553 mph. In qualifying on Friday afternoon, Sauter completed a 1.5 mile lap in 31.015 seconds, hitting 174.109 mph for his second pole of the season and fourth in his 71 career Truck Series. Sauter began in row one last year and finished second.

"It was solid all day in practice and in qualifying," Sauter said. "I could not be more proud of the guys of how they set this truck up. We were close last year (to) sitting on the pole, so we were confident going into the race. We were super loose from the get go here during the race, and the track was making it worse due to being slimy from Cup practice and all the rubber laid down. I was bouncing like a basketball on the track. Joe and the guys did so much for me to stay up front, and we had a great first pit stop that helped me keep running for a win."

"The truck was killing it from the flag stand on mid-race, and I really was feeling a lot better. Tight off like the other leaders, but at least I could run with them in the corners where it counted. We had this one won, but luck is everything in racing, and if you don't have it on your side, it's just not your night. It wasn't ours, unfortunately. I just have to thank the guys for working so hard and giving me such a great truck. We've just got to focus that energy towards Iowa."

The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series hits the track next Saturday, July 16th for the Coca-Cola 200 presented by Hy-Vee at Iowa Speedway.

07-05-11

Johnny Sauter - Kentucky Race Preview -

DERBYLAND BOUND: Returning from the longest break of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season, Johnny Sauter heads to the “Bluegrass State” to take on the D-shaped oval of Kentucky Speedway. Sauter’s last experience at Kentucky earned him his best finish at the 1.5-mile track – with a second place finish in 2010. Sauter looks to continue his consistency at the fast intermediates this year, with top 10s if not top fives at all previous 1.5-milers this year so far. The NCWTS driver points leader is looking to bring home another top-10 finish in the Thursday night race.

LIKE A ROCK…OR A FORT: Sauter and his ThorSport Racing teammates Matt Crafton and Dakoda Armstrong are making a special stop during their trip to Kentucky. The three drivers are scheduled to visit Fort Knox for a hands-on day of training and meeting with military members at the U.S. Army post on behalf of Goodyear Tire.

CHASSIS HISTORY: The No. 13 team will utilize chassis No. 038 this weekend at Kentucky Speedway. This is chassis has driven home to top 7 finishes at Nashville and Charlotte already in 2011.

THOUGHTS FROM THE DRIVER: Johnny Sauter

How do you feel going into the race in Kentucky?
“I really like Kentucky, and a lot of guys don’t. It has less banking, more bumps you have to lift through, and it’s fast and flatter. It takes a lot of skill and driving, especially through the corners, so those are the kinds of tracks I like. If it’s not a short track, I want it to have the individuality of a Kentucky. This is when our entire package – aero, body, horsepower, setup in general – comes into play. We’re always saying these races are going to be won or lost on pit road, and I believe that during this one too. We’ll all be on our toes here, especially being a companion race with Cup and Nationwide, and those drivers coming back into the Series for a few races here.”

What’s the biggest challenge going into Kentucky?
“The bumps there are a huge challenge with the coil bound setup. You’re always looking for compliance with the shocks over the bumps but it’s more pronounced at a track like Kentucky that has the type of surface it does. Joe and I are always working on the splitter and decreasing the bounce on the track, something we fight all the time. Our setups are so strong on these intermediate tracks, and I’m pretty confident that I learned a lot last year here with Joe and the guys. We’re going to come back swinging.”

Did you do anything fun during our longest break of the season?
“I was able to get up to Sandusky, and I took Cortney and the kids with me. They got to play at Kalahari Resort while I met with the guys, talked setups for Kentucky and the next five big race clip we’ll be on, and also had a chance to catch the NHRA race with Duke Thorson. Cortney’s in Wisconsin now with our families, so I get to go racing while she gets to see family with the kids.”

Are you looking forward to spending some time at Fort Knox?
“We had the privilege of having an honorary pit crew from Dover AFB in our pits at Dover, and that was special. I’m glad that this close to July 4th holiday, we can celebrate these men and women at Fort Knox too. I know that we’ll be spending time with some of the children of fallen soldiers, and that means a lot to me.”

06-07-11

Johnny Sauter - Texas Race Preview -
Sauter Tries His "Luck" at Victory Lane in Texas

Johnny Sauter, driver of the No. 13 Safe Auto/Curb Records/Carrier Chevrolet Silverado, makes his fourth NASCAR Camping World Truck Series start at Texas Motor Speedway for ThorSport Racing Friday, June 10th. The Series points leader after a successful second place finish last weekend in Kansas, Sauter is ready to return to the track where he narrowly missed wins twice in 2010. Out of four starts for TSR since 2009, the driver has finished no worse than sixth position - safely saying that the track is a comfortable place for the driver.

"Texas is a great track for me. It's all about track position there, and you don't want to work up from the middle of the field. We've always run up front there. The goal with my crew chief, Joe Shear, Jr, is to run up front from the get go. I'm hoping to build on the finishes we had there last year for sure - twice we finished in second, and we had the truck to win. I'm pretty motivated to get to Texas right now."

Sauter's momentum still has competitors in his sights. "We've got a lot of talent this year in our Series, and we're just now hitting the summer, when all the action really starts to happen. You've got rookies like Whitt who are doing well, but there's always Bodine, Hornaday and my teammate Matt Crafton, who run really well in Texas and are good at these 1.5 mile tracks. It's an all-star lineup, so we've got to be 150% perfect and execute on pit road and with the setups. If we can do that, we have a shot at Victory Lane."

The No. 13 team will have a chance to become honorary "cowboys" on a special VIP tour with their teammates on the No. 88 Menards Chevy team at Cowboys Stadium on Friday morning. They will get an inside look from the Dallas Cowboys management team at the operations, locker room and get to "pull the Heisman" on the playing field. "I know the guys are excited to get on the field, we're all a bunch of sports junkies," said Sauter. "Every race city we go to, we're either at a ballpark the day before the race, a basketball court or a football field. Just depends on the season! This is a great opportunity to take a look at what the Cowboys do every day."

"We're also hosting Kyle Mohan from Kyle Mohan Racing on Friday - the guys are all going to learn how to Ultimate Drift. It's really awesome that all these different types of racers will be at Texas Motor Speedway. IndyCar, Drifters and NASCAR. That's great for the fans." ThorSport Racing will also take part in a "TweetUp" with IndyCar team Andretti Autosport on Friday for crossover fans.

Sauter has one win under his belt this season, at Martinsville, making him the only non-Sprint Cup driver to win in the Truck series to date.

06-05-11

Johnny Sauter - Kansas Race Recap -
Defending Champion Powers to 2nd Place

Johnny Sauter, defending Kansas Speedway winner and driver of the No. 13 Safe Auto/Curb Records/Carrier Chevrolet Silverado, held off Todd Bodine in a late lap battle for second place behind winner Clint Boyer at the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series O'Reilly Auto Parts 250 at Kansas Speedway. Sauter, who started third Saturday, also won the Exide Start Positive, Stay Positive Award and the Mobil Driver of the Race Award. The finish moves him up one spot to regain the lead in the 2011 NCWTS point standings - a place he held earlier this year.

"I couldn't be more proud of our effort," said Sauter, who took a 12-point overall points lead over Cole Whitt. "There's a little added pressure coming in here as the defending race winner. Everybody wants to talk to you about that, but we're racing everybody out there every race. Joe Shear, Jr and my guys are a big part of the success here, and that effort helped get us to that second place finish."

Last year's win at Kansas gave Sauter the momentum to catapult into a winning stretch. He vaulted into the top 10 in points, posted 12 top-fives in the next 20 races, including five second-place and four third-place finishes; and ended the year third in overall driver points at banquet time. Sauter isn't concerned about championship points just yet.

"The championship, right now, is something that is important but not something to pay a lot of attention to - going into Texas," he continued. "It's way too early in my opinion, but it's still an accomplishment and I'm honored. I don't think you can really focus on winning a championship, especially this year with as much competition as we have, until there are five, six, seven races left. It's not going to be like years past when you just go be consistent down the stretch and finish 10th...we've got to race every race to the end. We gave it everything today."

Sauter led 11 laps in the race and stayed within the top five positions under most green flag conditions. A debris caution on lap 98 was a godsend for both Sauter and leader Bowyer, who hadn't been to the pit for fuel and tires since laps 50 and 59 respectively. Crew chief Shear executed smart pit strategy throughout, giving Sauter the advantage at the end of the race.

O'Reilly Auto Parts 250
Sauter has one win under his belt this season, at Martinsville, making him the only non-Sprint Cup driver to win in the Truck Series. While he's content with the overall finish, he looks forward to racing winner Bowyer again. "Halfway through the race, I figured out he was just playing with us," he said. "Toward the end, I started to reel him in, and I was like, 'maybe this can happen.' This is a humbling sport. You have to keep working on your program, take what you can get and go to the next one. I'm proud of my guys and what we put out there. I have said it before and I'll say it again, this speaks volumes about the program that Duke and Rhonda Thorson run at ThorSport Racing."

06-01-11

Johnny Sauter - Kansas Race Preview -
Sauter Defends Truck Title at Kansas

Johnny Sauter, driver of the No. 13 Safe Auto/Curb Records/Carrier.com Chevrolet Silverado, makes his third NASCAR Camping World Truck Series start in as many years for ThorSport Racing at Kansas Speedway on Saturday, June 4th. Sitting second in overall driver points after a triumphant battle to sixth place in Charlotte in May, Sauter is ready to return to the track where he won with flair in 2010. After a skirmish with Ron Hornaday that resulted in one of the fan-voted "best finishes of 2010" on SPEED Channel, Sauter went on to win the O'Reilly Auto Parts 250.

Last year's win at Kansas gave Sauter the momentum to catapult into a winning stretch. He vaulted into the top 10 in points, posted 12 top-fives in the next 20 races, including five second-place and four third-place finishes; and ended the year third in overall driver points at banquet time.

"For sure, that put us back on the map," Sauter said. "There are just so many things we look back on last season, and said, 'OK, we finished second here, what do we need to do differently?' I think we have addressed a lot of those issues, and here we are kind of picking up where we left off last year. Let's face it, confidence is everything. When you can pull into a racetrack and have a solid weekend and win a race, that just makes you feel like you can go to the next one and you can win. You know the old saying: 'Winning fixes everything' and it's contagious."

Sauter has one win under his belt this season, at Martinsville, making him the only non-Sprint Cup driver to win in either the Nationwide or truck series until Ricky Stenhouse Jr. won a Nationwide event on May 22 at Iowa.

"That speaks volumes about our program," Sauter said. "The Cup guys coming into the series doesn't bother me. It brings a lot more attention to the truck series. Let's face it: Those guys come down and they are almost expected to win. But we went to Texas and Homestead and a lot of those places, and we had trucks capable of outrunning Kyle (Busch) and Kevin (Harvick). So I feel like we can beat them, and if we beat those guys, obviously we have beat the best, and that's a huge accomplishment for ThorSport Racing."

The NCWTS will celebrate its 400th race in Kansas, and ThorSport Racing's own David Pepper, Team Manager, participated in 329 of those races consecutively. Pepper also happens to be Sauter's spotter on race day. "Pep and I have a very unique relationship, and most folks in racing know all about it. I'm glad he can keep me out of trouble, and it's neat to see the history of this sport in the making as we reach the 400 mark. I'm proud to be a part of it."

05-22-11

Johnny Sauter - Charlotte Race Recap -
Sauter Posts NCWTS Track-Best Charlotte Finish

Johnny Sauter, driver of the No. 13 Safe Auto/Curb Records/Carrier.com Chevrolet Silverado, came to Charlotte as a self-proclaimed "underdog." In two previous NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts at the famed track, the second-place points leader had fought track conditions and luck for no better than a 12th place finish. Friday night, however, despite a wild ride for 135 laps, leading 13 and scuffling on track with Ron Hornaday - Sauter posted a track-best finish of sixth.

"I knew coming into Charlotte that we had a bone to pick with the track itself, both me and Joe," Sauter said. "Like a few other tracks in the past two years, this one made us scratch our heads trying to see what to fix. It's a famous place for grip issues and being loose, but that's not something I'm afraid of anywhere. We knew we were going to have to scrape and bump this one out, but we've got a fast intermediate program this year so it was going to be a fighting chance. It was great to have my wife Cortney and son Penn there to cheer me on."

Posting second-fastest practice times in both sessions at the one-day show, Sauter qualified in seventh position on the grid. From the beginning of the race, the "scratching and clawing" for position began for all drivers - within the first 31 laps, having only 15 green flag laps. Sauter fought grip issues but incorporated fast pit stops and strategy with his crew chief - leading the race for 13 green flag laps.

After pitting for four tires and fuel while other leaders took fuel-only stops, Sauter pushed back out 14th and made a run up the field to fifth within six laps. With 34 laps to go, the No. 33 of Ron Hornaday pushed down the track and damaged the nose. The team stayed out during the final pit cycle, and Sauter showed impressive wheel skills in powering home in his NCWTS track-best finish in sixth.

"That truck had the front caved in, so I'm proud of where we could bring it home. Joe and I both know we had a top three truck, if not a truck that could take Kyle on there at the end. Hey, it happens, and Hornaday and I had some heated words there after the race - but you'll see we talked it out by the haulers. This is a year that the veterans know what we've got to do to win races. Tonight wasn't my night, but we'll regroup and come back in Kansas. I won there last year, so it's time to get that truck ready to go to try for a repeat."

05-17-11

Johnny Sauter - Charlotte Race Preview -
Sauter Reclaims His "Underdog" Status Going to Charlotte

Johnny Sauter, driver of the No. 13 Safe Auto/Curb Records/Carrier Chevrolet Silverado, makes his third NASCAR Camping World Truck Series start in as many years for ThorSport Racing at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Friday, May 20th. Sitting second in the driver points after teammate Matt Crafton, Sauter is comfortable reclaiming his self-proclaimed "underdog" status. With two top 15 finishes at Charlotte in the Truck Series, his focus is off the points race and on the competition.

"Being at the top of the points this early in the season was a positive surprise to me, and it was a great feeling after Nashville," said Sauter. "It's a lot of pressure though, when we have so many races ahead of us. Charlotte has always been a track that has challenged me, and our 1.5-mile program is really stellar this year. That's got to be my focus with (crew chief) Joe (Shear, Jr.) and my guys. Perform on all fronts - from the truck setup to the pit cycles and fuel management. I said it at the end of Dover and I meant it, with me and Joe it's back to basics and some tried-and-true setups we used last year for great finishes."

Sauter, long-known as a Series "outlaw" of sorts, feels his underdog hat fits well. "The best finishes I've ever had, all my wins, were coming back from behind or scraping to the top all the way. That's how I love to race. So the pressure is off right now, and I can get back to being the underdog. There's nothing this team can't do this year with the right focus, and we're proving that every race. Charlotte is no different - we're proving to the racing world exactly how consistent we can be at these tracks, using a lot of communication and strategy. ThorSport Racing is building championship-consistency teams this year, and we're going to show that at the racetrack."

Tires, Tires, Tires

After the Charlotte race, Sauter heads to Texas Motor Speedway for the Goodyear tire test alongside other Camping World Truck Series teams May 23rd-25th. "I like Texas, and anytime I get seat time for any reason, I'm going to jump at the chance. It's a good chance to get our feet wet before really getting out there in June for the race."

Carrier Heats Up the Truck in Charlotte

Carrier, the world leader in air conditioning, heating and refrigeration systems, continues as the Official Heating, Ventilation & Air Conditioning (HVAC) provider for ThorSport Racing. As part of the partnership, Carrier will provide heating and cooling systems for ThorSport Racing's new 100,000-square foot racing facility in Sandusky, Ohio - opening this August to the public. ThorSport Racing will also proudly display the Carrier logo on the No. 13 Safe Auto/Curb Records/Carrier Chevrolet Silverado at the NC Education Lottery 200 in Charlotte.

05-14-11

Johnny Sauter - Nashville Race Recap -
Sauter Battles the Monster Mile for Top-15 Finish

Johnny Sauter, driver of the No. 13 Safe Auto/Curb Records/Carrier.com Chevrolet Silverado, battled the "Monster" at Dover International Speedway's Monster Mile for an 11th place finish Friday afternoon.

Starting on the grid in seventh position, Sauter found himself "killing the splitter" early on in radio communication with crew chief Joe Shear, Jr. Taking advantage of an early lap five caution, the team pitted for adjustments. Fighting loose conditions, he went on to battle through lap traffic after a pit road penalty for speeding on entry at lap 135 from twenty-fifth position and two laps down - all the way back to eleventh position within 60 laps. Thanks to a lucky dog on the seventh of the race's nine cautions, Sauter joined the lead lap trucks in 17th and dialed down to the 11th position at the checkers.

"We had a top five truck here in Dover, so of course I'm disappointed," said Sauter, who now sits in second position in driver points going into Charlotte next week. "We've been trying a lot of new things with the front end geometry this year, and Joe and I want to just get back to the basics. My guys had some serious speed on pit road and that helps you out when you're not the fastest truck in the pack. I'm proud of them for working so hard in pit practice this month, it's showing for sure."

"It stinks that we got a speeding penalty on entry, it really pushed us to the back and I even told the guys that they could turn in their driver for a new one," he continued, joking. "They did their jobs, and I'm glad we could at least bring it back up to get in lucky dog position to post up to the lead lap. We earned the 11th spot today, but it's just not good enough for us this year. We're regrouping for Charlotte."

"The one thing I do like is having the pressure off. Congrats to my teammate Matt on the points lead, he earned it today. Me and my guys are really comfortable with that 'underdog' title, so it was a lot of pressure coming into Dover. Now, I think it's back to having our eyes on the prize. We're going to win races. So Charlotte, we're going to focus on the win."

05-10-11

Johnny Sauter - Nashville Race Preview -
Sauter Says, "Put Me In, Coach!"

Johnny Sauter, driver of the No. 13 Safe Auto/Curb Records/Carrier Chevrolet Silverado, makes his third NASCAR Camping World Truck Series start in as many years for ThorSport Racing at Dover International Speedway on Friday, May 13th. With one top five and one top ten under his belt at Dover so far, the current driver points leader feels thinks he has the momentum to tackle Miles the Monster and tame that Monster Mile.

"I've been saying this since the Martinsville win - I want a Monster Mile trophy and always have wanted one. This place is the racetrack of all racetracks and has certain lines that will take you out. Fuel management is huge, so you have to have a lot of trust in your crew too. The guys have prepared, I have prepared, and we have a lot of good momentum coming into this race. Points aren't really important right now, but we're in the position to keep getting better and show what we're made of on this team."

Put Me In, Coach

Ever the baseball fanatic and statistician, Sauter gets a chance to live out his baseball dream this Wednesday night at Oriole Park at Camden Yards - where he will not only throw out the first pitch against the Seattle Mariners, but gets to trade jerseys with two of his idols: Derek Lee and Vladimir Guerrero. "Awesome opportunity, I actually got really excited when this got presented to me," Sauter beamed. "I grew up a Brewers fan as a kid, and I've always been a baseball nut. I'm excited, now I need to make sure I don't do something crazy like roll the ball down the infield. I would never live that down on the grid at Dover!"

"Speaking" for Autism in Dover

The No. 13 Safe Auto/Curb Records/Carrier Chevy will also don the Autism Speaks Puzzle logo for the Dover Lucas Oil 200 on Friday as a tribute to children with autism. "We were privileged to participate in this program last year at Dover, and it's a really good cause," Sauter continued. "I have two kids of my own now, and I would hope that type of support would exist if my children were to have any concerns. I'm glad in a small part that I can give back."

Adopting Service members for the No. 13

The No. 13 pit stall will have three extra "honorary pit crew" on Dover weekend, as the ThorSport Racing team supports members of the Dover Air Force Base. Colonel Joan Garbutt, 436th Mission Support Group Commander; A1C Brian Berns, 436th Mission Support Group Administrative Assistant; and Staff Sergeant William Harrington, 436th Mission Support Group Food Service Supervisor; will all get to "catch tires" with Mechanixwear gloves alongside the No. 13 crew.

"I'm really proud to be able to do something for the Dover Air Force Base service members," Sauter continued. "They do amazing work every day and don't usually get recognized for it, and it's tough work. The main purpose of this base is to carry out 'honor flights' for fallen service men and women. They are the first ones to pay respects to our grieving military families. I'm glad we can give them a day all for them at the racetrack."

Carrier Joins Forces with TSR to "Keep Racing Cool"

Carrier, the world leader in air conditioning, heating and refrigeration systems, has joined forces as the Official Heating, Ventilation & Air Conditioning (HVAC) provider for ThorSport Racing. As part of the partnership, Carrier will provide heating and cooling systems for ThorSport Racing's new 100,000-square foot racing facility in Sandusky, Ohio - opening this August to the public. ThorSport Racing will also proudly display the Carrier logo on the No. 13 Safe Auto/Curb Records/Carrier Chevrolet Silverado, piloted by NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) points leader Johnny Sauter, in Dover, De. at the Lucas Oil 200 on May 13th.

"We're excited to have such an esteemed company on board with ThorSport Racing. Carrier has a long history in heating and cooling America, and they're willing to take on the task of heating and cooling one of the 'hottest' areas of sports- a NASCAR team," said Matt LaNeve, Vice President of Motorsports Partnerships for ThorSport Racing.

"Carrier is looking forward to help keep the ThorSport Racing crews 'cool' this summer with our state-of-the-art HVAC systems being installed in the organization's new race shop," said Matt Nuijens, Vice President of Brand Marketing for Carrier Residential and Commercial Systems. "We're also excited to 'heat up' the race track this summer with Johnny Sauter and that fast Chevrolet Silverado!"

An official announcement will follow. For more information on Carrier, please visit www.Carrier.com.

Getting "CSI" on the "ISO" at Dover AFB

As a "thank you" from the Dover AFB staff, the ThorSport Racing No. 13 and No. 88 teams will be touring the C17 Flight Line and the C5 ISO-Chronical Inspection on Thursday night alongside Max & Tati Papis; and crew members from Red Horse Racing. Well known as the "CSI" of Dover AFB, the crew will be touring wings and tails of planes - watch out drivers, no wing walking!

04-24-11

Johnny Sauter - Nashville Race Recap

Johnny Sauter, ThorSport Racing driver of the No. 13 Safe Auto/Curb Records Chevy Silverado, powered to a seventh place finish at the Nashville Bully Hill Vineyards 200 in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS). The finish marks his fourth top ten finish in as many races and secures his first place position in driver points in the NCWTS.

Sauter helped celebrate before the race with longtime friend and sponsor Mike Curb, whose 500th start with a NASCAR-affiliated team fell on the Truck race day with Sauter as the driver. Both commented in their pre-race press conference that it wasn't an accident - a deep mutual respect and appreciation for the sport led to their friendship, and it was fitting that Sauter could bring home a finish in Curb's hometown of Nashville with the Ronald Reagan Centennial Celebration on the lower truck panel (supported by Curb).

Starting on the grid in the ninth position, Sauter consistently showed horsepower - running faster laps than race leader (and eventual winner) Kyle Busch. Fighting loose in, tight off conditions all night in the corners, Sauter traded positions 10 and 11 much of the night with teammate Matt Crafton. Shining performances by the No. 13 pit crew in both stops helped keep the positions as Sauter worked to diagnose truck issues. Battling grip issues and noting he was "plowing off the corner, breathing hard to drive," the last 45 laps, Sauter held ground and gained a position in the last twenty laps to bring the No. 13 Safe Auto/Curb Records Chevy home in seventh position.

"We fought balance issues all night," said Sauter. "Loose, tight, loose, tight. I know I say that a lot, but we really did. It was a pretty good debut for the new truck, and a major positive is that our pit crew was phenomenal. They have been practicing really hard and have absolutely gelled the last few races. Overall, we were average for what we usually run here at Nashville, and I know Joe (Shear, Jr, crew chief) is bothered too. We're going to get to the bottom of it because we're both perfectionists on these trucks, and we have a lot of respect for the other's opinion and expertise. Again, I'm so proud of our pit crew. I'm excited for Dover, and most people know I don't get excited. The No. 13 team at that track, this year, with all the momentum we have - it's going to be a great week there."

04-21-11

Johnny Sauter - Nashville Race Preview
Sauter "Pickin' & Grinnin'" As He Heads to Nashville

Johnny Sauter, driver of the No. 13 Safe Auto/Curb Records Chevrolet Silverado for ThorSport Racing, comes to Nashville with a huge grin on his face. It has been a few good weeks, according to the driver. Not only did he celebrate in Martinsville as the Kroger 250 winner, but his wife Cortney also gave birth to second child - and first daughter - Paige Gertrude. Rolling into Music City, Sauter helps Curb Records celebrate Mike Curb's 500th start alongside the Ronald Reagan Centennial and Safe Auto.

"I've had some banner weeks here right now, and wow, what a feeling," said Sauter. "I said in the NASCAR cam interview yesterday that it just feels like everything is going right for us this year with my guys, and winning solves everything in racing. So the momentum we have coming into Nashville is really important - and I want another Gibson guitar. I got one in ASA Racing at the old Fairgrounds - and I'd love to have one in NASCAR."

Visiting Gibson Guitars

As part of his Nashville week, Sauter will visit the Gibson Guitar Factory alongside Sam Bass, designer of the trophy guitars, and fellow NASCAR drivers on the circuit. "It's a special trophy to win," he said. "Every driver has two or three of the 'big ones' that he or she wants to win. The Nashville Gibson guitar has to be up there on every single one of our lists. Ask anyone. So this is a neat opportunity and pretty special to be invited - Gibson has never opened up their factory to show how it's all done to NASCAR drivers before. I feel like it makes it all more worthwhile if I can make it to Victory Lane - plus bringing one home for Mike Curb on his 500th start in his hometown."

04-17-11

Mike Curb Celebrates 500th Start with Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & ThorSport Racing

Nashville Superspeedway Marks Historic Start for Celebrated Team Owner & the No. 13 Safe Auto/Curb Records Chevrolet Team, Driven by Previous Race Winner Sauter

The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation's Centennial Celebration, Curb Records and ThorSport Racing will celebrate Mike Curb's historic 500th NASCAR start at Nashville Superspeedway's Bully Hill Vineyards 200 in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Johnny Sauter, driver of the No. 13 Safe Auto/Curb Records Chevrolet Silverado and recent winner at Martinsville Speedway, will pilot the entry as he also celebrates a long-standing relationship with Curb as a sponsor throughout his career. Sauter is also the driver points leader going into the race.

The Ronald Reagan Centennial is a historic, year-long celebration to commemorate the 100th birthday of the 40th President of the United States of America. A series of substantive and celebratory events, partnerships and initiatives - such as this - sponsored by the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation are planned throughout 2011.

As President, Ronald Reagan started the 1984 Firecracker 400 at Daytona where he gave the command, "Gentlemen, start your engines!" from aboard Air Force One. Later that day, Air Force One landed at Daytona International Airport behind the speedway in full view of the fans. That day, Richard Petty captured his historic 200th victory in a car owned by Mike Curb."I have been proud to be a part of the Ronald Reagan President Foundation since its inception. We are particularly excited about the newly renovated Library that coincides with President Reagan's 100th birthday. I am also very proud of my longstanding relationship with Johnny and his success over the years. We are excited to be celebrating this Centennial with both Johnny and ThorSport Racing," said Mike Curb Owner of Curb Records.

"Like President Reagan, Mike Curb's vision of America that is optimistic, patriotic, and proud is as alive today as it was when he served as Lt. Governor of California from 1979-1983," said Stewart McLaurin, Executive Director of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation Centennial Celebration. "As many Americans take a moment this year to remember the life, lessons and legacy of President Reagan, we are honored to have this special tribute."

Sauter's relationship with Curb goes back over ten years, when he first raced in the Nationwide (then Busch) Series and Sprint Cup Series with his team. 2011 marks the third year of co-primary sponsorship of the No. 13 truck with Sauter and ThorSport Racing in the NCWTS. Nashville Superspeedway also marks ThorSport Racing's 327th consecutive race, matching Circle Bar Racing for second all-time in the series and the longest-standing operation dating to 1996.

"It's very cool to see Mike Curb making his 500th start in NASCAR, and I'm proud to be the one making it for him," said Sauter. "We've been racing together a long time, and he's been a huge supporter of mine over the past 10 years. It would be great to win such a momentous race for him, especially seeing as how it's in the Curb Records backyard of Nashville. I hope we can keep our momentum going coming off the win at Martinsville. I want to bring home the Gibson guitar for the Curb contingent."

The NASCAR tribute video is available now at the Ronald Reagan Foundation's YouTube channel located here: www.youtube.com/reaganfoundation.

Rodney Atkins, recording artist for Curb Records, will also be at the celebration as he debuts his brand new single, "Take A Back Road". The new single will appear on Rodney's new album scheduled for the Fall of 2011. "Take A Back Road" will be available at iTunes beginning Tuesday, April 26th. Media availability will be throughout the day at Nashville Superspeedway on Friday.

About Curb Records
Curb Records is one of the world's leading independent music companies. Owned and operated by Mike Curb since 1962, Curb Records has achieved 358 Billboard number one (1) records, nearly twelve hundred (1,200) Billboard Top Ten records and charted just under four thousand (4,000) Billboard Records. Today's roster includes some of the top names in Country, Christian and Pop/Rock music. Curb Records was honored as Billboard Magazine's 2001 Country Music Label of the Year.

About Rodney Atkins
Curb Records recording artist Rodney Atkins has been successfully leading the country music charts and selling albums since his career began in 2006 when he hit the scene with his first number one, "If You're Going Through Hell," which was also the Number One Country Song of the Year according to Billboard in 2006. The East Tennessee native has recorded three studio albums, Honesty, If You're Going Through Hell and It's America and charted seven Top 20 singles including five number one's: "If You're Going Through Hell," "Watching You," "These Are My People," "Cleaning This Gun (Come On In)," and "It's America." Rodney Atkins' brand new single, "Take A Back Road" is available at iTunes on Tuesday, April 26th.

About The Ronald Reagan Centennial Celebration
The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation Centennial Celebration is a historic, year-long celebration to commemorate the 100th birthday of America's 40th President. The Centennial Celebration is sponsored by the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation. For more information, visit www.reagancentennial.com

About ThorSport Racing
ThorSport Racing, based in Sandusky, Ohio, is the longest tenured active NASCAR Camping World Truck Series team. ThorSport Racing's first race came at the Milwaukee Mile on July 6, 1996. NASCAR's only Ohio-based team, which has run full season schedules annually beginning in 1998, currently runs the No. 88 Menards Chevrolet Silverado driven by Matt Crafton; and the No. 13 Safe Auto/Curb Records Chevrolet driven by Johnny Sauter.

ThorSport Racing has wheeled into Victory Lane with Terry Cook, Matt Crafton and Johnny Sauter since its inception and has finished a dominating seven times within the top 10 in points with both trucks. In April 2011, Sauter wheeled into Victory Lane at Martinsville Speedway. In 2009 and 2010, both Crafton and Sauter finished in the top five in driver points. In 2011, ThorSport Racing will move into a state-of-the-art, world-class 100,000 square foot racing facility in Sandusky.

04-03-11

Johnny Sauter - Martinsville Race Recap
Sauter Takes the Granddaddy Home

Johnny Sauter, driver of the No. 13 Safe Auto/Curb Records Chevy Silverado at ThorSport Racing, was able to bump Kyle Busch from the lead on Lap 248 of 250 and held Busch off the final .526 miles to win the Kroger 250 at Martinsville Speedway this afternoon. It was a special win for both team and family, since Sauter's wife Cortney is at home, due with their second child on Monday morning - a litle girl.

Busch took the lead on Lap 218 and held it through two restarts, but caution came out on Lap 241 due to a spin and Sauter was able to run Busch down becoming the first Truck Series regular to win a race this season.

"I told the guys yesterday that we had a fast truck, and this thing could blow people down all day," Sauter said. "What a race. I said to Joe (Shear Jr, crew chief) that we were going to race the race track today. Preparation. He said back to me that it was tires, tires, tires. We just had smart pit strategy and some great cautions that helped throughout the race. I'm so proud of the No. 13 guys - fast pits, great execution, we were absolutely dialed in all week here. We just gelled the whole time. Teamwork wins these things."

Following Sauter, Busch finished second, closely followed by Ron Hornaday, Kevin Harvick and Timothy Peters.

The win is Sauter's third in the Truck Series and first at Martinsville. With the win, Sauter becomes the new Truck Series points leader, leading teammate Matt Crafton, driver of the No. 88 Menards/Tarkett Chevy Silverado at ThorSport Racing, by five points.

"Now I get to go home and be a dad," Sauter continued. "I have the easy job, I get to go drive fast and hopefully, like today, win races. Cortney's got the tough job, having our daughter! It's just a special weekend for everybody. I'm really proud to bring a win home for the Safe Auto staff and everyone at Curb Records. And above all, Duke and Rhonda Thorson. No one realizes what they go through every week to give us great equipment and invest in this Series and these teams. That Granddaddy is ours, guys!"

04-02-11

Sauter bests Busch for first win at Martinsville

By Sporting News Wire Service

Pole-sitter Johnny Sauter passed Kyle Busch on the next-to-last lap of Saturday's Kroger 250 at Martinsville Speedway and held on to post his first Camping World Truck Series victory of the season and the third of his career.

Busch, who has never won a race at Martinsville, ran second, .453 seconds behind Sauter. Ron Hornaday finished third, followed by his team owner, Kevin Harvick, who recovered from early trouble to finish fourth.

Sauter, whose wife, Cortney, is expecting a baby on Monday, said his truck was nearly perfect.

"About the only thing that was missing [Saturday] was leather interior," Sauter said in Victory Lane. "I think Kyle got in the corner and got loose [on the penultimate lap]. He got loose and swung the back around and tried to come back down, and I was there and I made contact with him.

"It's pretty cool when you can beat Kyle Busch."

There was at least one driver who disagreed with that statement.

"We had a shot, and we gave it away," Busch said. "I just hate it. We had a really good truck, [but] on that last restart, I couldn't turn. The front tires were just beat off it. If we didn't have that last caution come out [on Lap 241 of 250], we probably would have been all right.

"Johnny was really good, but I hate to lose at Martinsville. I'd love to win one here someday -- eventually."

Austin Dillon held the lead by four truck-lengths on Max Papis when Dusty Davis' crash in Turn 3, after contact from Todd Bodine's Toyota, brought out the 10th caution on Lap 202. The accident bunched the field for a restart on Lap 209; by then Harvick, who restarted ninth, had regained two laps he lost on pit road early in the race.

During the five green-flag laps that followed, Busch worked his way from sixth to second and Harvick from ninth to fifth. Bodine's spin caused the 11th caution on Lap 214 and tightened the field for a restart on Lap 220, with Dillon in the lead.

Busch regained the lead in the first corner and paced the field through one more yellow-flag period until Matt Lofton's spin in Turn 1 brought out the 13th caution and set up a four-lap sprint to the finish.

Sauter moved into first place in the points standings, five ahead of Matt Crafton, who finished 11th.

Tire wear was a huge issue in the race, as it has been all weekend, and Harvick felt it would be a major factor in Sunday's Goody's Fast Relief 500 Cup Series race.

"It's a terrible tire," Harvick said. "There's no rubber on the race track. Who knows what it's going to be [on Sunday]?"

03-31-11

Johnny Sauter - Martinsville Race Preview
A Return to Short Track Roots

ThorSport Racing driver Johnny Sauter returns to Martinsville Speedway with the No. 13 Safe Auto/Curb Records Chevrolet crew on April 2nd. The accomplished short track racer returns for his seventh appearance at the track in the NCWTS and is poised to avenge make his best finish in 2011. After a successful top five in Phoenix and top ten in Darlington, Sauter looks to continue the consistency at Martinsville in his quest for a championship at ThorSport Racing. He currently sits 5th in driver points.

On Martinsville
"I've always said this is a place that you have to race aggressively to get anywhere. Track position and tire management is more important at the end of the day here than truck mechanics and performance. In my head, I know I have to qualify in the top five to really have a fighting chance at the win this year - with the heavy competition we have. It's a hard place to control your own destiny, with all the other drivers and strategies and no room to move. It's exciting, quick and tough in the corners.

"There's a lot more beating and banging here at a short track, and I live for that. If you know me, you know that! We're adding a new partner on for Martinsville - Eibach Springs - so we're hoping to have a great performance this weekend."

On His Short Track Roots
"I grew up in a small town in Wisconsin - population 850. My ten brothers and sisters and I lived around our dad's racing career, and it was all I wanted to do to work in the shop. I didn't want to hunt and fish. I wanted to race. The tracks there were all short tracks, and it was really a set of tracks to cut your teeth on. Nothing prepared me better than the short track roots I was brought up on around my dad and brothers in Wisconsin. Martinsville reminds me of those roots, so I really like this track. Does that give me an edge? I don't know, you'll have to watch!"

On "The Paperclip" Challenges
"The biggest challenge at Martinsville is getting into the corner and being stable. You have to have that perfect combination of driving in, getting on the brake pedal, and trying not to gas too much and be loose off. It's so easy to overdrive the corners. A veteran driver once told me that Martinsville was like driving on ice - you've got to watch spinning those back tires. He was right, and that's the advice I give to anyone who asks me. Racing the race track is so important here, as well as defense. Without being able to pass much, you've got to show your competition where you're staying and where you're going."

On "BabyWatch"
"My wife Cortney is due with our second child - our first daughter - on Monday, just after the race weekend. We're really excited to add to the family, but Cortney was the first person to tell me to get out there and race this weekend. She's my biggest supporter. I did hear, though, that our friends at Safe Auto Racing were doing a 'guess the baby's weight' contest on their Facebook page. You have to love modern technology - but if you want to have some fun, log on and guess...you could win!"

03-13-11

Johnny Sauter - Darliongton Race Recap
Sauter "Bites" Back at 'Lady in Black' in Darlington

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver Johnny Sauter, driver of the No. 13 Safe Auto/Curb Records Chevy Silverado for ThorSport Racing, brought home a ninth place finish this past Saturday night. The Necedah, Wisc. Native & veteran driver fought track conditions, truck conditions, record cautions and a track long-known for "biting" drivers over the course of 147 laps to earn his top 10 - and not a Darlington stripe. The finish delivers ThorSport Racing its second top 10 of the season for the No. 13 team and keeps Sauter in championship contention at fifth highest in driver points so far.

"I felt like we really earned that fourth place finish in Phoenix, but man, this ninth place finish was a hard-won battle with the whole night," said Sauter. "I like this track a lot. We had a fast Safe Auto/Curb Records Chevy and felt like we really dialed it in during that second practice, but we fought all night."

Known for his renegade driving style as well as his knowledge under the hood, Sauter showed he was the man with "bite" rather than bark from practice to qualifying to race night in the one-day show. Running in the top seven in both practices (and top 3 in final practice), Sauter started the race in third position with a qualifying lap time of 28.437 - less than one tenth out of pole range.

Running third through the first caution of a record 11 for the night, Sauter battled not only a legendary track and his fellow competitors, but a truck moving tight to loose. Early on, he communicated with crew chief Joe Shear, Jr that "in one and two I'm all over it. Just working on the straightaways." He went on to run in the top ten while navigating cautions, splitter challenges and track debris on the windshield for forty laps.

After an unavoidable connection with another competitor and taking two tires under caution with 30 laps to go, he radioed in to the team that he was "loose and tight. Loose and tight, guys. I just can't seem to figure out what this is. We've just got to fight here to keep position," with frustration. Not only did he keep position, he proved his driving prowess by pushing up the field from 16th at lap 122 to ninth at the checkers - powering down seven positions at the 1.36-mile egg-shaped oval in just 25 laps and through a caution period at lap 139.

Sauter Before Driver Intros
"We had a fast Chevy Silverado from the get go, and we know we had a better finish in us than ninth for the night," Sauter continued. "It is what it is, we're still looking into what was off - the guys are tearing into the truck right now as we speak. Literally, it's not an off day on Sunday, and they work around the clock to be the best and I appreciate that. We got our top ten, but we wanted a win against that 18 truck. We had it in us. We had two fast practices and a fast qualifying, so I was looking forward to showing what we could do at Darlington. That win was in the crosshairs, but like I said, it was a fight to the finish to get us home where we did. That's racing, when you've got to earn it like that. We'll get back to the shop, figure it out and go short track racing at Martinsville in a few weeks. We will keep racing to win."

03-11-11

Johnny Sauter - Darliongton Race Preview
Taming the Lady in Black - Sauter Returns to a Favorite in "Fours"

Johnny Sauter and the No. 13 Safe Auto/Curb Records Chevrolet Silverado team returns to Darlington Raceway this weekend after a solid fourth place finish at Phoenix International Raceway two weeks ago. He also returns for his 63rd NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career start and second outing at Darlington in the Series. Sauter started 13th in 2010 at the track, powering home for a fourth place finish at the checkers. And for the last "four" - Sauter stands in the fourth position in overall driver points in the NCWTS going into Darlington.

ON DARLINGTON:
"Darlington is such a fun place to run. It's different. You have to race the race track, not the competition. If you don't, it will bite you and you'll be in the wall with a Darlington stripe. I'm not one for off weeks - I like to race as much as I possibly can. So I'm pretty psyched to get back to racing, and Darlington is my kind of track. There is more going on here than a Chicago or a Vegas, and you really have to focus. We have a pretty big Rookie class this year, and I think they are about to get educated by the Lady in Black."


ON HIS HISTORY HERE:
"I've always run so well here, even back to Busch Grand National days - with nothing to really show for it. I'm happy with the fourth place finish from last year with ThorSport Racing - the first Truck race at Darlington for several years - but I want a win here. It's such a historical track, and you have to show so much respect to it. The win here means a lot to any driver. It's a fight to the finish every year, and I need a win here. I'm a late model racer until I die, and this is a late model racer's track. It's old school at its best."

ON CHASSIS 23:
"We are using chassis 23, which was used at Homestead last year. We pulled out a fourth place finish there, and it's a strong truck. I'm pretty confident it's going to get the job done in Darlington. My pit crew really showed their strength in Phoenix, and it's a tricky pit road at this track. I know they can dominate to help me get track position, and the ECR horsepower is going to get it done on track."

ON CONSISTENCY & TEAMWORK:
"It's great to be fourth in points right now, but Matt (Crafton) and I both say to our guys that it's early on in the season. We can't get comfortable. This year, the No. 13 team is about consistent top 5s, top 3s, wins. Of course we're going to say we're running for a championship title. Who isn't? But at the end of the day, we're just not happy with anything else, and that's the standard we're setting for ourselves. Are we competitive within the organization? Of course. Matt and I wouldn't be real racers if we weren't competitive with each other. Right now, he's on top of the boards, and teammate or not, he's the truck to beat. We have a lot of respect for each other, but we like to race each other hard and let the best truck win."

02-27-11

Johnny Sauter - Phoenix Race Recap
Johnny Sauter Powers the No. 13 Safe Auto/Curb Records Chevy to a 4th Place Finish

ThorSport Racing's No. 13 Safe Auto/Curb Records team proved that 2011 can be a big year by delivering a strong performance and a fourth-place finish in the 2011 Lucas Oil 150 at Phoenix International Raceway.

Johnny Sauter lined up the No. 13 Safe Auto/Curb Records Chevrolet Silverado in the 8th position with a qualifying lap time of 27.083 seconds at 132.925mph speed. He made impressive strides early on in the race by protecting the seventh position and following teammate Matt Crafton in the No. 88 Menards/Ideal Door Chevrolet - even after giving feedback in the first 30 laps that the truck was rolling over and having trouble in the corners.

Taking four tires and fuel at lap 38, the team also worked on air pressure to protect from splitter damage. Sauter went on to restart seventh after a lap 41 caution and motor to fourth by lap 63. Holding the spot for 25 laps until the next caution warranted a pit stop, Sauter wheeled the truck through a fast pit stop with four tires, trackbar and air pressure adjustments and as crew chief Joe Shear Jr said, "enough gas to get us through this thing as the tires hit." On lap 122, he powered back from fifth to fourth position and battled Ron Hornaday for the third position. Holding his own through a tight race truck in the final laps, Sauter showed his on-track prowess at Phoenix by motoring the No. 13 home in fourth position at the checkers.

The strong finish not only gives Sauter his first top 5 of the season (after Daytona's 17th finishing spot) for ThorSport Racing, but also lands him in the fourth position in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver points going into Darlington on March 12.

Quote from Johnny Sauter:

"It was a solid night for me and my guys, I am so proud of them. We chased it all night long and freaking dug. The guys did an amazing job in the pits, I can't say that enough. We were fighting loose, tight, loose, tight all night long - just couldn't get that perfect balance. So to get the fourth place finish, we really worked as a team. Congrats to Kyle Busch on the win - that guy is just unbelievable. He just wins."

Next Race

Too Tough to Tame 200
Darlington Raceway
March 12, 2011
Practice: 9am-10am and 10:30am-12:00pmET
Qualifying: 3:15pm
Race: 5:00pm on SPEED, SiriusXM Radio, MRN Radio

02-22-11

Johnny Sauter - Phoenix Race Preview

Johnny Sauter and the No. 13 Safe Auto/Curb Records Chevrolet team travels to Phoenix Int'l Raceway for the second race of the season. A strong contender in his two showings at the track, Sauter started on the pole in 2009 and finished 5th. Last year, he qualified 5th-fastest and finished third. Looking to improve on his strong stats at the raceway, there's only one place to go for improvement - Victory Lane.

Notes & Quotes

ON PHOENIX:
"I always look forward to Phoenix. Being earlier on in the NCWTS schedule, it's going to be interesting. I think mentally, most of us racers who have been here before, think of that last chase before Homestead in the Fall. It's going to be a different vibe here, running at the beginning of the schedule. I can't wait, I think it will be really exciting racing with fresh drivers. We're all looking to put Daytona in the rearview and hit a strong finish this week. Statistically, this is my best race track in the Truck Series."

ON BEING IN CONTROL:
"It's always good to go to a racetrack and feel like you're in control. It was so hard to do that at Daytona, just because there are so many elements to the racing there that you can't control around you. At Phoenix, I can control most of my environment, which means I'm that much more of a competitor. From the moment my helmet is on, it's 'game on' in my head. It's less about the people around you, more about your own skills and handling on the racetrack. That's the kind of racing I grew up on, and it's what I like best."

ON THE CHASSIS CHANGE:
"We are using chassis 11, one of the original chassis in my No. 13 fleet. The No. 30 chassis is now the backup. 11 is a tried and true chassis that we used in Martinsville last year, but it got a good stripping and refresh. The guys at the shop in Sandusky put a ton of time and effort into it, and I really appreciate all that they are doing for me right now. I can't say that enough. With the ECR horsepower we have this year, I'm hoping it will be super strong at PIR."

THE CREW BOND:
"This business is all about people. I say that a lot to my guys, and I don't say it enough outside the shop. We have a saying, 'If you don't believe, you don't belong.' I know that Joe (Shear, Jr - crew chief) always has my back and believes in every truck. My guys are the same - I believe in them and what we're trying to do this year. Joe and I have been around each other since we were young - our dads were rivals and raced against each other in Wisconsin, and we saw that competition each week. That has built a lot of respect between the two of us, and it really does filter down to the guys in the shop and the guys who go over the wall. This year, we believe. And I definitely believe we can get a win together."

02-20-11

Johnny Sauter No. 13 SafeAuto/Curb Records Chevrolet Recap: Daytona

The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series 2011 season began with a Derby-style demolition as three multi-truck accidents (and one red flag) took their toll on the 36-truck field at the NextEra Energy Resources 250. 2010's third place points finisher Johnny Sauter of ThorSport Racing was caught up in a multi-truck incident on lap 75, causing extensive damage to his No. 13 Safe Auto/Curb Records Chevrolet Silverado - but ever the wheelman, he was able to rally his truck back in the top 20 at the checkers.

The ThorSport Racing team was able to patch up the No. 13 sufficiently to allow Sauter to finish the season opening race seventeenth behind winner Michael Waltrip. He ran as high as sixth during the race. Following strong speeds while drafting in the two practice sessions, Sauter qualified the Safe Auto/Curb Records Chevrolet ninth-fastest on Thursday evening with a lap of 51.071 seconds at 176.225mph.

Electing to run a cautious and conservative Daytona from the beginning of the race, Sauter and crew chief Joe Shear, Jr decided to take the Safe Auto/Curb Records Chevrolet to the back of the field within just a few laps. The strategy paid off early on, as the first yellow flag of six flew on lap 37. Pitting for four tires and fuel, Sauter radioed to the crew about track position in the back of the pack. "This track has way too much grip," he said, noting that he'd need to pair up with a nearby team or his teammate, Matt Crafton, in the No. 88 Menards Chevrolet, to draft earlier than expected.

Over the course of two major pit stops, one at the second race caution at lap 53 and another at lap 65's third caution, the Safe Auto/Curb Records pit crew showed their offseason changes paid off - sending the No. 13 truck and Sauter back out to the field an average of three positions higher each stop. An early agreement on the pit boxes between the 13, 88 and 51 trucks (Aric Almirola of Team Vision Aviation), along with the 18 of Kyle Busch, ensured that all four trucks would draft back to the front together mid- to late-race.

The plan worked from laps 58 to 64, then again after the caution at lap 65 until the first major "big one" involved 14 trucks, to include the Safe Auto/Curb Records Chevrolet. Sauter brought the truck in for repairs, and the crew was challenged with a badly damaged nose and splitter. Also working on toe damage, the team changed right tires while barebonding the nose - unfortunately going two laps down in the process due to the extensive damage.

Sauter restarted 24th, hoping to salvage a decent finish, when a heavy crash happened at lap 84. Sauter noted to the crew that he "had to lift hard coming off the corner because the toe was so bad - completely in." He wheeled back to the pit stall for the crew to make quick fixes, then restarted with the field to try to gain back lap position.

Just as the field came by the start/finish line with four laps to go, the third huge crash happened in front of Sauter's Safe Auto/Curb Records No. 13. The race was red flagged while track crews cleaned up the mess from the nine-truck pile-up that severely damaged several contending trucks. Sauter was able to navigate the debris and spinning trucks to gain position to 17th, where he finished the race at the checkers.

"It's like I told my guys - this is one race out of 25. We've got to pick up, dust off, and get going to Phoenix. That's the way Daytona is - there is a lot of 'who is left standing' at the end of the race, and we were at least left standing in the top 20. Many of the major contenders this year didn't even get to finish due to all the wrecks. We made the executive decision to stay to the back at the beginning, knowing we could race hard and draft hard with the 88, 51, 18 and others the last 20 laps for a strong finish. It worked for a little while, but I'm disappointed that the Safe Auto/ Curb Records Chevrolet couldn't get higher on the boards due to the damage we got in the first big wreck."

"The guys on the crew worked their hearts out in the offseason on our trucks, and I've got to thank my guys. They are making it work on the pitting, even with a backup gasman this weekend due to our primary gasman needing unexpected back surgery in a week. They rallied. That's dedication and communication by my guys, and I'm looking forward to using that advantage in more races this year to get us back in Victory Lane."

"We did have a bad fast truck, the setup was great, and I was glad to wheel it home for Safe Auto on their first race; and also to Curb Records for their third anniversary with the No. 13 and ThorSport Racing. Considering all the accidents that took out so many others, we'll take 17th, but this isn't an indicator of our year. Expect us to run hard with this truck come Talladega in the fall and use more strategy to get to the top of the field. At this point, we're already mentally in Phoenix. We've worked too hard to be a championship team this year. We'll dig and get back into the points race, it's still early."

Sauter and the ThorSport Racing No. 13 Safe Auto/Curb Records team will head west to Phoenix for a Friday night showdown in the Lucas Oil 150.

02-15-11

Johnny Sauter No. 13 SafeAuto/Curb Records Chevrolet Preview: Daytona

Johnny Sauter returns to ThorSport Racing in 2011 for his third season as driver of the No. 13 SafeAuto/Curb Records Chevrolet. Sauter's performance in 2010 gave him a "go hard or go home" reputation in the Series - due to one win (Kansas), 13 top-five finishes and 2 top-ten finishes en route to third in the final championship standings. In 2011, his goal is simple - WIN, and win consistently.

A championship contender in 2011, along with teammate and fellow contender Matt Crafton - Sauter and his newly-sponsored No. 13 SafeAuto/Curb Records Chevrolet can reach Victory Lane as often as they are capable of this year. A new pit crew, new ECR engines for more horsepower, and a new scarlet and gray paintout (thanks to SafeAuto's Columbus, Ohio roots with Ohio State Buckeye fever) will help the cause.
ON DAYTONA:

"It's the beginning of the season, which is a new start for the 13 here at Daytona. That's a definite positive. Everyone at ThorSport Racing takes this track very seriously. We've watched the repave process pretty closely and how the tests have gone during the offseason. It's time to really play it to the finish and stay clean for 100 laps. Joe and I have a strategy here that will keep us conservative but competitive all the same. This track is fast - as my sponsor, Safe Auto, says - BAD FAST - and that's my kind of track. I'm focused this year on winning races as much as possible. We have done all the preparations in the shop to make that come true."

ON THE BEGINNINGS OF 2011:
"Daytona is a privilege to race every year, and it is definitely the 'big one' that has the highest excitement level associated with it. To win would be a dream come true. But mentally, I'm already preparing for the whole schedule...in my head, I'm already in Phoenix. That's just Daytona for me - I want to finish strong and start my year right, and then let's plug through to Phoenix and Darlington. My comfort zone is in the intermediate and short tracks, so it's in the crosshairs while I'm at Daytona and gives me a goal. The 13 is going to win races this year. I've said it before to my team. I'm going to do my best to make that happen."

ON A NEW CO-PRIMARY SPONSOR:
"Safe Auto is awesome. It's rare to get a sponsor who really values you for your uniqueness and individuality, and that's exactly what they said when they met me. I'm really excited to add them to the 13 team. I'm also really grateful to continue the longstanding relationship I have with Curb Records, who has supported me from the beginning. This is going to be our year at ThorSport Racing - new team, additional sponsors, new horsepower. Look for us to have that mix of consistency and firepower at the race finishes."

MORE 'GIFTS' IN 2011:
"My wife Cortney will give birth to our second child the day after Martinsville (through a scheduled C-section), so life has more perspective this year. It takes a little pressure off, knowing that I won't need a driver for that famed 'baby watch' that Cup has. I'll have a daughter now, and that's scary and amazing at the same time. It definitely makes the beginning of the season a little more hectic, but I know I've got the best support staff I could ever ask for in my wife and son. We are so truly blessed."

Johnny Sauter at Daytona: Johnny has raced at Daytona in all three of NASCAR's top divisions, the Sprint Cup Series, the Nationwide Series, and the Camping World Truck Series. In the NCWTS he has two starts, both with ThorSport Racing. The first coming in 2009, in which he finished 27th after starting ninth. He was eliminated in an early accident after completing 47 of the race's 100 laps. He was at the front of the field for three laps before the accident. The second start came in 2010, where he qualified 10th. He was eliminated in an additional accident on lap one.

Sauter's Daytona Truck: Johnny will pilot ThorSport Racing Chassis No. 25. It's the truck Sauter used in competition at Daytona and Talladega in 2010. Sauter was caught up in an early crash at Daytona, resulting in a 35th-place finish. At Talladega, Sauter qualified eighth and finished third.

ThorSport Racing No. 13 Curb Records Chevrolet Pit Crew:
Crew chief: Joe Shear, Jr.
Rear tire changer: Anthony Wasson
Truck chief: Danny Lemasters
Rear tire carrier: Kevin Gravitte
Front tire changer: Steve Serydynski
Gasman: Danny Lemasters
Front tire carrier: Tom Fleming
Spotter: David Pepper
Jackman: Cody Slater
Transport driver: Danny Bolton

Race: The 2011 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series kicks off with the NextEra Energy Resources 250 at Daytona International Speedway on Friday February 18th. The first practice is a 3 hour + 20 minute session scheduled for 4:40 P.M. on Wednesday February 16th, with the final 50-minute session slated for Thursday February 17th at 12:10PM. The 36-truck starting field will be determined in two-lap qualifying runs at 6:05 P.M. on Thursday evening. The tweltfh annual NextEra Energy Resources 250 will go green shortly after 8 P.M. on Friday night; it can be seen live on SPEED and heard live on select affiliates of the Motor Racing Network and on Sirius NASCAR Radio Channel 128.

02-03-11

Sauter’s Rollercoaster Day at Homestead Ends in Third Place

Ask Johnny Sauter what his goals are in 2011 and you’ll get a very simple answer.

To win.

If Sauter and his newly-sponsored No. 13 Safe Auto/Curb Records Chevrolet can reach victory lane as often as Sauter thinks they are capable of, being in position to fight for the championship in the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway is all but assured.

“I know what this team is capable of, and I really think we should win four or five races in 2011,” Sauter said. “If we do that, then we’re going to go to Homestead with a chance to win the championship. There’s no doubt in my mind that we had the truck to win at least that many races last season. We had some problems on pit road, and we’ve addressed that over the off-season. We’ve brought in some new guys and we’ve worked hard practicing every day. We’ve also built some new trucks and we’ve updated the ones we had that ran so well the past two years.”

Sauter reached victory lane once in each of his first two full-time seasons driving for ThorSport Racing in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, winning at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2009 and following it up at Kansas Speedway in 2010. While acknowledging that winning even once in the NCWTS is extremely difficult, Sauter makes no bones about his belief he and his team should win multiple times in 2011.

“There’s no question about it, winning once at this level is an extremely difficult thing to do,” Sauter said. “So on one hand we’re really proud to accomplish winning in each of the last two seasons. But once you win, you know you can do it and you want more. It’s a hunger that feeds off of itself.”

“SafeAuto Insurance Company is pleased to continue its association with the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series”, company president Jon Diamond said. “We are especially happy to have someone the caliber of Johnny Sauter at the wheel of our truck. Johnny Sauter is bad fast, just like our www.safeauto.com web site quoting system.” Diamond joked.

“Johnny Sauter is a proven winner and certainly has to be considered a favorite to win the series championship and we are proud to be the naming partner of his racing team.”

Not that he needs it, but Sauter has some added motivation to win with new co-primary sponsor Safe Auto on board.

“It’s exciting to have Safe Auto with us this season,” Sauter said. “We’ve spent a lot of time with them the past couple of months, and they’ve asked if having them on the truck will put any more pressure on us to perform. I told them that it’s impossible to put any more pressure on us that Joe Shear and I do right now. We obviously can’t promise them we’re going to win the championship or anything like that, but I did promise them that there isn’t a team out there that wants it any more or is going to work any harder to get it that ThorSport Racing.”

SafeAuto Insurance Company is an industry leader in providing drivers state minimum auto insurance coverage in 15 states.

11-21-10

Sauter’s Rollercoaster Day at Homestead Ends in Third Place

Johnny Sauter had a tumultuous evening in the Ford 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Friday, but skillful driving in traffic and a never-give-up attitude from the driver resulted in a third-place finish for the No. 13 FarmPaint.com/Curb Records Chevrolet. It was Sauter’s tenth top-three finish of the season and his fourth consecutive.

Sauter started third and led 14 laps early on before pitting under the first caution. Although he had difficulty on pit road on each of his first two stops, dropping him deep into the field, a perfectly handling truck allowed him to knife his way through the field and back towards the front. A scrape with Kyle Busch and the turn two wall with 34 laps to go resulted in some slight damage to the right front fender and suspension, but Sauter was still able to run laps as fast, or faster, than the top two as the laps wound down.

“It’s frustrating to have problems on pit road, but we had a great truck and we got back to the front,” Sauter said. “We were absolutely killing them getting into the corners all night long. I was really apprehensive going into the race because I had no idea what the racetrack was going to do. It did one thing in practice (on Thursday night) and another thing in practice this morning. We were a little loose, then we were a little tight so I told Joe (Shear, crew chief) to split the difference and it worked.”

Sauter dropped back to tenth after his second pit stop due to a lugnut falling off on the left front, costing him several seconds and seven positions. But once the race restarted Sauter quickly regained several of those lost positions and found himself battling for position with Busch. Coming off turn two, Busch clipped the wall and bounced into Sauter which then sent Sauter sliding into the wall himself. The contact damaged the right front fender and knocked the toe-in out. From there, Sauter fought a tight condition for the remainder of the race which hampered his chances to battle for the win at the end.

“We got up into the fence and it hurt the truck a little for the end,” Sauter said. “I really think we had the truck to beat here tonight. Even after the trouble we had on pit road I thought we could still get up there and win but the driver got a little overzealous there and we got up into Kyle and it knocked the splitter off it and knocked the toe-in out. After that we were just way too tight. But I think it says a lot about our team that our trucks are the fastest out there week in and week out. I am so proud of everyone at ThorSport Racing and appreciate all of the effort they put in to get us up front every week. We have some things we need to work on for next year – just like every other team out there – but the way we closed the season out I don’t see any reason why we can’t start off next year just as strong and go after the championship.”

Sauter finished the 2010 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season third in the championship standings, 261 points behind champion Todd Bodine and 54 points behind second-place Aric Almirola. Sauter scored one win (Kansas), 14 top-five finishes, including five second-place finishes, and 16 top-ten finishes.

Sauter, along with the top five drivers in the NCWTS championship standings, will be honored for their performance throughout the season at the series awards banquet at the Loews Miami Beach Hotel on Monday November 22. After a three month hiatus, the series returns to action in the 2011 season opener, the NextEra Energy Resources 250 at Daytona International Speedway on Friday February 11.

11-16-10

Johnny Sauter No. 13 FarmPaint.com/Curb Records Chevrolet Preview: Ford 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway

Johnny Sauter heads to Homestead-Miami on the verge of a career-best points finish, but points are the farthest thing on his mind. Sauter has one thing and one thing only is his sights as the season finale approaches: collecting his second victory of the 2010 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season. Sauter has put up impressive numbers throughout the year – one win at Kansas Speedway, 13 top-five finishes, and 15 top-ten finishes in the 24 races to this point – and he sits third in the championship standings with one race yet to run. And although he’s mathematically able to take over the second position from Aric Almirola, his singular objective is to put the No. 13 FarmPaint.com/Curb Records Chevrolet in victory lane on Friday night.

You haven’t talked much about the points, even as the year has come to a close; are you ready to points race at Homestead or do you keep your focus only on the checkered flag? “I think I have a very realistic approach to points overall. I think if you’re out there doing what you should be doing to win races, the points will take care of themselves. We can’t look at Homestead as a one-race shot to get into second. We need to look at it as a chance to go and win a race, and if we do that we get the most points possible. And if we do that, maybe it will be enough to get up into second when it’s all said and done.”

The box NASCAR allows you to work within gets tighter every year, but your crew chief Joe Shear is among the most innovative in the series; what have you worked on to win at Homestead? “We are constantly searching, whether it’s geometry or shocks or whatever. That’s why I would take Joe Shear over anyone else in the garage, anywhere, anytime. I know what his expectations are, and they’re very similar to mine. We’re here to win and to run the very best we possibly can.”

If someone told you that in 2011 you’d win one race, have 15 top-five finishes and be third in the points, would you take it? “I think if you look at our stats you’d be crazy if you said we didn’t have a successful season. Before I drove the 13 truck, it had something like four top ten finishes total, and now we’re ending the season with a win and a ton of top fives and a top five in the points. If someone said we’d have the same thing next year, I think I’d take it – but I’d want to have a few more wins. But really we’d like a lot of wins and a championship.”

Undoubtedly the entire ThorSport Racing organization has been on a hot streak over the final half of the season; how do you carry that momentum over into next season? “That’s one thing I know I don’t really have to worry about. I have a great group of guys working on the 13 truck and they’re all young and hungry and motivated to do well. They’ve had a taste of success and they want more. They already have their off season projects lined up to work on making our stuff even better. I really expect to come to Daytona next February and pick up right where we left off at the end of this season, running up front and being a contender to win every week.”

Johnny at Homestead: Johnny has three previous NCWTS starts at Homestead-Miami Speedway dating back to 2003. He made his first-ever start with ThorSport Racing in the 2005 Homestead race when he qualified 28th and finished 20th. Last year he started and finished ninth. His average start is 22.7 and his average finish is 20.7.

Sauter Season Stats: Despite not completing a single lap in the season opener at Daytona after being swept up in a crash not of his making, Johnny Sauter has completed 3,649 of a possible 3,750 competition laps in 2010 (97.1%). Sauter has been on the lead lap of every race since Daytona except one; he finished one lap down at Nashville in April. All told, Sauter has one win (Kansas), 13 top-5 finishes, and 15 top-ten finishes. His average starting position is 6.6 and his average finishing position is 8.3. He’s led 206 laps in five races entering Homestead.

Johnny’s Homestead Truck: Johnny will drive ThorSport Racing Chassis No. 23 at Homestead-Miami Speedway; No. 23 is Johnny’s favorite truck in the stable and he’s driven it at the majority of intermediate speedway races in his tenure with the team. He has two wins in No. 23, at Las Vegas in Sept. 2009 and at Kansas in April 2010.

11-12-10

Sauter Steams to Third in Phoenix

Johnny Sauter raced the No. 13 FarmPaint.com/Curb Records Chevrolet to a third-place finish in Friday night’s Lucas Oil 150 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Phoenix International Raceway. Sauter never dropped outside the top ten en route to his 13th top-five finish of the 2010 season.

“The 2 and the 18 (race winner Clint Bowyer and runner-up Kyle Busch) were the class of the field here tonight, but I am really proud of the way this truck ran here,” Sauter said. “We lost the truck we wanted to run here in a wreck at Martinsville and the guys did a great job getting this one ready. I’d have liked to have had one more restart to see if we could have gotten up there with those guys but we didn’t get it. It would have been nice to try to make a run at it but we’ll take third place and another top five. We’re going to Homestead and planning on closing that gap on the 2 and the 18 and getting another win.”

In what was an uneventful night from the driver’s seat, Sauter highlighted the efforts of not only his team but the entire ThorSport Racing organization, which put both its trucks in the top five for the sixth time overall and the third consecutive time this season.

“Consistency is the key,” Sauter said. “We’ve been second or third eight times this season, which on one hand is really great but on the other hand it’s pretty frustrating. We’re proud to be contenders, but we want to be winning. But if we’re up there that close, we’re bound to get our share. The guys do a great job. We were really good on long runs. We’re building momentum so hopefully we’ll continue to do that heading into next season. We have a great product on the track and we showed it with both of our trucks in the top five here tonight.”

Sauter stands third in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship standings, 64 points behind second-place Aric Almirola and 109 points ahead of Crafton in fourth.

Next up for Sauter and the No. 13 FarmPaint.com/Curb Records Chevrolet is the Ford 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Friday November 19. The final event of the 2010 season is set for 8 P.M. Eastern and will be televised live on SPEED; the race can also be heard live on select affiliates of the MRN Radio network nationwide and on Sirius NASCAR Radio Channel 128.

11-09-10

Johnny Sauter No. 13 FarmPaint.com/Curb Records Chevrolet Preview: Lucas Oil 150 at Phoenix

Coming off his fifth second-place finish of the 2010 season, Johnny Sauter heads to Phoenix in a relaxed frame of mind. Not that his intensity to win is any less, but there is a general sense of peace and comfort Sauter finds at the base of the Sierra Estrella mountains and in the entire Phoenix area that makes this trip a highlight of the season for the Necedah, Wis. native.

What is it about Phoenix that you like so much? “I just like the entire area. The track is right there at the base of the mountains and it’s an awesome atmosphere there with all the race fans camped out for what seems like miles and miles. And the entire Phoenix area is just really cool. It just puts me in the right frame of mind. I’m relaxed, I’m having fun. There’s a lot to do and a lot to see out there and it’s always one of the trips I look forward to all season long.”

Does your short track experience help you at a place like Phoenix? “Phoenix is a neat place because you do have that short track style of racing. You have some beating and banging like you might see at the short tracks. I was fortunate in my career to have a chance to race at places like Milwaukee and Gateway before ever going on to race in NASCAR. Turn one and two at Phoenix reminds me a lot of turns one and two at Gateway. Turns three and four remind me a lot of Milwaukee. It’s a unique track but I’ve always seemed to have a lot of success there and that’s part of the reason I always look forward to going there.”

What makes you so good at Phoenix? “Without giving away any secrets, I think it’s a mix of some of that previous experience at some of the other tracks and some driving techniques. I think I do some things a little different than some of the other guys going into turns one and two. It’s really important to have a good handling vehicle at Phoenix and the setup that Joe Shear and the guys are bringing for us this weekend is a little different than what we’ve tried in the past. You don’t want to be off, but even if you are off just a little, Phoenix is a place where the driver can maybe do some things to compensate.”

FarmPaint.com back on at Phoenix: Johnny Sauter will be carrying the FarmPaint.com logos this weekend at Phoenix. FarmPaint.com supplies the agricultural industry's finest coating products at the most competitive prices. FarmPaint.com's product list includes: Barn and fence paint, including Liquid Fence rubberized fence coatings; EquiClear arena dust control; ThorTurf equestrian surfaces; reflective roof coatings; foundation coatings; asphalt driveway and concrete coatings, and much, much more.

FarmPaint.com products are available online at www.farmpaint.com, by calling 877-441-3276, or by visiting the FarmPaint.com store at 700 Phillips Lane, Lexington, Kentucky, 40504.

Sauter at Phoenix: In his first career NCWTS attempt at PIR last season, Johnny qualified on the pole and led eleven laps en route to a fifth-place finish. Johnny also has two top-ten finishes in the Nationwide Series (seventh, 2002 and ninth, 2003) and two top-ten finishes in the Sprint Cup Series (ninth, April 2005 and April 2008). Johnny’s father Jim Sauter qualified fifth for the inaugural Sprint Cup Series race at PIR in November, 1988; he eventually finished 32nd after being sidelined early due to engine difficulties.

Sauter’s Phoenix Truck: Sauter will drive ThorSport Racing Chassis No. 30 this week at Phoenix. He drove this truck at Dover and Bristol earlier this season.

11-06-10

Sauter Recovers to Finish Second at Texas

After dropping from the lead after running low on fuel during a long green flag run, Johnny Sauter recovered to finish a determined second in the WinStar World Casino 350 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Texas Motor Speedway on Friday night.

Sauter led from lap 61 through lap 91, passing Kyle Busch on the racetrack to take over the top spot. Sauter stretched out the advantage but suddenly slowed through turns one and two when the fuel cell ran dry. He coasted over a mile without power back to pit road, losing precious ground to the leaders still running at 180 miles per hour around the 1.5-mile tri-oval. Quick service on pit road got the No. 13 FarmPaint.com/Curb Records Chevrolet back on track and the field quickly cycled through a round of green flag stops. When everyone had come down pit road for service Sauter was fourth, directly behind ThorSport Racing teammate Matt Crafton, but nearly 10 seconds behind leader Todd Bodine.

A caution for a spin in turn two by Lance Fenton on lap 122 was exactly what Sauter needed. He lined up inside row two on the restart and quickly tucked in behind Kyle Busch and looked to have a truck that could again challenge for the lead. But Busch caught a few breaks in traffic and slowly stretched out his advantage to 0.386 seconds at the finish. It’s the second consecutive second-place finish at Texas Motor Speedway for Sauter, who also finished runner-up to Todd Bodine at TMS in June. Overall, it was Sauter’s 12th top-five finish and 14th top-ten result of the season.

“We just ran out of fuel,” Sauter said. “The upside of it is we had the dominant truck here tonight. We passed Busch on the track for the lead and we held them all off. We needed a caution to get the track position we lost after that stop and I couldn’t believe we got it. We had a shot at the end but it’s still frustrating. I’m really proud of everyone at ThorSport Racing for the effort they’re putting in, but I’m disappointed for everyone at FarmPaint.com and Curb Records and for Duke and Rhonda Thorson that we didn’t get them a win here tonight.”

Sauter remains third in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship standings, now 74 points behind second-place Aric Almirola with two races yet to run in the 2010 season. He has a 104-point advantage over Crafton in fourth.

Next up for Johnny Sauter and the No. 13 FarmPaint.com/Curb Records Chevrolet is the Lucas Oil 150 at Phoenix International Raceway on Friday November 12. The race will be shown live on SPEED starting with a 30-minute pre-race show at 7:30 P.M. Eastern. The race can also be heard live on select affiliates of the MRN Radio network nationwide and on Sirius NASCAR Radio Channel 128.

11-03-10

Johnny Sauter No. 13 FarmPaint.com/Curb Records Chevrolet Preview: Texas Motor Speedway

Johnny Sauter heads to the Lone Star state coming off an impressive weekend at Talladega Superspeedway. Sauter and his ThorSport Racing team had a strategy – to run with drivers Sauter trusted and to stay out of trouble before charging to the front late in the race – and they stuck to it. Sauter masterfully weaved through traffic late in the race and drafted to the third position on the final lap before swinging to the high side in a three-wide battle to the finish line. Sauter ended up third but was just 29 one-thousandths of a second away from victory. This weekend at Texas will provide similar speed but an entirely different strategy: Sauter wants to start up front, lead as many laps as possible, and drive the No. 13 FarmPaint.com/Curb Records Chevrolet into victory lane.

Last week you took it easy until the end and then drove to the front; is it safe to say you won’t use that same strategy this week? “The obvious goal this week is to go there and run up front all night long. Unlike Talladega you really have to work hard to get track position at a place like Texas so we don’t want to do anything to give it up. Last week was really an anomaly and the goal there is to just wait around and stay out of trouble. This week it’s all about being up front.”

You seem to have found the consistency that you and Joe Shear, Jr. expected from the start of the season; is it frustrating to have had to wait until the second half of the season to find it? “Yes and no. The big thing is now Joe and I have been to all these tracks together with a truck. Since he joined the team in the middle of last season, there were still some tracks that we hadn’t been to so there was still a learning curve. So it was a little hit or miss in the first part of the season but we were still adding to our notebook. Some of the issues we had were a little out of our hands too. But let’s face it, you learn more about what not to do that what to do in racing, and that’s part of what we were doing. Now I think we’ve really figured out the basic setups we need and we can go to the track and just work on honing them week in and week out.”

You were just one second away from victory in June; can you beat Todd Bodine this weekend? “The best thing for us is we’ve been able to bring back this truck, No. 23, in one piece time and time again and we’ve been able to keep massaging on it to make it better. Right now it’s better than it’s ever been. But Todd has had a lot of luck this year and he’s really good at Texas. We need to go down and be competitive off the truck, have good pit stops on pit road and make our own luck like he has this season.”

Johnny at Texas: Johnny has four previous NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts at Texas Motor Speedway and he’s finished eleventh or better in all of them. In three races there with ThorSport Racing he’s collected a pair of sixth-place finishes (both races in 2009) and a second place (June, 2010). He has earned one pole position (June 2009) with an average start of 12.2. His average finish is 6.2. He’s completed all 650 possible competition laps and led 42 laps is June 2009. In seven career Nationwide Series starts his best finish was tenth in November 2005. He also has four career Sprint Cup Series starts at TMS with a best finish of 22nd in April 2007.

Johnny’s Texas Truck: Johnny will drive ThorSport Racing Chassis No. 23 at Texas this weekend. No. 23 is Sauter’s favorite truck and has won two races (Las Vegas 2009, Kansas 2010) and carried him to eight top-five finishes over the past two seasons (Chicagoland and Las Vegas 2009; Kansas, Texas, Nashville, Chicagoland, Kentucky, and Las Vegas 2010).

FarmPaint.com back on board at Texas: Johnny Sauter will be carrying the FarmPaint.com logos this weekend at Texas. FarmPaint.com supplies the agricultural industry's finest coating products at the most competitive prices. FarmPaint.com's product list includes: Barn and fence paint, including Liquid Fence rubberized fence coatings; EquiClear arena dust control; ThorTurf equestrian surfaces; reflective roof coatings; foundation coatings; asphalt driveway and concrete coatings, and much, much more.

FarmPaint.com products are available online at www.farmpaint.com, by calling 877-441-3276, or by visiting the FarmPaint.com store at 700 Phillips Lane, Lexington, Kentucky, 40504.

10-30-10

Sauter Storms to Third in Talladega

After spending much of the first two-thirds of the Mountain Dew 250 lounging around at the back of the lead draft, Johnny Sauter charged towards the front with ten laps to go and figured in a three-wide battle for the win, crossing the stripe side-by-side with winner Kyle Busch and second-place Aric Almirola. Although in third at the end, Sauter was just 29-one thousandths of a second behind Busch at the stripe.

“What an awesome day for ThorSport Racing,” Sauter said after climbing from the No. 13 FarmPaint.com/Curb Records Chevrolet. “We talked about dropping to the back before the race and we decided it would probably be best to start back there so we dropped out of line before the start and just hung out back there. When it was time to go we got hooked up with the 51 (Almirola) and we went right to the front. We learned yesterday in practice that we could really run to the front with him behind us. We’d have never made it back up there without getting hooked up with him. I saw Busch rub against him through the tri-oval and it broke their momentum and I dove to the outside. We had so much momentum with Matt (Crafton) on our bumper, if the race was 100 yards longer we’d be celebrating a ThorSport 1-2 finish. Considering what usually happens at these races we’re ecstatic coming out of here third and fourth.”

Sauter made some aggressive moves over the final third of the race, including diving into a hole that was about six inches longer than the length of his truck.

“When you’re at the end of these races you have to get aggressive. The give and take that you do in the first 80 laps is out the window and it’s about taking whatever you can get,” Sauter said. “Almirola pushed us to the front and he did what he had to do to get hooked up with the guy he said he’d work with so he hung us out to dry. If I didn’t go with him we’d have been shuffled back to the end of the line and our day would have been done.”

Sauter heaped praise on the ThorSport Racing team and his crew chief Joe Shear for spending much of the four-week break between the Las Vegas and Martinsville races working on the Talladega truck.

“This truck was just as good as we thought it would be,” Sauter said. “It blew the best numbers of any ThorSport Racing truck ever in the wind tunnel. We knew we had a great engine. Joe and the guys did an incredible job with this truck. The only real worry we had were the things that were out of our control. We did our best to stay out of harm’s way until the end and we knew if we did that we’d have a great shot to win it at the end.”

Sauter remains third in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship standings, 98 points behind Almirola in second. He leads his ThorSport Racing teammate Matt Crafton, who moved up to fourth, by 94 points.

Next up for Sauter and the No. 13 FarmPaint.com/Curb Records Chevrolet is the Winstar World Casino 350 at Texas Motor Speedway on Friday November 5. The race will be televised live on SPEED starting with a 30-minute pre-race show at 8:30 P.M. Eastern. The race can also be heard live on select affiliates of the MRN Radio network nationwide and on Sirius NASCAR Radio Channel 128.

10-28-10

Johnny Sauter No. 13 FarmPaint.com/Curb Records Chevrolet Preview: Mountain Dew 250 at Talladega

Johnny Sauter is set for his first crack at “restrictor plate” racing this season. The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series started its season at Daytona International Speedway in February, and Sauter was in the field, but contact from another competitor on the opening lap sent Sauter into the outside wall and left him on the sidelines for the entirety of the event. Sauter was able to recover from the poor start to his season to win a race and sit third in the series standings, but there’s still something that bothers him about not being able to truly compete in that race at Daytona: he thought he had a truck that could run up front, lead laps, and win that race. The ThorSport Racing team spent much of the four weeks between the Las Vegas race and the Martinsville race massaging on Sauter’s Talladega truck, and he’s headed to Alabama with the same confidence he had when he walked through the gates at Daytona in February.

The rest of the field had a chance to race at Daytona in February; you were there but were taken out on the first lap. Does that change the way you will race this weekend? “I think we definitely will be in the back of our minds, otherwise it just shows we haven’t learned anything. I think the big thing that it taught us is who we can race. There are definitely some guys we know we can trust out there and there are a few out there that have proven to us that we can’t trust them. We’re going to do our best to stay with the guys we can trust and stay as far away from the guys we can’t.”

Is there any anxiety to getting back on a “plate” track or are you looking forward to it? “I’ll race a restrictor-plate race every chance I get, whether it’s a Cup car, a Nationwide car or a truck. I have a great time doing it and I think I know what I am doing out there. But the thing is you can’t go into it with any expectations at all. If you go in expecting to have a good run chances are you’re going to leave disappointed and frustrated. The best thing to do is leave your expectations behind you. So much of what happens is out of your hands, both the good and the bad, so check those expectations at the gate and let the race play out. If you’re in a position to get a good finish with a lap or two to go you still could have something happen. Or you could be 15th with two to go and end up in the top five. You just have to let the race play out.”

How difficult is it to put together a game plan with your teammate Matt Crafton and actually stick to it throughout the race? “I think Matt and I are going to do everything we can to stick together all day long. I’ve even thought about both of us dropping out of line and getting to the back of the field on the pace laps and just riding around the back all day long until ten or so to go. My plan is to go wherever he goes and do whatever he does. He has a pretty good track record of getting to the finish at the plate races and we really need to get to the end too. I’ll do whatever I have to do to get both of these ThorSport Racing trucks to the front. As long as one of us wins and the other is second. I don’t even care which one of us wins as long as one of us does.”

How big of a deal was Halloween in your family growing up? “It was a huge deal for us. Imagine being one of our neighbors and having this huge crowd of kids walking up to the door and thinking it’s a big group of friends and then realizing they are all from the same family! There were eleven of us so that pile of candy afterwards was always huge. I was kind of picky when it came to the candy that I wanted so we’d always be making deals between each other to trade the things we didn’t like for the things we did.”

FarmPaint.com back on board at Talladega: Johnny Sauter will be carrying the FarmPaint.com logos this weekend, but the colors will be much different than the last time the company was on board at Kentucky. Gone will be the predominantly white-and-black colors, replaced this weekend by a distinctive orange-and-black scheme. The colors serve two purposes, first it’s the team’s way of wishing the fans in the stands and watching live on SPEED a happy Halloween. Second, the neon orange will give the team’s spotter David Pepper a much better chance of seeing the truck clearly all the way around the mammoth 2.66-mile tri-oval.

FarmPaint.com supplies the agricultural industry's finest coating products at the most competitive prices. FarmPaint.com's product list includes: Barn and fence paint, including Liquid Fence rubberized fence coatings; EquiClear arena dust control; ThorTurf equestrian surfaces; reflective roof coatings; foundation coatings; asphalt driveway and concrete coatings, and much, much more.

FarmPaint.com products are available online at www.farmpaint.com, by calling 877-441-3276, or by visiting the FarmPaint.com store at 700 Phillips Lane, Lexington, Kentucky, 40504.

Sauter at Talladega: Johnny has driven in all three NASCAR national touring series at Talladega. His first NCWTS start last season resulted in a 14th-place finish after starting 17th. He has six Nationwide Series starts, with his best finish, eighth, in April 2006. He also started from the pole in his first career start at Talladega in April 2002. In five career Sprint Cup Series starts, Sauter has earned three top-20 finishes with a best of 12th in October 2007. He was running in the lead pack earlier this season before a tap from behind by Kyle Busch sent him crashing and relegating him to a 41st-place finish.

Sauter’s Talladega Truck: Johnny will drive ThorSport Racing Chassis No. 25 this weekend at Talladega Superspeedway. The truck Sauter drove at Daytona earlier this season, Chassis No. 16, was destroyed in the opening-lap crash. This weekend will be the first time Sauter has driven Chassis No. 25.

10-24-10

Long Day Results in 21st-place for Sauter at Martinsville

The first three quarters of the Kroger 200 played into Johnny Sauter’s hands and he was well positioned to close the deal with a solid finish, but involvement in two on-track incidents throughout the final quarter left the No. 13 SealMaster/Curb Records Chevrolet – and it’s driver – steaming following the race.

Sauter stayed on the track to pick up the lead when many of the leaders came to pit road on lap 42. Sauter held the top spot for the next 49 laps before pitting under caution at lap 92. He was able to work his way back towards the front, moving back as high as third before Kyle Busch snuck past to bump him back to fourth before a caution at lap 149. Sauter pitted under that yellow and that’s when his day took a turn for the worse.

Shortly after the restart he was punted into the turn one wall by James Buescher, damaging the left rear of the truck. With repairs made, Sauter was able to scramble back into the top ten, but some loose bodywork forced him back to pit road for more work. Before Sauter could make it on to pit road, Justin Lofton drove up and onto the left rear corner of the truck, damaging it even further. Sauter’s crew was able to get the truck back on the track and he was then able to claim the free pass twice to rejoin the lead lap, allowing him to pick up a couple of positions over the final two-lap dash to the finish.

“We probably had one of the three best trucks here today and we’re leaving here 21st,” Sauter said. “We got up and led some laps and drove away from most of the guys who came in and got new tires. That’s how good we were today. We were a little too tight and that’s why we pitted again. I couldn’t get up there and race for the win the way it was so we gambled on an adjustment and new tires. I think we could have raced back into the top five but we got wrecked. Even after that we raced back into the top ten, but we had some bodywork come off and had to pit to fix it. I knew we had a great truck to come here and we did. Circumstances worked against us. But I know we have four more races left and a truck just as good as this one to go to each of them so we’ll put this behind us and go on to Talladega.”

Sauter stays third in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship standings but dropped to 88 points behind second-place Aric Almirola. He maintains a 78 point advantage over fourth-place Austin Dillon.

Next up for Sauter and the No. 13 FarmPaint.com/Curb Records Chevrolet is the Mountain Dew 250 at Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday October 30. The race will go green shortly after 3 P.M. Eastern and will be televised live on SPEED; the race can also be heard live on select affiliates of the MRN Radio Network nationwide and on Sirius NASCAR Radio Channel 128.

10-20-10

Sauter Returns to ThorSport Racing for 2011 Championship Run

Johnny Sauter and ThorSport Racing will once again team up to run for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship in 2011. Sauter, the 2001 ASA Racing Series champion, winner of three Nationwide Series races, and a two-time NCWTS winner, signed an extension to continue driving the No. 13 Chevrolet last week.

“I am as excited about the final five races of this season as I have ever been,” Sauter continued. “We have our best trucks ready to go and we have some of our best tracks coming up. I think we have a real shot to win every one of them. But as excited as I am for those races, I am even more excited about next year. We didn’t really get off to the best start this year at Daytona so I am already fired up and ready to start 2011 off on the right foot.”

Since joining ThorSport Racing for the 2009 season, Sauter has won two Camping World Truck Series races (Las Vegas, September 2009 and Kansas, April 2010), collected 19 top-five finishes, 26 top-ten finishes, and won two poles. He finished sixth in the 2009 championship standings while winning the series’ Raybestos Rookie of the Year award, and currently sits third in the 2010 championship standings, just 38 points out of second.

“Johnny and Joe Shear have helped turn our No. 13 team into a legitimate contender to win every week and to challenge for the championship so we’re happy to know they are both on board for 2011,” said ThorSport Racing team owner Duke Thorson. “We’ve tried for several years to find the right driver-crew chief combination for that team and once we brought Joe on board we knew we found it.”

“We’re still working on the sponsorship situation for the No. 13 team,” said Matthew LaNeve, Vice President of Motorsports Partnerships for ThorSport Racing. “We’ve had some good conversations with several companies who’ve expressed interest in both Johnny and ThorSport Racing. We are evaluating those potential partners and we are open to out-of-the-box thinking to include a performance-based sponsorship plan. We are looking for a company that will not only benefit from the exposure generated from the truck racing on track, but one that can take advantage of the ThorSport Racing marketing platform. Through our existing business-to-business relationships ThorSport Racing can provide an immediate and real return on investment to a potential partner.”

10-20-10

Johnny Sauter No. 13 SealMaster/Curb Records Chevrolet Silverado Preview: Kroger 200 at Martinsville

Johnny Sauter was well on his way to a top-five finish in the spring race at Martinsville before a bump from behind from Ron Hornaday sent him spinning with just 27 laps to go. Sauter received minimal damage and recovered to finish 16th, but that was little consolation to Sauter and his team at the time. Now, six months removed from the incident, Sauter is focused on one thing – and it’s not retaliation.

Is there any thought in your mind on retaliation from the spring or are you one-hundred percent focused on winning this weekend? “I know everyone else is thinking about it, but to be honest I haven’t put a lot of thought into it. We’re only thinking about going down and winning the race this time. Any time you’re thinking about something like paying someone back like that it’s negative energy and we really don’t want that distracting us from what we’re there to do. But don’t get me wrong, we haven’t forgotten about it. It will probably change the way we race against the 33, but we aren’t thinking about any sort of retaliation.”

You tested at Sandusky last week, is there anything you guys learned that will carry over? “Last year we tested at Sandusky and got the truck pretty good and then went to Martinsville and had to change the entire setup. This year we went with our Martinsville setup and just tried some things we’ve always wanted to try but just never had the time. We ended up getting the truck really good and we were about two tenths faster than we’ve ever gone at Sandusky.”

How does the 200-lap race distance differ strategy-wise from the 250-lap distance we had in the spring? “I know a lot of guys have tried pitting early and then staying out on track the rest of the way and playing the track position game, but I really think you’re going to see some guys pit twice and be up at the front at the end. We were able to race from the back up to second in the spring, and it didn’t take as long as I thought it would have. The double file restarts have really changed how the races at Martinsville play out. If you keep the fenders on it, and that’s a real challenge at Martinsville, you can come from the middle of the pack and race up to the front.”

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10-12-10

Sauter Not Ready to Concede Truck Championship

ThorSport Racing is poised once again to place both of its drivers in the top five of the 2010 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship standings. Johnny Sauter, driver of the team’s No. 13 Curb Records Chevrolet currently sits third in the standings and teammate Matt Crafton is tied for fifth.

With five races to go, including ‘wild-card’ races at Martinsville and Talladega, Sauter isn’t ready to concede the championship just yet.

“When other guys say they had a good points day, I am actually mad,” Sauter said. “We’re here to win. That’s what we want to do each and every time we race. To me, the only good points day is when you win the race and lead the most laps. If we do that, the points will take care of themselves. We have two races coming up where anything can happen. We got caught out at Daytona and Martinsville earlier this season and lost a lot of points. If the same thing happens to Bodine there, suddenly we’re right back in the hunt with three races to go.”

While not focused on racing for points, Sauter sees an opportunity to do something for team owners Duke and Rhonda Thorson that many in the NASCAR community would have thought impossible: put both of the Ohio-based team’s drivers in the top five in the championship standings at the end of the season. Furthermore, Sauter has a chance to match – or even better – Crafton’s second-place finish in the 2009 standings.

“There are a lot of people who think the team being in Ohio automatically disqualifies us from being a legitimate contender,” Sauter said. “That’s not the case. We have a great shop with all the equipment it takes to build fast trucks. We have a great group of guys, some from Ohio and some who have relocated to Ohio from other parts of the country. Duke and Rhonda are committed to winning races and fighting for the championship. We have all the pieces in place; it’s just that we’re 400 miles away from most of the other teams.”

One of the biggest additions to the team has been crew chief Joe Shear, Jr. After joining the team last August, he not only proved that an Ohio-based team can attract top-level talent but gave the team a competitive spark. Once Shear teamed with Sauter for the Chicagoland race, they reeled off five top-five finishes in their first five races together including a win at Las Vegas. Shear’s leadership also helped Sauter improve from 14th in the series standings to sixth at the end of the season. With a win at Kansas already under their belt in 2010, Sauter and Shear have teamed up to again close the season strong; Sauter has eight top-five finishes in the last 11 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races.

“It’s no secret we’re located in Ohio and we see it as an advantage rather than a detriment,” said ThorSport Racing Vice President of Motorsports Partnerships Matthew LaNeve. “Someone once said that seeing ThorSport Racing running for the championship was an anomaly, but this team has been on an upward trajectory for the last five years. Matt has improved each year and finished second in the points in 2009. Johnny coming on to drive the No. 13 truck instantly improved the team and made it a challenger not only for a top-five position at the end of the year but for the championship.”

LaNeve, who spearheaded the team’s sponsorship drive as the 2010 season kicked off, has seen much interest in the team from a marketing and partnership standpoint. He believes the team’s marketing and business model offers prospective partners a strong platform to market their products on the track in a cost-effective manner, doing it with a much smaller investment than other similarly positioned organizations.

“We are actively evaluating potential sponsors for 2011”, said LaNeve, who had previous experience in the NFL, NBA, PBR, and NHRA before joining ThorSport Racing. “Some of my previous experience involved developing some out-of-the-box programs with multiple sponsors and programs. We’ve adapted some of those programs to the NASCAR world and now we’re willing to implement a program that can give a proven return on investment in a performance-based platform. We know sponsors want that exposure from running up front and we’re confident enough in our performance to put our money where our mouth is, figuratively speaking.”

For more information, contact Matthew LaNeve at (419) 621-8800 or at mlaneve@thorsport.com.

09-26-10

Sauter Takes Second in Vegas

Johnny Sauter and the ThorSport Racing team worked hard to repeat their 2009 victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, making adjustments throughout the day to make the No. 13 FarmPaint.com-The Stratosphere/Curb Records Chevrolet a race winning truck, but they fell one position short at the finish, crossing the finish line second behind race winner Austin Dillon. In two career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts at Las Vegas, Sauter now has an impressive 1.5 average finishing position.

Sauter’s runner-up finish at Las Vegas is the fourth time in 2010 he has finished second, and it is also the second time this year he’s come home just behind Dillon at the finish. It marks the eighth top-five finish for Sauter in the last eleven series races.

“Joe Shear and the guys worked hard on this thing all day long and all through the race to get us where we could at least try to run with Dillon at the end,” Sauter said. “We made up a lot of ground on the restarts tonight so I was hoping for another caution at the end to close us up and give us another shot but we didn’t get one. I don’t know if we could have gotten him but we sure would have tried.”

Sauter was forced to race through some heavy traffic to get to the front over the final 50 laps. He restarted deep in the field on lap 100, but quickly raced from 13th to inside the top five in less than 15 laps. But on at least one occasion, he got pushed out of the groove and nearly brushed the wall but was able to maintain control.

“It was crazy on those restarts,” Sauter said. “There is always a lot of sand on the track here and if you get up out of the groove sometimes it just sucks you up into the wall. We got up out of the groove and almost got up into the fence. It’s tough to run three wide here but we made it work.”

Although he was pleased with his team’s effort and their finish, Sauter is not one to enjoy finishing second.

“I hate finishing second,” Sauter said. “We’re here to win, and to be that close and not get it done is frustrating. We’d have liked to win back-to-back races out here. We just missed out on it but we have some really good tracks coming up still. We had a chance to win at Martinsville this season and we’ve run good at Texas and Phoenix too. It’s tough to win these races but we haven’t given up. We think we can get at least one more before the season is over.”

Sauter stays third in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship standings but chopped 15 points of second-place Aric Almirola’s advantage. He now sits 38 points out of second with five races remaining in the 2010 season. He has an 88-point advantage over fourth-place Dillon heading into the Kroger 200 at Martinsville Speedway on October 23. The final short track race of the season is set for a 1 P.M. green flag and will be televised live on SPEED; it can also be heard live on select MRN Radio affiliates nationwide and on Sirius NASCAR Radio Channel 128.

09-22-10

Johnny Sauter No. 13 FarmPaint.com-The Stratosphere Hotel & Casino/Curb Records Chevrolet Preview: Smith’s 350 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

Johnny Sauter returns to Las Vegas Motor Speedway as the defending winner of the Smith’s 350, his first career victory in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Sauter has won dozens of races at the upper levels of racing, including 10 races en route to the 2001 ASA championship and three races in the Nationwide Series, but the win at Las Vegas was extra special for a variety of reasons.

Did you ever give up on the thought of not just being a NASCAR driver, but a NASCAR winner before joining ThorSport Racing last season? “I never gave up on myself being a winner because I have always known I can do it, but I think I saw the opportunities to do it drying up. I came off a season in the Cup Series in 2008 and at the end of it I didn’t have anything, and you’re sitting there asking yourself “what just happened?” So when the opportunity came to join ThorSport Racing in 2009 I jumped at it. I knew it was a really good team and knew we would have a good chance to win races and Las Vegas last year was the first of what we all hope is many.”

You’ve had a lot of wins in a lot of different racing series; how much did winning last year at LVMS mean to you? “It doesn’t matter what the series is, whether it’s the Sprint Cup, Nationwide, Camping World Truck Series or late models somewhere, every race is really hard to win. Every win that I have had means a lot to me, for different reasons. The win at Las Vegas last year was important because I did have all of that uncertainty in my career and it validated what I always thought, that I could be a winner if we just had the opportunity and equipment.”

Is there a better place to win a race than Las Vegas? If you make it back-to-back wins this year, what can you do to top last year’s celebration? “I don’t know that I’d want to top it! We definitely celebrated big time last year. I think the thing we learned is that at some point you don’t have to party for 24 hours straight, otherwise you probably won’t remember what you’re celebrating! In all honesty though, there really isn’t a better place to win than Las Vegas. Everyone is out there for an extra day and there are so many things to do out there so any celebrating you get to do is going to be big.”

What changes have you and the team made to the truck in the year since you drove it to victory lane at LVMS? “Knock on wood, we really haven’t had to make too many changes to it in the two years I’ve been driving it. We might have had to put a nose on it or a fender on it after scraping it up somewhere, but we haven’t had to clip it or do any real significant repairs to it. We’ve run that particular truck probably 20 times in the past two seasons and it’s just a really comfortable, competitive truck. Race drivers are always talking about wanting the newest piece they can get but this truck was built in 2007. Sure, we’d like to have as many new trucks as we can get but we’d also like them all to be as good as this one is.”

Vegas Odds: The Las Vegas Hilton Sportsbook has pegged Johnny, last year’s winner at LVMS, at 7-1 to repeat his performance from 2009.

Johnny at Las Vegas: Johnny has two Sprint Cup starts (best finish 24th) and six Nationwide Series starts (best finish third) at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Last season, in his Camping World Truck Series debut at the 1.5-mile tri-oval, he started second and led 62 laps en route to his first career series victory.

Johnny’s Las Vegas truck: Johnny will drive ThorSport Racing Chassis No. 23 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. It is the same chassis that he drove to victory last season at LVMS and earlier this season at Kansas Speedway. He has driven it at the majority of intermediate speedway (1.5-miles) races this season.

09-19-10

Sauter Survives to Finish Seventh at NHMS

Johnny Sauter fought brake issues and a loose truck en route to a seventh-place finish in Sautrday’s TheRaceDayRaffleSeries.com 175 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Sauter’s No. 13 Street Smart Pothole Patch/Curb Records Chevrolet was too tight throughout practice on Friday, and crew chief Joe Shear, Jr. called for changes prior to qualifying that made the truck better, but with changing track conditions the truck became too loose throughout the race. In addition, a bulky brake bias adjuster in the cockpit wouldn’t allow Sauter to fully adjust the brakes to allow him to drive as hard into the corners as he needed. But a savvy pit call on lap 88 put Sauter in a position to win, should the race run green the rest of the way.

“I give Joe and the guys a lot of credit, they are always thinking and that strategy is always changing,” Sauter said. “We were a little off today, but that just puts Joe to work. He takes the information and comes up with something that he thinks will give us a chance to win. We had a caution with about 90 laps to go, which is right at the fuel window and he called me in and packed it with fuel. We needed it to go green the rest of the way, which is certainly possible at a track like New Hampshire. We were a top ten truck today but that was really the only chance we had to go steal the win and we took it.”

Although there were additional cautions that put everyone back on the same pit sequence and eliminated Sauter’s chance to steal a fuel mileage win, he still hung tough in the top ten despite a truck that wasn’t handling perfectly.

“We got so loose I really thought I was going to wreck,” Sauter said. “We were really tight on Friday and we made some changes and it made the truck a lot better for qualifying. The truck went really loose in the middle of the race. Usually you’re fighting a push here but we were too loose. We’ll take it back to the shop and go through our notes and figure out what we need to do to make it perfect for the next time we’re here.”

Sauter remains third in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship standings, knocking four points off current second-place driver Aric Almirola’s advantage. Almirola now leads Sauter by just 53 points with six races to run; Sauter has a 43 point advantage over fourth-place Timothy Peters.

Next up for Sauter and the No. 13 ThorSport Racing/Curb Records Chevrolet is the Smith’s Las Vegas 350 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where he is the defending race winner. The 20th race of the 2010 season is scheduled to go green shortly after 9:30 P.M. Eastern on Saturday September 25. The race will be televised live on SPEED and will be broadcast live nationwide on select affiliates of the MRN Radio network and on Sirius NASCAR Radio Channel 128.

09-15-10

Johnny Sauter No. 13 Street Smart/Curb Records Chevrolet Silverado Express Notes: New Hampshire

Johnny Sauter is set to tackle New Hampshire Motor Speedway. He is loaded with confidence after a second-place finish in the last series race at Kentucky Speedway and finished fifth in the race at NHMS last season. The atmosphere at New Hampshire reminds Sauter of racing back in Wisconsin, and having crew chief Joe Shear calling the shots on setups is all Sauter needs to think he has a chance to win the RaceDayRaffleSeries.com 175.

What is the key to success at New Hampshire? “You have to have a good handling truck first and foremost. The turns are tight and you need to lay the power down to get down the long straightaways. It’s always a challenge to find the right balance. If you have a truck that handles through the corners and gets that forward bite off you will have a chance to win. That’s why I am so confident going into this weekend, I know Joe and the guys are going to give me a truck that is going to handle through the corners and have enough power under the hood to get us down the straightaways. I’ve always had good handling cars and trucks there so it’s always a track I look forward to going to.”

Does New Hampshire remind you of Milwaukee? “It’s similar because they are both flat tracks and they are both one mile long, but that’s about it. Milwaukee has shorter straightaways and more sweeping turns. At New Hampshire the turns are much tighter. You don’t arc it in the corners, you drive it in straight and point it through to the center. Of all the tracks I’ve raced on, the one that reminds me most of New Hampshire is the old Chicago Motor Speedway (in Cicero, Ill.). Joe and I ran an ASA race there in 2001 and won it, so that’s another reason I am so confident going into this weekend. On top of that, the race fans up there in New England are awesome. They remind me a lot of the fans up in Wisconsin, they come out four days in a row and love every minute of it. Plus we’re winding up the summer stretch and after ten weeks of 100 degree temperatures it’s nice to go someplace where it’s 75 degrees during the day and not sweltering hot.”

Does the shortened race distance change the strategy much versus last year? “A lot of people might think 25 laps isn’t much of a difference but we would have seen a much different finish last year if the race was that much shorter. We had a long green flag run at the end and a lot of people were tight on fuel. It’s not a lot of laps but I think it could have a big impact on how you manage the race. It might change how we manage tires and it will definitely change how we manage our fuel.”

StreetSmart on the No. 13 at NHMS: Street Smart all-weather pothole patch will be on the No. 13 Chevrolet this weekend. StreetSmart Pothole Patch is a permanent rapid set material designed for repairing potholes in roads, parking lots, driveways, and other blacktop and concrete pavement surfaces. StreetSmart Pothole Patch works in all weather conditions including cold, hot, wet or dry conditions. It is easy to use – simply pour from bag, tamp in place, and it is instantly ready for traffic. StreetSmart is fortified with advanced thermoplastic polymers and lasts up to four times longer than standard pothole patch materials. StreetSmart offers the performance of hot mix blacktop in an easy-to-use cold applied material. Make the smart choice with StreetSmart.

09-04-10

Sauter Storms to Second in Kentucky

Johnny Sauter took advantage of shrewd pit strategy and a strong truck to finish second in the No. 13 FarmPaint.com/Curb Records Chevrolet in Friday night’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Kentucky Speedway. Sauter’s runner-up finish was his third of 2010 and his eighth top-five finish in the past eleven races.

Sauter started alongside pole starter Austin Dillon after missing the pole by just three one-thousandths of a second. At the drop of the green, Sauter bolted out to an early lead and held the advantage until the first caution waved at lap 21.

Divergent pit strategies under the first two cautions of the night, with some teams taking fuel and others taking fuel and tires, dropped Sauter to seventh by the 50 lap mark. Sauter quickly raced his way back into the top five and stayed there until lap 92 when Paddy Rodenbeck spun to bring out the fourth caution of the night. Crew chief Joe Shear, Jr. called Sauter to pit road for the final time of the night with 57 laps to run, which was exactly how far the team calculated they could run on one tank of fuel. Among lead lap trucks, only Sauter and series championship leader Todd Bodine made stops under that caution, dropping them outside the top ten.

Once under green, Sauter made moves towards the front but his forward progress halted at eighth position -- that is until lap 125 when most of the seven drivers in front of him started to peel off to hit pit road for fuel. Once up to second, behind only Bodine, Shear cleared Sauter to stop conserving fuel and pressure Bodine, whose team calculated him to be approximately one lap short of fuel. Sauter narrowed the gap, but Bodine’s fuel held and he held Sauter at bay by 5.6 seconds to take the win.

“At the time I didn’t think that call to come and get fuel on that last stop was the right one,” Sauter said. “I didn’t think there was any way we would run the last 50 laps under the green flag. But Joe made a great call and it paid off for us tonight. That put us back in traffic and we lost some ground on Todd after the restart because clear air is so important on a track like this. Once we cleared traffic we could run the same times he was running. We were hoping he was a lap short on fuel and we could steal one. He spun and that is actually what helped him win the race. He had to stop and make some repairs and got fuel while they were doing it and that’s what did it for him.

“When it’s your year it’s your year,” Sauter continued. “Those guys are having a lot of really good luck right now and they’re on a roll. We’ve had a couple of bad days that took us out of the championship through no fault of our own, but I am so proud of these ThorSport Racing guys. That’s seven top-fives in the last nine races. We’re not giving up; we think we have a couple wins left in us before the year is over. I can’t thank everyone at FarmPaint.com enough for their support. We had about 30 guests up from Lexington to watch us and cheer us on and I am glad we picked up another good finish for them here tonight.”

Sauter unofficially stays third in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship standings, just 57 points behind second-place Aric Almirola and 318 behind leader Bodine.

Next up for Sauter and the No. 13 ThorSport Racing/Curb Records Chevrolet is the RaceDayRaffleSeries.com 175 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Saturday September 18. The race will be televised live on SPEED starting at 2:30 P.M. Eastern; it can also be heard live on select affiliates of the MRN Radio network and on Sirius NASCAR Radio Channel 128.

FarmPaint.com products are available online at www.farmpaint.com, by calling 877-441-3276, or by visiting the FarmPaint.com store at 700 Phillips Lane, Lexington, Kentucky, 40504

09-01-10

Johnny Sauter No. 13 FarmPaint.com/Curb Records Chevrolet Express Notes: Kentucky Speedway

Johnny Sauter carries momentum with him as he heads to Friday’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Kentucky Speedway. Sauter and crew chief Joe Shear, Jr. celebrated their first anniversary together at ThorSport Racing with a fourth-place finish last weekend at Chicagoland Speedway. It was the pair’s 14th top-five finish in 27 races together and their sixth in the last eight races. In once sense Sauter is completely satisfied with those numbers but in another it serves to burn the competitive fire.

This is your first Truck Series race at Kentucky with Joe Shear as your crew chief; what is your process whenever you two come to a track for the first time together? “We talk every day so it’s not like we aren’t on the same page with each other. He’s been to Kentucky a couple times the past couple of years with the ARCA deal he was working with and I’ve raced there a lot of times. We just talk it over and talk about what worked and what didn’t work. We know that we have a good mile and a half package so we’ll take our base setup and get ready to make whatever quick changes we need to with it in practice.”

You said after Chicagoland that you and the team needed to work harder to catch up to some of the competition; what areas are you and Joe concentrating on? “The best thing for us would be if Todd Bodine just decided he’d like to take a vacation for a week! But seriously, the setups we run are constantly changing. We’ve run with the 30 team and beat them plenty of times on the mile and a half tracks, but it seems like they’ve hit on something right now and have gained on the rest of us. So for us, that means we need to get to it and figure out what our next move is. We aren’t sitting still by any stretch of the imagination, but we haven’t found that little thing that’s going to boost our performance like the 30 team has.”

What is the biggest challenge as a driver to racing at Kentucky? “The bumps there are a huge challenge with the coil bound setup. You’re always looking for compliance with the shocks over the bumps but it’s more pronounced at a track like Kentucky that has the type of surface it does. We actually learned a lot last week at Chicago. For whatever reason the track seemed a lot rougher there than it was in the past. We actually rubbed through the splitter on the front we were bouncing off the track so much on low pressures. We’re going to adjust the clearances just a little bit and hopefully that will make a big difference.”

FarmPaint.com Sponsors Sauter at Kentucky: FarmPaint.com will be the primary sponsor on the No. 13 ThorSport Racing/Curb Records Chevrolet driven by Johnny Sauter this weekend at Kentucky Speedway. FarmPaint.com supplies the agricultural industry's finest coating products, at the most competitive prices.

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FarmPaint.com products are available online at www.farmpaint.com, by calling 877-441-3276, or by visiting the FarmPaint.com store at 700 Phillips Lane, Lexington, Kentucky, 40504.

08-28-10

Sauter Fights to Fourth at Chicagoland

After struggling with handling issues throughout the early and middle stages of the EnjoyIllinois.com 225, Johnny Sauter took advantage of a two-tire stop under a late caution flag and held track position to bring the No. 13 In Country Television/Curb Records Chevrolet home in the fourth position, his eighth top-five result of the 2010 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season.

“I thought we had a really good truck all night long but track position was important,” Sauter said. “The two tires on that last stop was a great move. It got us up to the front instead of back in the pack and in all that dirty air. I thought we had a chance to finish third and I think we would have if we didn’t have that last caution flag. We got pinched down on the inside on the start and I spun the tires and lost a spot to (Ron) Hornaday.”

Sauter was happy with the effort the ThorSport Racing team gave throughout the weekend. Throughout practice Sauter couldn’t keep throttle to the floor over the bumps, particularly in turns three and four. Crew chief Joe Shear fine tuned the setup for the race, smoothing the ride over the bumps, but giving Sauter a tight truck in the early going. After an adjustment to loosen it up, Sauter was able to steadily work his way towards the front over the second half of the 150-lap race.

“I’m super proud of the work and effort my guys put in,” Sauter said. “We have a great package on the mile and a half tracks, but we need to work on it just a little bit. Kyle (Busch, race winner) was lights out all night long so we need to work on our stuff a little bit to get up there with him. I have a lot of confidence in Joe and the guys and we have some good tracks coming up. Joe made a great call to take two tires on that last stop and it paid off with a good finish. It’s great to rack up these top-fives but we want to get another win or two before the year is over.”

Sauter jumps back to third in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship standings, leap-frogging past Timothy Peters who was sidelined just short of the finish Friday night due to engine failure. Sauter now sits 303 points behind leader and Chicagoland runner-up Todd Bodine and just 67 points behind Aric Almirola in second.

Next up for Sauter and the No. 13 Curb Records Chevrolet is the Built Ford Tough 225 at Kentucky Speedway on Friday September 3; the race will be televised live on SPEED starting at 6:30 P.M. Eastern. It can also be heard live on select affiliates of the MRN Radio network and on Sirius NASCAR Radio Channel 128 (XM 104).

08-25-10

Johnny Sauter No. 13 In Country Television/Curb Records Chevrolet Express Notes: EnjoyIllinois.com 225 at Chicagoland Speedway

The EnjoyIllinois.com 225 at Chicagoland Speedway marks the one-year anniversary for Johnny Sauter and crew chief Joe Shear, Jr. working together at ThorSport Racing. In the past 26 races run since the Chicago race last August, the duo has racked up two wins, 13 top-five finishes, 16 top-ten finishes, and one pole. Shear spearheaded Sauter’s charge to sixth in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship standings last season and has guided him to fourth in the standings with eight races to run in 2010.

Without a race at Milwaukee this is your “home” race for 2010 and it’s at a track that you’ve had success at in the past, what’s your mindset heading into this weekend? “We grew up about four hours north of Chicago and this is as close as we get to a home race this season. Chicagoland is where I got my first Busch Series win and it’s one of my favorite tracks. It’s also where Joe and I started working together last season and everything just clicked. It gives me a lot of confidence heading back up there knowing I’ll have a lot of friends and family there watching and knowing our team is performing as strong as it is right now.”

How does Chicagoland differ from some of the other 1.5-mile tracks on the schedule? “The biggest thing is that the backstretch has a curve to it, a lot like the frontstretch at Michigan or Fontana. There isn’t a real straightaway there and you always have some wheel to it. The groove there has really widened out so you can race up high or down low. It’s up in the Midwest where the winters can get a little rough so the track has a little character to it too, which makes it even more fun.”

How do you grade the No. 13 team’s performance since Joe Shear, Jr. joined the team at Chicagoland last summer? “I’ve said it a lot of times, Joe is a real racer and he does what it takes to get us up front. We’ve been together now for 26 races and we’ve won two of them and been in the top five in half of them. We’ve had some things out of our control take us out of a couple of races where we should have had a top-five or a chance to win too, so I think we could have had even more. As strong as we’ve been that really makes me think we have a real chance to go out there and win more races yet this season. That’s the best way for us to close up the gap in the points too; you get maximum points whenever you’re winning. I’m really happy with the way the past year has gone, so I think I’d give us an A-. If we could just eliminate some of those bad things that happen that are out of our control I think I could bump it up to an A.”

08-18-10

Fuel Mileage Bites Sauter at Bristol

After running in the top four for most of the O’Reilly 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway, Johnny Sauter was forced to bring the No. 13 In Country Television/Curb Records Chevrolet to pit road for a quick splash of fuel with less than ten laps to go, ending his chances for a top-five finish and relegating him to eleventh at the finish.

Sauter pitted along with eventual race winner Kyle Busch under caution at lap 32, taking tires and fuel and planning on going the rest of the distance without an additional pit stop. Numerous others stayed out, but when the next caution waved and the rest of the field pitted Sauter moved up to the top five, exactly as planned. The numerous caution laps throughout the night would help Sauter extend the fuel mileage, but that also meant late in the race the fuel left in the cell might not reach the pickup on the banking under a late-race caution.

“It’s a heartbreaker for sure. We obviously had a great truck today and I thought we had a chance to race for the win,” Sauter said. “At the very least we were a third-place truck, but under the caution we started losing fuel pressure. We’re up on the banks and the fuel runs down into the left side of the fuel cell and the pickup is over to the right. If we were running under green it probably wouldn’t have been a problem, but as it was we ran out. It’s a tough end to what should have been a good night.”

Sauter remains fourth in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship standings, now sitting 82 points behind second-place Aric Almirola and 288 points behind leader Todd Bodine.

“It’s disappointing for the guys because they’ve worked so hard and given me a top five truck just about every week for the past three months,” Sauter said. “It seemed like we had a chance to make up some points on some of the guys we’re racing for the championship. They all seemed to have some trouble today and we had a relatively smooth night. We missed a few wrecks that happened right in front of us that we easily could have been caught up in. It seemed like it was going to be our night right up until we ran out of fuel.”

Up next for Johnny Sauter and the No. 13 Curb Records Chevrolet is the EnjoyIllinois.com 225 at Chicagoland Speedway on Saturday August 27. The 17th race of the 2010 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season will be televised live on SPEED starting at 8:30 P.M. Eastern; it will also be broadcast on select affiliates of the MRN Radio network nationwide and on Sirius NASCAR Radio Channel 128 (XM 104).

08-16-10

Johnny Sauter No. 13 In Country Television/Curb Records Chevrolet Express Notes: O’Reilly 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway

With six top-five finishes in the last eight NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races, Johnny Sauter has been on a roll throughout the summer. But as the “dog days” of August approach, Sauter isn’t satisfied with just racking up top-fives -- he is hungry to get back into victory lane. Sauter built his reputation as a winner and an “ask no quarter, give no quarter” racer, and with the ultra-fast Bristol Motor Speedway in the windshield Sauter and the No. 13 In Country Television/Curb Records Chevy know they have an excellent chance to pick up their second victory of the 2010 season.

Did you prefer the “old” Bristol or do you like the “new” reconfigured track and progressive banking more? “I really liked the old track. I know now there’s a couple more grooves and we have more room to move up the track, but I miss the physical style of racing there. When they reconfigured it, I ran the first Cup race there and qualified 40th. We ran the first 115 laps under green and we moved up to 15th, but I thought it was boring. There wasn’t any bump-and-run or that old-style short track racing that we all grew up with. With the old track if you were behind someone and you were faster and you couldn’t get around him you’d just give him a shot on the bumper and move him up the track. It would really take your breath away, and I don’t think you see that at Bristol much now.”

What’s the most challenging part of racing at Bristol? “It’s just like it is every week, you have to find that right handling package that helps you keep your truck turning all night long. Last year Matt Crafton and I went there with two totally different setups, he ended up second and we were 18th. That’s the biggest hurdle, is finding what will keep you turning and let you lay the power down off the corner.”

How does Bristol compare to Winchester and Salem, the legendary two high-banked short tracks in the Midwest? “Those two tracks are fast and ultra high banked just like Bristol. They don’t drive alike because at Salem and Winchester you run right up next to the wall, but in the seat you still feel the same speed and G-forces. Things happen so fast at those places so even though they aren’t all that alike in the way you drive them just getting that experience is a big help. These tracks are so fast that something can happen in turn three when you’re in turn one and you can get caught up in it.”

08-14-10

Sauter Stays Out of Trouble and Off Pit Road to Take Fourth in Darlington

While trucks were bouncing off the fences, Johnny Sauter stayed calm and collected and parlayed smart pit strategy into a fourth-place finish in the Too Tough to Tame 200 at Darlington Raceway on Friday night. Sauter made his final pit stop with 71 laps to go, kept the tires in good condition and with numerous cautions over the second half of the race was able to stretch the fuel mileage in the No. 13 In Country Television/Curb Records Chevrolet to rack up his seventh top-five finish of the season.

“It was a good night for the team,” Sauter said. “We knew going in that we’d have to race the racetrack all night and that’s what we did. We didn’t really race hard with anyone all night long. We stayed out of trouble, but there were a few times we almost got collected in someone else’s problem. We just barely missed (Justin Lofton) when he spun in turn one. That’s exactly why we didn’t want to get out there and race anyone too hard because as soon as you start focusing on that guy in front of you the track can jump up and get you. If we’d have been in there racing hard for that spot we’d have ended up wrecked for sure.”

Sauter was unhappy with the truck in practice earlier in the day but pleased with the effort his Joe Shear-led team turned in to give him his fifth top-five finish in the last six races.

“We weren’t where we wanted to be in practice but my guys busted their tails and made some changes for qualifying and the race,” Sauter said. “Joe made the call not to pit again and give up track position and that was definitely the call to make tonight. Since the repaved this track you can run a fuel run on tires without a big drop off. We were right on the edge of that fuel window with 70 or so laps to go, but we had all of those cautions at the end and that helped. We didn’t want to talk about a green-white-checkered finish or two, but thankfully we didn’t worry about it and we brought it home fourth.

Sauter unofficially stays fourth in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship standings, just 21 points behind third-place Timothy Peters and 35 points behind second-place Aric Almirola. He’s 268 points behind leader and Darlington winner Todd Bodine.

“I don’t know what we can do to close the gap on Bodine,” Sauter said. “We have a lot of really great tracks coming up and we’re going to do everything we can. We aren’t giving up and we know we can do it.”

Next up for Sauter and the No. 13 In Country Television/Curb Records Chevrolet is the O’Reilly 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway on Wednesday August 18. The race will be televised live on SPEED starting at 7:30 P.M. Eastern. The race will also be broadcast live on select affiliates of the MRN Radio network nationwide and on Sirius NASCAR Radio Channel 128 (XM 104).

08-11-10

Johnny Sauter No. 13 In Country Television/Curb Records Chevrolet Preview: Too Tough to Tame 200 at Darlington Raceway

Johnny Sauter has eleven previous NASCAR starts at the 1.366-mile Darlington Raceway, but he will be making his first career Camping World Truck Series start at the Lady in Black in this weekend’s Too Tough to Tame 200. Sauter knows the key to winning is racing the track, but he also knows with just 200 miles to get it done, there won’t be any time to lay back and wait for the race to come to him.

How do you balance racing the racetrack versus racing the competition in a short 200-mile race at Darlington? “You have to always be aware of the racetrack because as soon as you stop it will jump up and get you. So the best way to balance racing the track and racing the competition is to start up front and stay away from most of them. A successful night at Darlington is starting up front, not racing anyone all night long and finishing in the top five. You need a good truck and good pit stops to make it happen and you have to stay focused all night long.”

Does Darlington remind you of any tracks in the Midwest, or is it truly a one-of-a-kind? “There are a lot of tracks we raced at in the Midwest where you race up next to the wall, like Salem and IRP, so that’s a little bit of a help, but there really is no track that compares to Darlington. It’s totally a one of a kind.”

Which end of the track is more difficult, turns one and two or turns three and four? “Turns one and two are really tricky. You have to do what I call drive up the hill going into turn one. You turn into the corner and go all the way to the bottom then use all the racetrack, go up the banking right next to the wall. Then you crank the wheel and turn the truck and drive down the banking in turn two. If you aren’t careful you can get into the fence because you run so close to it. Turns three and four are pretty self explanatory but you really need to be on your toes in one and two.”

08-08-10

Sauter Charges to Fifth at Nashville

After struggling with a loose truck for most of the first two-thirds of the Nashville 200, Johnny Sauter caught a break in traffic on the final restart and was able to hang on for a fifth-place finish in the No. 13 CMT/Roll The Gold Chevrolet.

Sauter was seventh when the green flag waved with 39 laps to go, but jumped to fifth when the drivers directly in front of him, Brian Ickler and Mike Skinner, came together and slid up the track. Sauter dove low and slipped past, then drove away from the trucks behind him. He was able to hold onto the fifth spot at the checkered flag to collect his sixth top-five finish of the 2010 season and fourth in the past five races.

“We were so loose early in the race I couldn’t race with anyone,” Sauter said. “It was the loosest this truck has ever been since I’ve driven it. Joe (Shear, Jr., crew chief) and the guys tightened me up and made it better but late in the run we were a little too tight to make up any ground. We got lucky when those guys ran into each other and we were able to slide underneath both of them and move into the top five. I think we could have passed them on that last run, but it makes it a lot easier when they take themselves out of the equation and all you have to do is drive past.”

Although Sauter was pleased with the result, he knows the team needs to start peaking now – much like it did in 2009 – if they are going to have a chance to chase down Nashville winner Todd Bodine for the championship.

“A top-five finish is great, but that still means there were four guys better than us at the finish,” Sauter said. “Even when you win you look back and learn where you could be better. We need to continue to improve. This was about the time of the year last year when we started to come to life. I have a lot of faith in my guys, they worked their tails off all day today and had some of the best pit stops we’ve had all season tonight. We have some good tracks coming up so maybe we’ll get a couple more wins before the season is over and close that gap in the points. We closed that gap in the points at Iowa, Gateway and ORP but he’s opened it back up the last couple of weeks.”

Sauter dropped one position in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship standings, sitting in fourth just one point behind third-place Timothy Peters. Sauter is 233 points behind leader Todd Bodine and 55 points ahead of Austin Dillon in fifth.

Next up for Johnny Sauter and the No. 13 Curb Records Chevrolet is the Too Tough to Tame 200 at Darlington Raceway on Saturday August 14. The race is scheduled for a 7:30 P.M. Eastern start and will be televised live on SPEED. The race will also be carried live on select affiliates of the MRN Radio network nationwide and on Sirius NASCAR Radio Channel 128 (XM 104).

08-05-10

Johnny Sauter No. 13 CMT/”Roll The Gold” Chevrolet Express Notes: Nashville 200 at Nashville Superspeedway

Johnny Sauter entered Pocono on a hot streak, picking up a top-five finish in each of the last three NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races. However, the series’ first visit to Pocono was a speed bump for Sauter and the ThorSport Racing crew as the left the Pennsylvania mountains a disappointing 14th. However, Sauter heads to Nashville with his favorite truck loaded and ready to roll and he is anxious to start a new streak of impressive finishes as the season starts to wind towards its close at Homestead in November.

What did the No. 13 team learn in April that will help this weekend? “We tried some things in April that we thought would really help take us from a top six truck to a winning truck and it didn’t work out the way we expected. It’s not so much that we learned what we should do it’s that we learned what not to do. With the way the coil-binding setups are these days the difference between being perfect and being two-tenths off is razor thin.”

What do you expect the track conditions to be? “Concrete is a lot more consistent than asphalt is so the track shouldn’t be much different than it was in April. We are running there by ourselves instead of with the Nationwide Series so there will be a lot less rubber on the track. That might mean it will take longer for the groove to widen out. Other than that the track should be pretty much the same. The biggest difference will be the temperature. It’s supposed to be really hot again this weekend so we’ll make sure we’re all hydrated and do our best to stay cool both in the truck and on pit road.”

Johnny wins at WIR: On Tuesday, Johnny won the ASA Midwest Series Dixieland 150 at Wisconsin International Raceway. Sauter was the fast qualifier and had to start 14th after the inversion and spent the first half of the race working his way through traffic. By lap 75 he was second and pressuring for the lead. Two laps later, he cleared Nick Murgic for the top spot and was never headed. “My goal was to finish, because I knew if we got to the end we’d be somewhere near the front. We had a great time up there racing and hopefully we get a chance to do some more of it before the season is over.”

Ronald McDonald House Visit on Friday August 6: Johnny will visit the Nashville Ronald McDonald House this coming Friday, August 6, from 4 to 6 P.M. to visit with the families who are residing there while their children are in local hospitals receiving medical treatment. “My wife Cortney and I became parents this year and every day that goes by we realize how fortunate we are to have a healthy baby boy. We can’t imagine what these families are going through with a child who has a serious medical condition. It really makes you think. Coming and spending some time with them is the least we can do. There’s nothing like talking racing to help take their minds off some of their worries, even if it’s just for a little while.”

“Roll The Gold” Joins ThorSport Farm: ThorSport Farm has recently added two-time World Grand Champion “Roll The Gold” to its already-impressive stable of Tennessee Walking Horses. Trained at Chad Williams Stables in Shelbyville, Tenn., “Roll The Gold” is slated to compete with Allison Thorson at The Celebration, August 25th through September 4 at the historic Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration Grounds in Shelbyville, Tenn. Celebration lasts for eleven days ending on the Saturday night before Labor Day, attracting nearly a quarter of a million fans from more than 40 states. “Roll The Gold” will also appear at the Ronald McDonald House in Nashville on August 6.

07-31-10

Sauter Finishes 14th at Pocono

Johnny Sauter had an uncharacteristic day at Pocono Raceway that saw the No. 13 In Country Television/Curb Records Chevrolet struggle to find the handle en route to a 14th-place finish in the Pocono Mountains 125. Despite a tough afternoon, Sauter remains third in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship standings.

Sauter started 12th but handling issues steadily dropped him towards the back of the top twenty throughout the first half of the race. A caution-flag pit stop just after the halfway point allowed crew chief Joe Shear to make an adjustment to the chassis which allowed Sauter to race back up into the top 15 but that’s where his forward progress stopped.

“We just missed it this weekend,” Sauter said. “That doesn’t happen with this ThorSport Racing team too often. Usually if we miss on something we can make some adjustments and get it pointed in the right direction but nothing we tried this weekend seemed to work. Pocono isn’t one of my favorite tracks to begin with, but I think after the streak we’d been on the last few weeks we all expected to be a little better than we were. I’m proud of my guys and really confident in Joe’s ability to give me a truck capable of winning just about everywhere we go, but it just didn’t work out for us here today.”

Although Sauter had a long afternoon, some of his closest competition for the championship also had a tough time at the tricky 2.5-mile triangle. Although Sauter doesn’t consider himself to be a points racer he can envision a scenario in which he’d be excited at his position in the championship standings.

“I guess we lucked out because some of the guys we’re racing with for the points deal had a bad day too,” Sauter said. “We gained on some of them and lost a little to some others. We really need to get to Nashville and have a good run down there. I keep telling Joe if he wants me to get excited about the points we need to go win us some races so we can make some big gains on the leader. If we can do that then I’ll start getting as excited about this points deal as Joe is.”

Sauter remains third in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship standings, 193 points behind leader Todd Bodine and 44 points behind second-place Aric Almirola.

Next up for Sauter and the No. 13 Curb Records Chevrolet is the Nashville 200 at the 1.33-mile Nashville Superspeedway on Saturday August 7. The race is scheduled for an 8 P.M. Eastern green flag and it will be televised live on SPEED. The 14th race of the 2010 season will also be broadcast live on select affiliates of the MRN Radio network nationwide and on Sirius NASCAR Radio Channel 128.

07-28-10

Johnny Sauter No. 13 In Country Television/Curb Records Chevrolet Silverado Express Notes: Pocono Mountains 125 at Pocono Raceway

Johnny Sauter enters the Pocono Mountains 125 looking to continue doing exactly what he and the ThorSport Racing team have been doing throughout the first half of the 2010 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series – running up front and contending for victories. Sauter is as intense and competitive as it gets behind the wheel so despite three consecutive top-five finishes at Iowa, Gateway, and ORP, he is hungry to win and nothing but a victory will leave him satisfied.

Is it possible for someone who doesn’t compete to fully understand your competitive nature and your desire to win every time out? “I have always been very motivated to win, and I put a lot of pressure on myself to make it happen. If we don’t run well because we just didn’t get the truck the way it should be, I still put all that weight on my own shoulders. And if we have a day and we’re horrible and we end up 30th it’s my name that’s listed there. We all want to win on this team and we’re all working our hardest to make it happen. I am as proud of my team as anyone can be. They work hard and build me awesome trucks. We’re working on some things to make us even better. We know we need to be a little better on pit road and the guys are stepping up their practice and training programs. We’re giving it all we can to win some more races before the season is over, and if we can do that we should be right there at the end of the season for the championship too.”

Since it is just a short sprint race, what type of race do you think we will see at Pocono? “Pocono is very demanding on every aspect of the team. You need a great handling truck, you need your aero package to be as good as it can be and you need a lot of horsepower. I am really confident in the team to get the package we need and I think I can get the job done from inside the truck. It’s a short race so you don’t have a lot of time to be patient or wait; you’re going to need to get to the front as fast as you can. Even though things can get spread out a little at a place like Pocono I think the short race will have everyone racing really hard and you’ll see some action that you might not see in a Cup race.”

Although you have only been with ThorSport Racing on a full-time basis for a season and a half what does racing for a team with 500 starts in the Truck Series mean to you? “It’s awesome to see any team hit a milestone like that. I know Duke and Rhonda Thorson are as committed to this as they have ever been, and you can see it with the results we have on the track. This team has developed into a winner and a championship contender. As proud as I am for them to hit 500 starts, I am even more proud to know we’re up front winning races and giving them a chance to race for a championship.”

07-25-10

Sauter Rallies Back to Fourth in Truck Race at ORP

After racing up to second-place during the middle stages of the race, Johnny Sauter raced back to fourth after problems during the final round of pit stops dropped the No. 13 SealMaster/Curb Records Chevrolet back to ninth with just 56 laps to go in the AAA Insurance 200 at O’Reilly Raceway Park.

Sauter started ninth and charged towards the front at the drop of the green, cracking the top five by lap 60 on the tricky 0.686-mile oval and working his way up to second just after a restart at the halfway point. But a caution with 60 laps to go threw Sauter’s night into turmoil. A loose lugnut cost Sauter four seconds on pit road, dropping him again all the way back to ninth. Sauter’s impressive charge to the front over the final 50 laps resulted in his fifth top-five finish of the season, his third consecutive and fourth in the last five races.

“The SealMaster/Curb Records Chevy was really strong tonight and I thought we had a chance to get up there and win the race,” Sauter said. “We had some problems on the last pit stop and it dropped us back and I had to really use the truck up to get back to fourth. When you push that hard and you have to run that lower groove to pass it just burns the right front tire off and we had make our way up through the pack twice tonight. We’re disappointed because we come here to win and we had a chance to get it done tonight. I’m not a points racer at all but with the problems with the 51 (Aric Almirola, second in the standings) we gained a lot on them. I’m still really proud of my guys, they built me a great truck and we had a real good chance to win, we just need to work on our pit stops. If we can do that we’ll win our share of these races and get ourselves in position to win the championship.”

Sauter also fought issues with the heat, which was in the upper 90s with the heat index hovering above 110 degrees throughout the afternoon. Cockpit temperatures exceeded 135 degrees during the day’s practice sessions, and although it cooled off into the 70s during the race it was still very warm in the truck.

“It wasn’t as bad as Gateway last weekend but not by much,” Sauter said. “I’m pretty beat after a day like today. Thankfully it did cool off a little once the race started and the sun went down. Hopefully we get a break from the heat up at Pocono next week.”

Next up for Johnny Sauter and the No. 13 Curb Records Chevrolet is the Pocono Mountains 125 at the 2.5-mile triangular Pocono Raceway on Saturday, July 30. As a team, ThorSport Racing will be participating in its 328th race in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, moving into second-place all-time behind only Roush Fenway Racing with 353 races and into the lead among active teams. The green flag will fly shortly after 1 P.M. Eastern live on SPEED. The race will also be broadcast live on select MRN Radio affiliates nationwide and on Sirius NASCAR Radio Channel 128 (XM104).

07-21-10

Johnny Sauter No. 13 SealMaster/Curb Records Chevrolet Silverado Express Notes: O’Reilly Raceway Park

It doesn’t take much to motivate Johnny Sauter to go out and win. Hang a checkered flag and offer up a trophy to the winner and Sauter is all in. But put that trophy within his grasp and then snatch it away at the last second and Sauter will find that extra motivation, and that’s exactly how he feels returning to O’Reilly Raceway Park. Sauter, in a self-built truck no less, dominated the Camping World Truck race at ORP in 2004, leading 139 of the race’s 200 laps. But a bump out of the last turn coming to the white flag dropped him to second and he’s ready to even the score.

What do you remember about that 2004 race at ORP? “We dominated that race. It was a truck that Joe Shear and I built in my garage. My dad had raced it one other time that year at Milwaukee but it was the first time I drove and we didn’t really know what to expect. We led most of the race and then there was a caution with about 20 to go. We stayed out and everyone else pitted. We still drove away from them on the restart but there was another spin with about five to go and we couldn’t hold them off on that restart. Travis Kvapil got into us coming to the white flag and that opened the top groove for Chad Chaffin and it pushed us back to second.”

Did you have to get used to racing next to the wall when you first raced there? “I’ve never really run the high groove there like everyone else does. I’ve always run a little bit different groove there. It didn’t seem strange to me to be that close to the wall, you just want to run wherever your car or truck is the fastest. I found a line that was a little better for me, but lately it seems that the pavement is getting a little worn down and the grip isn’t what it used to be. Even the groove that I run has moved up a little bit.”

What is it about ORP that seems to suit you so well? “I don’t know what it is about that place but I just love racing there. I won the ASA race there in 2000 the same night we locked up the championship. The first time I raced a Nationwide car there we finished fourth. We ran second in both the Truck race and the Nationwide race in 2004. Joe and I seem to have a really good setup for that place and whenever you have that confidence that you’re going to run good you usually do.”

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07-17-10

Sauter Perseveres to Third in St. Louis Heat

After a 16-hour delay for a power outage that moved the CampingWorld.com 200 from the relatively cool conditions on Friday night to the sweltering heat of Saturday afternoon, Johnny Sauter fought extreme temperatures in the cockpit and unpredictable track conditions to bring the No. 13 In Country Television/Curb Records Chevrolet home to a third-place finish at Gateway International Raceway. It’s Sauter’s second consecutive top-three finish; he came home second last weekend at Iowa Speedway.

“That might be the hottest I’ve ever been in a race in my entire career,” Sauter said. “It’s a big difference between racing when it’s cool at night and here during the heat of the day. We try and try to take as much weight out of these trucks as we can, and today I think we sweated about 15 pounds out of the driver.”

Sauter credited a gutsy pit call by crew chief Joe Shear, Jr. late in the race with preserving track position and allowing him to challenge for the win late in the race.

“We took two tires late trying to keep track position and it worked,” Sauter said. “I didn’t think we had a top three or a top five truck here today but Joe and the guys made it happen with pit strategy. It was really tough to figure out what kind of adjustments we could make with the track being as hot and slick as it was. I think if we could have gotten it figured out we could have gotten up there and fought for the win like we did last week. But it was a great day for the ThorSport guys again, we had both trucks up in the top five again this weekend.”

On the strength of his fourth top-five finish of the season, Sauter jumps to third in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship standings. Sauter gained five points on leader Todd Bodine, now just 196 points behind. He’s just 95 points behind Aric Almirola in second.

Next up for Sauter and the ThorSport Racing No. 13 In Country Television/Curb Records Chevrolet is the AAA Insurance 200 next Friday night at O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis. The race is scheduled to go green shortly after 8 P.M. Eastern and will be televised live on SPEED. It can also be heard live on select affiliates of the MRN Radio network nationwide and on Sirius NASCAR Radio Channel 128 (XM 104).

07-14-10

Johnny Sauter No. 13 In Country Television/Curb Records Chevrolet Express Notes: CampingWorld.com 200 at Gateway

After a runner-up finish in last week’s Lucas Oil 200 at Iowa Speedway, Johnny Sauter and the ThorSport Racing No. 13 Curb Records Chevrolet team head to Gateway International Raceway to try to better last season’s second-place result at the quirky 1.25-mile oval. Sauter was in position to win last season’s race at Gateway - he was in and among the lead pack all afternoon - and was just behind teammate Matt Crafton and then-leader Ron Hornaday when they tangled on a late-race restart. When Sauter checked up to avoid Hornaday’s spinning truck he was passed by eventual winner Mike Skinner. Sauter isn’t focused on the past, but is using last year’s experience to make the No. 13 Chevrolet more competitive so he can drive it into victory lane on Friday night.

Does what happened at Gateway last year come back to mind at all headed back in 2010? “I try not to dwell on those things. You can look back at it and say you could have done this or done that, but that’s not what we do. What I think about isn’t what happened on the track or the controversy but how our truck handled, how the race played out, and what we need to do to make our truck better for this season. That’s what I talk to Joe (Shear) and the guys about, not what happened with Matt or anything else. That race was last year and this is this year, and that’s where our focus is.”

What’s most important at Gateway, horsepower, handling, or aerodynamics? “To me, if you’re going to have a chance to win, you need to get through turns one and two the best. You have to use a lot of brakes to get in there and then get the truck turned and off the corner good because you have a long straightaway afterwards. Turns three and four are more of a basic corner to me, very much like Milwaukee. You need that horsepower to get down the straightaways but you need the truck to handle to get the power down.”

Is Gateway more superspeedway or more short track? “To me it’s all short track. Yeah it has really long straightaways but the corners there drive just like a short track does. You have to use a lot of brakes to get turned and you have to have the truck handling to get off the corners. There are a couple different lanes you can use on both ends of the track too. I can draw a lot of similarities between Gateway and some of the short tracks I’ve raced on.”

07-12-10

Sauter a Strong Second in Iowa

After fighting mid-race radio problems that wouldn’t allow him to communicate with his crew, Johnny Sauter fought hard over the final 50 laps to race to a second-place finish in Sunday’s Lucas Oil 200 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Iowa Speedway. Sauter was just 0.635-seconds behind winner Austin Dillon at the finish.

Sauter qualified fifth but was shuffled to eighth at the start. He methodically worked his way through traffic back to the top five, but dropped to tenth after the first round of pit stops under caution at lap 42. From there, despite the radio issues, Sauter charged towards the front. He was up to fourth by the halfway mark, and on a restart at lap 150 became the only driver to pass Dillon on the track all afternoon to lead four laps before Dillon zipped past the No. 13 Karl Chevrolet/Curb Records Chevrolet to retake the lead.

Sauter had two more chances to race Dillon for the lead as late-race cautions bunched the field, but a minute stumble on the final restart when Dillon broke momentum just before the green flag forced Sauter into a defensive mode.

“After we got by the 3 truck on that restart with 50 to go, he chose the outside lane for the final two restarts,” Sauter said. “When we were coming to the green on the green-white-checkered at the end I knew I was going to have to get a good jump to clear him coming off two so I was anticipating the start. He must have rolled off the gas just a little coming to the stripe because I looked over and he wasn’t there, and I had to let up and it broke our momentum. I didn’t want to beat him to the line because we’d have risked a black flag. Once that happened it was all I could do to hold off (ThorSport Racing teammate Matt) Crafton at the end.”

Sauter stays fifth in the Camping World Truck Series championship standings, but closed the gap considerably as the four drivers ahead of him all had problems at Iowa. Sauter is now 201 points behind leader Todd Bodine and just ten points behind third-place Ron Hornaday.

Next up for Sauter and the No. 13 Curb Records Chevrolet is the Camping World 200 at Gateway International Raceway on Friday July 16. The race will be televised live on SPEED at 8 P.M. Eastern and broadcast live on select affiliates MRN Radio affiliates nationwide and on Sirius NASCAR Radio Channel 128 (XM 104).

07-07-10

Johnny Sauter No. 13 Karl Chevrolet/Curb Records Chevrolet Silverado Express Notes: Lucas Oil 200 at Iowa Speedway

After a fifth-place finish in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut at Iowa Speedway in 2009, Johnny Sauter is ready to return and chase victory in 2010. Sauter comes back to Iowa with Karl Chevrolet on board again, and thanks to dealer principal Carl Moyer, Sauter will also make his first-ever attempt at dirt track racing on Friday night at the Iowa State Fairgrounds Speedway.

What are your thoughts on heading back to Iowa Speedway for the second time? “Before we ever raced there we had heard so much about Iowa and what a great track it is and what an awesome facility it is so we really looked forward to coming out here last season. We ran really well here last year so we’re coming back thinking we are going to have a chance to win. It’s a fun racetrack. It took me about half the race last year to figure out how to drive the track and once I finally did then we went to the front. Now that I know how to drive the track we should be at the front all day long on Sunday.”

Is Iowa more of a short track or a superspeedway? “I originally thought it was going to be more of a momentum track like a lot of the mile and a half tracks we go to, and maybe it is like that when we first get there and the track is green and doesn’t have any rubber. But once we start laying down rubber I found myself driving it a lot like Richmond. The longer we run the more it drives like a short track instead of a speedway.”

Since you say it drives like a short track, do you expect to see a lot of typical short track bump-and-run racing? “It is a fast racetrack but that doesn’t mean you won’t see a lot of short track style racing. I definitely think you can get away with some of that bump-and-run but you don’t want to knock the fenders off. A lot of that’s going to depend on who you’re racing with and what positions they put you in out there. I won’t say you’ll see a lot of it, but I wouldn’t rule anything out either.”

Sauter to visit Karl Chevrolet in Ankeny, make his dirt track debut on Friday: On Friday July 9 the No. 13 Karl Chevrolet/Curb Records Chevrolet will be on display at the dealership, located at 1101 SE Oralabor Road in Ankeny just outside of Des Moines from 2:30 P.M. through 4:30 P.M. Sauter will also make an appearance, signing autographs and answering questions from race fans from 3 P.M. through 5 P.M. Following the autograph session, Sauter will head to the Iowa State Fairgrounds Speedway to compete in a Dirt Truck Racing Association event on the semi-banked half-mile.

“Last year we finished fifth at Iowa with Karl Chevrolet on the truck with us,” Sauter said. “We’re ready to go on back and try to get us and them a win. It’s shaping up to be a fun weekend with the appearance at the dealership, the race at the State Fair, and then some good short track racing on Sunday afternoon. I’ve not done a lot of dirt track racing in my career but I am always up for a challenge and Carl’s promised me a good truck. It’s always fun to go to an area that is starved for NASCAR racing and Iowa has really welcomed us with open arms. I can’t wait to get out there and get started.”

06-12-10

Late Race Cautions Foil Sauter’s Two-Tire Strategy at Michigan

Johnny Sauter finished 14th in Saturday’s VFW 200 at Michigan International Speedway after a late-race gamble to take two-tires on the final pit stop was derailed by two late caution flags that bunched the field and enabled drivers with four fresh tires to race past Sauter’s No. 13 EZ Grill/Curb Records Chevrolet.

Sauter fought a loose condition throughout the early stages of the race, and despite a major chassis adjustment called by crew chief Joe Shear, Jr., Sauter was never able to find the feel he was looking for to gain track position and get in contention to win. Following the third caution of the day – which was actually a 40-minute delay for a brief rain shower – the race restarted on lap 42 ran for an extended period of time without a caution flag. Sauter was running ninth when he readied for a green-flag pit stop with 22 laps to go when Shear called for a two-tire stop to gain track position. The gamble paid off as Sauter jumped to sixth, but that strategy would only pay off in the race ran to its conclusion under green.

With 17 laps to go, Sauter’s teammate Matt Crafton had engine problems which drew the fourth caution of the day. Sauter fought hard to maintain position on the restart, and a subsequent restart on lap 93, but the trucks with four fresh tires were able to race past through the long, sweeping corners.

“We aren’t happy at all with today,” Sauter said. “We’re here to run up front and win races and we were never in a position to do that today. We aren’t here to run around in ninth or tenth, we want to be up front leading laps and fighting for the win. We were really loose all day long and we tried to make some adjustments and they didn’t help like we thought they would. We tried a Hail Mary at the end with the two-tire stop and it put us up close to the top five but we needed it to go green the rest of the way. As soon as the caution came out we were a sitting duck for those guys with four tires. We’ve already put this one behind us, we’re looking ahead to going to Iowa. We’re happy to have had EZ Grill on with us for this race, we just wish we were a little closer to the front for them.”

Sauter remains fifth in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship standings, 94 points behind fourth-place Ron Hornaday and 264 points behind leader Todd Bodine.

The next race for Johnny Sauter and the No. 13 Curb Records Chevrolet is the Iowa 200 at the 0.875-mile Iowa Speedway on Sunday June 11. The race will be televised live on SPEED starting at 2 P.M. Eastern; it can also be heard live on select affiliates of the MRN Radio network nationwide and on Sirius NASCAR Radio Channel 128 (XM 104).

06-08-10

Johnny Sauter No. 13 EZ Grill/Curb Records Chevrolet Silverado Express Notes: VFW 200 at Michigan International Speedway

Johnny Sauter heads to the Irish Hills of Michigan riding a wave of momentum. Not only is he fresh of a runner-up finish last Friday night at Texas, but he has a new sponsor on board the No. 13 Chevy that he hopes helps him grill the competition on the wide, fast two-mile Michigan International Speedway.

What’s the biggest challenge to racing at Michigan? “It’s big, fast, and wide so there is a lot of room to race but the challenge to it is keeping your momentum up all the way around. With the Trucks and the spacer we run, you have to stay on the gas or you lose all your momentum and it slows you way down. I like racing there and it’s fun to be able to go three and four wide but keeping that momentum up while you’re racing in traffic is a challenge.”

Do you look forward to racing at Michigan since it’s back in the Midwest where you earned your racing stripes? “I wouldn’t say I don’t like racing at Michigan but it’s not one of the tracks I look forward to because the finishes don’t really match with how we’ll we’ve run there over the years. Last year is a good example – we were running right near the front when someone spun in front of us and we got collected and tore up the right rear fender. We got that fixed and raced back up into the top ten and had a flat with three laps to go and ended up a couple laps down. But I have every confidence in the world in the truck that we’re taking and with the guys on the team. I really think we’ll be up front at the end of the day fighting for the win. If we can turn that luck around a little then Michigan will be a track I look forward to coming to.”

Sauter’s Midwest Success: Johnny has had much success racing in the Midwest, including scoring the 2001 ASA championship with 10 wins in 20 starts that season. Two of those races were in close proximity to MIS at Berlin (90 minutes west) and Toledo (60 minutes southeast). Sauter dominated both races, winning at Toledo and finishing third at Berlin after racing from the tail of the lead lap due to a problem on pit road.

EZ Grill On-board at MIS: EZ Grill, the ultimate portable, disposable and mess-free ready-to-use grill, will sponsor Johnny Sauter at Michigan International Speedway. EZ Grill, complete with all natural charcoal, lights easily with one match and provides at least and hour and a half of cooking time. It is environmentally friendly using plant material versus wood and is 100 percent recyclable. EZ Grill is available at over 49,000 retailers across the United States including Menards, Wal-Mart, Winn-Dixie, Safeway, and through EZGrill.com.

06-05-10

EZ Grill to Sponsor Sauter at Michigan

EZ Grill, the ultimate portable, disposable and mess-free ready-to-use grill, will sponsor ThorSport Racing driver Johnny Sauter in the upcoming NASCAR Camping World Truck Series VFW 200 at Michigan International Speedway.

“It’s really cool to have EZ Grill on board the No. 13 Chevy for the Michigan race,” Sauter said. “I think we have two sponsors that reach out to NASCAR fans the best with EZ Grill and Tim McGraw on board with us. Everyone knows that country music and NASCAR go hand-in-hand and there isn’t a larger cookout anywhere in the world than at a NASCAR race. Since so many people are camping and tailgating and traveling long distances to the races makes EZ Grill a perfect fit for NASCAR fans. They can bring the grill with them and drop it off in the trash on the way out and not have to worry about carrying it home. Like they say, you can grill anytime, anywhere with it. It’s an awesome product and we’re glad to have them on board with us.”

EZ Grill, complete with all natural charcoal, lights easily with one match and provides at least and hour and a half of cooking time. It is environmentally friendly using plant material versus wood and is 100 percent recyclable. EZ Grill is available at over 49,000 retailers across the United States including Menards, Wal-Mart, Winn-Dixie, Safeway, and through EZGrill.com.

Sauter is currently fifth in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship standings with one win (Kansas) so far in 2010 and finished second in the last series event at Texas Motor Speedway.

06-05-10

Sauter Races to Second in Texas

After struggling with the handling of the No. 13 In Country Television/Curb Records Chevrolet in the early stages of the race, Johnny Sauter and the ThorSport Racing crew made the right adjustments which allowed Sauter to get back into the fight and race his way to second place in Friday night’s WinStar World Casino 400 at Texas Motor Speedway.

Sauter had been trapped a lap down during a round of green flag pitstops, but a caution flag waved on lap 77 before the entire field had completed their work on pit road and Sauter received the free pass to rejoin the lead lap. Once back on the lead lap, and with the handling issues rectified, Sauter steadily worked his way to the front.

“Joe and the guys did a great job getting us loosened up so we could be competitive at the end,” Sauter said. “On the last restart I knew with Todd (Bodine) and Ron (Hornaday) being side by side there was a good chance they would get together and wreck. I could have made it three wide and pushed it but I figured if they did get together we’d get by both of them without having to fight them for it. Somehow Hornaday got loose going into turn three and we didn’t have to fight for second with him. It stinks to be that close to winning and not getting it done. We’re all pretty competitive and we’re here to win races. But it was a good points night for the In Country Television/Curb Records Chevy so we’ll look at the big picture and head to Michigan and try to get us another win.”

Sauter moves up to fifth in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship standings, 205 points behind Texas winner and current leader Todd Bodine and just 50 points behind Ron Hornaday for fourth.

Next up for Johnny Sauter and the No. 13 Curb Records Chevrolet is the VFW 200 at Michigan International Speedway on Saturday June 12. The race is scheduled for a 2 P.M. Eastern start and will be televised live on SPEED and broadcast on select affiliates of the MRN Radio network nationwide as well as on Sirius NASCAR Radio Channel 128 (XM 104).

06-02-10

Johnny Sauter No. 13 In Country Television/Curb Records Chevrolet Silverado Express Notes: WinStar World Casino 400 at Texas

Johnny Sauter has had success in his previous NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races at Texas Motor Speedway. With two sixth-place finishes last season Sauter knows how get around the fast 1.5-mile quad-oval. But sixth isn’t good enough for Sauter; he’s headed back to Texas with one goal in mind, wearing the famous TMS cowboy hat and firing off the commemorative pistols in victory lane.

What’s your game plan to get into victory lane at Texas? “It seems like it’s been feast or famine for the No. 13 team this year so we’re headed to Texas thinking it’s time for another feast. We’ve tried some things that we thought should work but didn’t so we’re going down with what we know. We ran really good at Texas last year and we’ll have the same truck so we have a good baseline to start from. We’ve been so up-and-down this year that a sixth-place finish might be good, but really we’re looking for a lot more than that. We’d like to come out of Texas with a good solid top-five finish and work on building our consistency for the rest of the summer. But the main goal is what it is every week and that’s to come out with a win.”

How does Texas compare now versus when you started racing there in 2001? “It has aged like a lot of the other tracks we race at and it’s made it a lot more competitive. When you lose grip it makes the trucks slip and slide and the driver can really pick it up against the competition. There are a lot of little bumps in the asphalt and the track has a lot of character to it now and that leads to more side by side racing.”

There is a big bump in turn one over the tunnel at Texas; how do you work on your setup with coil-binding to make it work over the bumps? “That’s the key to the whole thing at Texas. If you can keep on the gas over the bump in turn one that’s a tenth of a second a lap. That’s what separates the guys running first and second from the guys running sixth and seventh. Joe (Shear) and the guys spend a lot of time working on perfecting that setup so we can stay wide open over that bump and get that advantage over the competition.”

05-25-10

“Science Project” Doesn’t Give Sauter Results at Charlotte

Johnny Sauter and crew chief Joe Shear, Jr. tried something a little different with the setup of the No. 13 In Country Television/Curb Records Chevrolet for the North Carolina Education Lottery 200 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, but their science project left Sauter with an ill-handling truck and a twelfth-place finish.

“We had our best truck at Charlotte, No. 23, and we tried something to make it run even better,” Sauter said. “We know to run against the competition in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series we need to be looking for ways to make ourselves better because if we stay where we are we’re actually moving backwards compared to the other teams. We tried something and it didn’t work the way we thought it would. The downside is we finished twelfth but the upside is we learned what not to do in the future. It’s just like when you go test somewhere; learning what doesn’t work is almost as important as learning what does work.”

Sauter remains sixth in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship standings, 180 points behind leader Todd Bodine and 14 points behind teammate Matt Crafton for fifth.

The next race for Sauter and the No. 13 Curb Records Chevrolet is the Winstar World Casino 400 at Texas Motor Speedway on June 4. The race will be televised live on SPEED starting with a 30-minute pre-race show at 8:30 P.M. Eastern. The race will also be broadcast live on select affiliates of the Motor Racing Network nationwide and on Sirius NASCAR Radio Channel 128 (XM 104).

05-18-10

Johnny Sauter No. 13 In Country Television/Curb Records Chevrolet Silverado Express Notes: North Carolina Education Lottery 200 at Charlotte Motor Speedway

Johnny Sauter heads to Charlotte on a mile-and-a-half hot streak. Since teaming with crew chief Joe Shear, Jr. at Chicagoland Speedway last August, Sauter has scored two wins (Las Vegas, 2009; Kansas 2010), three top-five finishes, and six top ten finishes on the 1.5-mile tracks. In the sixteen races in which the duo have been paired together they have racked up an impressive 8.9 average finish, including seven top-five finishes and ten top-ten finishes. If not for events out of their control at Martinsville and Dover, where trouble not of their own doing took them out of the top-five within sight of the checkered flag, they would almost certainly have added to both of those totals.

What’s the most challenging part of racing at Charlotte? “The biggest challenge is the mechanical side. It’s getting the nose down and getting the truck over the bumps. From a driver’s perspective it’s a great place to go race. It’s fast and it has a ton of grip and it’s one of those races we all look forward too all year long. I’d give anything to win at Charlotte.”

How much of your previous experience in the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series carries over to racing at Charlotte in a Truck? “There really isn’t much that carries over at all. When you’re driving a Cup or a Nationwide car you have to get out of the gas for so long, but with a Truck you’re on the throttle wide open for a real long time. I heard Elliott Sadler talk about driving a Truck compared to a Sprint Cup car and he couldn’t believe how fast these Trucks go through the center of the corner. So even though I’ve been to Charlotte a lot and had a lot of Sprint Cup and Nationwide races there, there really isn’t any of that previous experience that carries over.”

05-15-10

Tire troubles leave Sauter 15th at Dover

Johnny Sauter was just six laps away from slaying the Monster Mile, but a flat right front tire on lap 194 sent the No. 13 In Country Television/Curb Records Chevrolet into the turn four wall and out of contention for a top-five finish in the Dover 200 at Dover International Speedway. Thanks to some good work behind the wheel and then some quick work to make repairs on pit road, the damage was minimized and repaired giving Sauter a chance to recover to 15th at the finish.

“We had a great truck today and we were in a great position to get another top-five finish but the right front went down and we got up into the wall,” Sauter said. “There were a few other right front tire failures today and those guys weren’t as fortunate as we were. We just barely bounced off the fence and the guys did a good job of getting it repaired enough to get back out and get us to the end.

“That’s the second top-five finish this year that slipped away from us within the last few laps, so we’re a little frustrated right now. But the flip side of that coin is that these guys have built awesome trucks this year and we’re in contention every week. I don’t know what we could have done differently in either of those races, Martinsville and here, to change what happened. Those things are out of your control so we’re going to concentrate on what we can control and keep building fast race trucks and let the chips fall where they may. We aren’t letting this get us down though, we have a lot of momentum and we’re going to get us a lot more wins this season.”

With the misfortune at Dover, Sauter dropped a couple of positions in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series standings to seventh but he remains in the thick of the championship hunt. He’s just four points behind sixth-place Ricky Carmichael and eleven points out of fifth. Sauter is now 159 points behind championship leader Aric Almirola with 18 races yet to go in the 2010 season.

Next up for Sauter and the No. 13 ThorSport Racing/Curb Records Chevrolet is the North Carolina Education Lottery 200 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Friday May 21. The race will be televised live on SPEED at starting with a 30-minute pre-race show at 7:30 P.M. Eastern. The race can also be heard live on select affiliates of the Motor Racing Network and on Sirius NASCAR Radio Channel 128 (XM104).

05-13-10

Johnny Sauter No. 13 In Country Television/Curb Records Chevrolet Silverado Preview: Dover 200 at Dover International Speedway

Johnny Sauter is anxious to return to Dover International Speedway – but not necessarily because he is coming off a victory in the last NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race and finished fourth at Dover last season. Sauter will pull out all the stops to score back-to-back wins and he’s optimistic of his chances, but he’s also looking forward to getting back on the Monster Mile for the thrill of barreling into the 24-degree corners and leaving his foot planted firmly on the floor.

You’re coming off your first win of the season at Kansas and coming to Dover where you finished fourth last season. Can you make it two in a row? “We’re going to give it everything we’ve got. We are taking a newer-style chassis and it blew really good numbers in the wind tunnel. Right now my guys are so focused and so confident, we just know we’re going to get ourselves a bunch of wins this year and we have a great shot at getting another one at Dover.”

Is Dover a fun track to drive or does it live up to its reputation as the Monster Mile? “It’s a really fun track to drive. Last year I am almost positive I kept it planted to the mat the whole way around in qualifying. That’s hard to do because you see those corners coming up and you’re brain is telling you that you need to lift, even just the slightest little bit, but you know you need to keep the hammer down. It is exhilarating for sure and it takes your breath away. It’s almost impossible to describe in words.”

It’s fast, narrow and high banked. Dover can be treacherous, how do you prepare for the unknown? “I think the best way to deal with Dover is to understand you have to give and take. You can’t just drive down into the corner and whack someone in the bumper because you’ll send them into the wall and it will be a big wreck. This just isn’t a place where you can play rough and beat and bang.”

Johnny at Dover: Johnny Sauter made his Dover Truck Series debut in 2009 recording a fifth-place finish after starting fourth. He has eleven career Nationwide Series starts at Dover with one top-five (fifth, Sept. 2004) and two top-ten finishes. He led 31 laps in June 2005 before being eliminated in an accident. He has three career Sprint Cup Series starts at Dover recording a best finish of 20th in June 2004.

Johnny’s Dover Truck: Johnny will drive ThorSport Racing Chassis No. 30 at Dover this week.

05-02-10

Sauter Drives to Impressive Victory in Kansas

Despite contact from another truck and bouncing off the retaining wall with 12 laps to go, Johnny Sauter drove the ThorSport Racing No. 13 In Country Television/What A Horse/Curb Records Chevrolet to victory in Sunday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 250 at Kansas Speedway. Even with the late-race drama Sauter dominated the race, leading four times for a race-high 101 laps before gliding under the checkered flag 5.032 seconds ahead of runner-up finisher Ron Hornaday. The jubilant ThorSport Racing crew greeted Sauter with a cake to the face in victory lane as the win comes the day after his 32nd birthday.

The excitement started when Sauter was leading into turn three on lap 155. Hornaday looked to the inside in a battle for the lead. As the duo approached the turn, the lapped truck of Mario Gosselin was in the low groove and Hornaday attempted to make it three wide. Hornaday wiggled and slipped up the track, barely touching Sauter in the left rear quarter panel. Both trucks went sliding sideways, with Sauter making slight contact against the wall with the right rear bumper. Both drivers were able to maintain control and the incident did not draw a caution flag. Once back under control, Sauter calmly drove away from Hornaday to claim his second career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory. He also won last September at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

“That’s just incredible,” Sauter said in victory lane. “I was a little upset when it happened, thinking Hornaday got us again. But we were able to keep it pointed in the right direction and thankfully we didn’t do any damage to the truck or burn up the tires. I think that’s what happened to Ron when he slid down the banking he gassed it up and burned the tires up. After that he couldn’t run with us. I am so proud of this team – we’ve had a little bad luck to start the season but they never got down and they never gave up. We worked hard to get this truck right after Nashville. We were so bad there that you wouldn’t have even known we were in the race, and with all the hard work by Joe Shear and the guys here we are in victory lane.”

The win puts Sauter back into the thick of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship battle. He’s now fifth, just 117 points behind leader Timothy Peters and just 20 points behind fourth-place Hornaday.

“Right now I’m not even thinking about points,” Sauter said. “Joe thinks about it but I am here to win races. If we can get a few more of these this season like I think we can, the points will take care of themselves.”

Next up for Sauter and the No. 13 ThorSport Racing Chevrolet is the Dover 200 at Dover International Raceway. The race will be televised on a same-day tape-delayed basis on Friday May 14 at 8 P.M. Eastern. It will be broadcast live on select affiliates of the Motor Racing Network nationwide and on Sirius NASCAR Radio Channel 128 (XM104).

04-28-10

Johnny Sauter No. 13 In Country Television/Curb Records Chevrolet Preview: O’Reilly 250 at Kansas Speedway

Johnny Sauter heads into the fifth race of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season looking to build some consistency. Sauter’s team has performed well throughout the season but racing luck hasn’t allowed the team to score finishes that reflect their performance. Returning to a 1.5-mile speedway, where Sauter and crew chief Joe Shear, Jr. performed so well throughout the final half of 2009, should allow Sauter to get back on the right track.

It’s been a while since the Trucks raced; how ready are you to get back on track and start racing on a more regular basis? “We’ve had great trucks this season but we haven’t had any luck to get the finishes we need. So we’re really ready to get back on track and start racing every week. We need to build some momentum and some consistency and get things turned around. This team is capable of winning and we’ve learned some things about our trucks during the time off and we can’t wait to get back on the track and go racing.”

How similar is Kansas to some of the other intermediate tracks? “There are some similarities to some of the other tracks. I really like racing at Kansas and I’ve had some really good runs there. There’s some similarity to Las Vegas so we’ll put a setup that has a lot of what we used at Las Vegas and we expect to be really good right off the trailer. Kansas Speedway has started to age a little and it’s lost some of its grip and that makes it more fun for the drivers. We’ll slip and slide a little more and it puts it more in the driver’s hands. I can’t wait to get there and I think you’ll see us have a good chance at winning.”

What do you need to do at Kansas to get to victory lane? “The guys have worked non-stop on our trucks over this break. We’ve learned some things we were doing that we probably shouldn’t have been doing and we learned some things we should be doing. The guys have been working really hard on their pit stops too. The team as a whole has run really well on the mile-and-a-half tracks over the last three or four years and the 13 did last year too. With all that’s happened over the past four weeks I am even more confident than I was last year at this time.”

In Country Television and What A Horse Partner for Kansas: For the second consecutive race, In Country Television will appear on the hood and quarter panels of the ThorSport Racing No. 13 Chevrolet. In Country Television is available on DirecTV (Channel 344) and Dish Network (Channel 208), as well as online at www.incountrytelevision.com, and features hunting, fishing, equine, motorsports, and other outdoor programming. What A Horse, a featuring the Tennessee Walking Horse, will also appear on the hood. What A Horse will appear on In Country Television starting May 3 at 9 P.M. Eastern. It’s also available by subscription at www.whatahorse.com.

Johnny at Ronald McDonald House: Along with his ThorSport Racing teammate Matt Crafton, Johnny Sauter will visit the Ronald McDonald House in Kansas City on Friday April 30. Sauter will tour the facility and playground being built in memory of former Sprint marketing exec Tom Murphy. “Tom was a great guy and did a lot for our sport,” Sauter said. “It’s cool to have this playground built in his honor through the NASCAR Foundation. We’re going to donate a lot of Fun Sand for a sandbox. It will be fun to go visit the kids and their families and talk racing for a while and take their minds off some of the things they’re going through in their lives.”

Johnny’s Kansas Truck: Johnny will race ThorSport Chassis No. 23. He raced it earlier this season at Atlanta and drove it to victory last September at Las Vegas.

Johnny at Kansas: Johnny has one Sprint Cup start (finished 23rd in 2007), six Nationwide Series starts (best finish third in 2005), and one previous Camping World Truck Series start at Kansas Speedway. Last season Sauter finished ninth after starting 12th. He completed all 132 laps after the race was shortened due to rain.

04-23-10

ThorSport Racing Drivers to Visit the Ronald McDonald House in Kansas City

ThorSport Racing drivers Matt Crafton and Johnny Sauter will make an appearance at the Ronald McDonald House in Kansas City on Friday April 30. The NASCAR Foundation is partnering with Sprint and Turner Construction to build a playground in honor of Tom Murphy, the Sprint vice president who passed away in an accident one year ago. ThorSport Racing is assisting with the build by donating over two tons of FunSand colored play sand.

Crafton and Sauter will tour the Ronald McDonald House and the playground site then meet with the children and their families.

“This is a really great cause and we’re happy to be a part of it,” said Johnny Sauter, driver of the No. 13 In Country Television/Curb Records Chevrolet. “Tom was a great guy and he did a lot to help move NASCAR racing forward. We were all shocked when we heard the news last spring about his accident, but this is a great way for the sport to honor his memory and all he did. I’m looking forward to getting there and seeing the kids and meeting their families. I’m sure there will be some NASCAR fans among them so it will be fun to talk racing with them and give them a chance to think about something fun for a while.”

Fun Sand colored play sand can be used both indoors and outdoors, and thanks to the Dust Lock Formula additive provides a clean, dustless play environment. It can be molded into shapes without water and its brilliant blue or purple color will not run or stain. Its lifelike textural experience is ideal for childhood development and it is also perfect for non-traditional uses such as in reptile enclosures.

“We’re honored the NASCAR Foundation thought high enough about us to reach out and ask us to participate,” said Rick Noon, director of research and development for ThorWorks, manufacturer of Fun Sand. “It’s a great product that allows families and businesses the chance to have a traditional sandbox for kids to play in without all of the mess that goes along with it. It will be a great fit on the playground at the Ronald McDonald House and we hope it helps bring a little enjoyment to some families that are going through a rough time.”

Fun Sand is available at stores nationwide. For more information, log on to www.funsand.net.

04-03-10

Sauter Charges From the Back to Eleventh in Nashville

Johnny Sauter was forced to start at the tail of the 36-truck starting field for Friday night’s Nashville 200, but that didn’t stop him from charging through the field and challenging for a top-ten finish in the No. 13 In Country Television/Curb Records Chevrolet.

Sauter made quick work of the field, charging past 17 other drivers in the first ten laps of the 150-lap race. Sauter eventually broke into the top dozen, but an extended run of green flag racing left him a lap behind the leader and didn’t allow for an opportunity to make one final adjustment to make a charge into the top ten. Sauter eventually crossed the finish line in eleventh.

“We could have used one more adjustment to the In Country Television Chevy,” Sauter said. “It just plowed like a dump truck that final run. I really thought we were about a sixth or seventh place truck but we changed a shock after qualifying and had to go to the back for an unapproved adjustment. Then we had a 70 lap run without a caution. I can’t ever remember a Truck race at Nashville running that long under green. But we had a good truck, Joe Shear and the guys did a great job – we just couldn’t get track position.”

Sauter is 14th in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series standings, just 19 points out of the top ten.

The next race for Sauter and the No. 13 ThorSport Racing Chevrolet is the O’Reilly Auto Parts 250 at Kansas Speedway on Sunday, May 2. The race will be televised live on SPEED starting at 12:30 P.M. Eastern with the green flag scheduled for shortly after 1 P.M. The race will also be broadcast on select affiliates of the MRN Radio network and on Sirius NASCAR Radio Channel 128.

03-31-10

In Country Television to Sponsor Johnny Sauter and ThorSport Racing No. 13 at Nashville

In Country Television, a full spectrum network with programming directed towards the outdoors enthusiast, will sponsor Johnny Sauter and the ThorSport Racing No. 13 team this weekend at Nashville Superspeedway. ICTV is fully owned and operated by Rob Sigg of Performance One Media.

ICTV is currently available to over 33 million Dish Network (Channel 230) and DirectTV (Channel 344) subscribers. Millions more have access to its content via live streaming on www.incountrytelevision.com. Current programming focuses on hunting, fishing, motorsports, equine, and other outdoor recreational activities.

“Partnering with ThorSport is perfect for us,” said Rob Sigg, president and CEO of In Country Television. “ThorSport is deeply involved in two activities that we carry on ICTV, motorsports and equestrian. ThorSport Racing is one of the top teams in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and ThorSport Farms has built a very strong reputation in just a few short years in the equestrian world. We look forward to our partnership with ThorSport blossoming and getting the In Country Television brand out there to the NASCAR fans. We hope they all check us out either on Channel 230 on Dish Network, Channel 344 on DirecTV, or on the web.”

With over 80 years of combined television experience, Sigg and the staff at Performance One Media are experts in national television programming, advertising, and distribution.

The Nashville 200 at Nashville Superspeedway is set for Friday April 2 with the green flag scheduled for shortly after 8 P.M. Eastern. The race will be televised live on SPEED and on select affiliates of MRN Radio nationwide as well as Sirius NASCAR Radio Channel 128 (XM104).

03-31-10

Johnny Sauter No. 13 In Country Television/Curb Records Chevrolet Silverado Preview: Nashville 200 at Nashville Superspeedway

It takes an ultra-competitive personality to succeed in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. That intense desire to win means every race is important to Johnny Sauter, but whenever he races in Nashville there is added significance as his benefactor Mike Curb is a major force in the Nashville music scene. Curb, the former Lieutenant Governor of California, is the founder and president of Curb Records and for the past 45 years has produced, written, and composed hundreds of songs, earned countless industry awards, and in 2007 was named Nashvillian of the Year. His motorsports background is equally rich, earning numerous victories – including as team owner for Richard Petty’s historic 200th victory at Daytona in 1984 – and top-10 points finishes in 15 different motorsports series over the past 30 years.

Does racing at Nashville mean any added pressure to perform with Mike Curb’s ties to the Nashville music community? “I don’t think it’s possible for anyone to want to win any more than I already do. So there’s no more added pressure there because I already put that pressure on myself. So in that way it’s just like any other race. The Nashville track is right in Mike’s back yard and he certainly has meant a lot for my racing career over the past several years, so whenever we race in Nashville going there and performing well is an added bonus.”

Do you like racing at Nashville? “It’s a fun track because it reminds me of a short track but it still has some big track elements to it. I think we all have those tracks that you go to and you don’t run well so you don’t like them. Atlanta is like that for me. But we also have tracks that you run really well at, and that makes you like them even more. Nashville has always been a good track for me and it’s been one of my favorites for a long time.”

How is the surface at Nashville and do you expect it to be different than when you last raced there in August?
“The track at Nashville doesn’t change much between April and August. Concrete is a lot more consistent than asphalt is. It has a lot of grip. Other tracks, like Charlotte, change tremendously even with a couple degrees of air temperature or when the sun goes behind a cloud. The biggest difference at Nashville is the air temperature. It’s a lot hotter in August there than it is in April. As a driver you make sure you have your fluids so you don’t get dehydrated, but on the track there’s really not much difference in track conditions.”

Sauter at Nashville: Johnny Sauter has eleven previous NASCAR Nationwide Series starts at Nashville Superspeedway, with two runner-up finishes (April, 2003 and April, 2004) and one pole position (July, 2003). His only previous NASCAR Camping World Truck Series start resulted in a sixth-place finish in August, 2009.

In Country Television On Board: Sauter will carry new colors this weekend as In Country Television is sponsoring the No. 13 Chevrolet this weekend. ICTV specializes in hunting, fishing, motorsports, equine, and other outdoor programming and is available to 33 million Dish Network (Channel 230) and DirecTV (Channel 344) subscribers. ICTV content is available via live streaming on www.incountrytelevision.com. Curb Records’ recording artists Bomshel and their newest album “Fight Like a Girl” will be on the bed cover.

03-27-10

Sauter Unhappy with 15th at Martinsville

Johnny Sauter left Martinsville Speedway happy with the performance of the No. 13 SealMaster/Try13.com Chevrolet but unhappy with his finish position after late-race contact with Ron Hornaday sent Sauter spinning out of the second position and relegating him to 15th finishing position.
 
Sauter had perhaps the only truck in the field capable of running with eventual winner Kevin Harvick, and spent most of the first half of the race charging through the top five to the second position. Misfortune struck on a pit stop on lap 120 when the jack dropped before the lugnuts on the left rear tire were properly tightened. The team quickly lifted the truck and reaffixed the wheel, patched up some minor body damage and sent Sauter back on track. But the time lost on pit road dropped Sauter from second to 21st.
 
Sauter quickly knifed through the field once back under green. Within twenty laps he was back among the top ten, and within 40 laps he was third. He eventually made it back up to second and was chasing down the leader when contact from Hornaday coming off turn four on lap 222 sent Sauter sideways. Mike Skinner had no where to go and connected with the left front of the No. 13 SealMaster/Try13.com Chevrolet and when it was all over Sauter had dropped to 17th. Even with considerable damage, Sauter was able to make up a couple of positions on the track and finish 15th.
 
“We’re obviously disappointed with the way the day ended for the SealMaster/Try13.com Chevy,” Sauter said. “There’s no question we were one of the best two trucks here, and I really thought we had a chance to get up and race Harvick for the win. Unfortunately we got taken out. That’s part of short track racing I guess. It’s discouraging because the guys built an awesome truck and we deserved a lot better than that.”

Sauter’s impressive run from deep in the field gave him confidence to chase down the leader with less than 25 laps to go prior to the incident with Hornaday.
 
“I don’t know what happened on that pit stop,” Sauter said. “The jack dropped and I took off. The lugs weren’t tight so we had to get the tire on there and lost a bunch of track position. We went back out and the truck was absolutely awesome. Joe Shear and the rest of the ThorSport guys did a great job with this truck. It did whatever I wanted it to and we ran right back up to second spot without any trouble at all. It’s just a shame we didn’t get a chance to get up there and race for the win but everyone knows how well we ran. We’re going to Nashville and we’ll run just as good there too, and every race on down the line.”
 
Even owing to the late-race misfortune, Sauter still climbed five positions to 14th in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship standings. He’s just 183 points behind leader Timothy Peters and just 15 points behind David Starr in the tenth position.
 
Next up for Sauter and the ThorSport Racing No. 13 Chevrolet is the Nashville 200 on Friday April 2 at Nashville Superspeedway. The fourth event of the 2010 NCWTS season is a one-day show with practice slated from 11 A.M. through 1:30 P.M Eastern. Qualifying will follow at 5 P.M. with the 150-lap/200-mile race scheduled for 8 P.M. Eastern. The race will be televised live flag-to-flag on SPEED and can be heard on select affiliates of MRN Radio nationwide and on Sirius NASCAR Radio Channel 128 (XM104).

03-25-10

Johnny Sauter No. 13 SealMaster Chevrolet Silverado Preview: Kroger 250 at Martinsville

Johnny Sauter returns to Martinsville Speedway looking for revenge…not against a fellow driver, nor against the track itself, but to set the record straight with “Lady Luck” – and to prove his mettle. Sauter and the ThorSport Racing team kept digging at the 0.526-mile paperclip-shaped oval last season, complete with truck capable of scoring a top-five finish in both races.

Martinsville is one of the most challenging tracks for a variety of reasons – mechanical, mental, emotional – is it hard to get into the right frame of mind for racing there? “The biggest challenge as a driver is to remind yourself to stay patiently aggressive. You don’t want to give up that hard earned track position, but you have to keep your head on straight and look at the big picture too. You can have someone beating on your back bumper for 20 laps who is on fresher tires and instead of letting that get to you sometimes it’s better to move over and let him go and remind yourself that roles will probably be reversed later on in the race when you’re on fresher tires.”

As a stand-out performer on the short tracks during your ascendancy to the upper levels of stock car racing, are you looking forward to getting back to some short track racing this weekend? “Oh man, I can’t wait to get to Martinsville. Getting back to short track racing is what this is all about, it’s where most of us got our start, and it’s what we grew up doing. It’s why we do this. I love racing at Martinsville and I always look forward to going there.”

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Johnny at Martinsville: Johnny has four career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts and one NASCAR Nationwide start at Martinsville, in which he scored a fifth-place finish. He has four previous NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts at Martinsville with his best finish, 16th, 10/2009. Johnny will drive ThorSport Racing Chassis No. 11 at Martinsville Speedway.

03-06-10

Sauter Scores First Top-10 of 2010 at Atlanta

Johnny Sauter rebounded from disappointment in the season-opener at Daytona by driving the ThorSport Racing No. 13 etc. EasytoInstall.com/Curb Records Chevrolet to a solid eighth-place finish in the E-Z-Go 200 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Sauter stayed in the lead pack throughout the entire 130-lap distance, never dropping outside of the top 15 and rarely running outside the top ten. Over the final quarter of the race Sauter raced from tenth to his eventual eighth-place finishing position.

“The truck is a lot better than it was yesterday and that’s good,” Sauter said. “We’re a little mystified why we weren’t as good here as we should have been. We had it in the wind tunnel this week and I know Joe (Shear) and the guys have worked their tails off on it over the winter. We’ll get the truck back to the shop and go through it with a fine tooth comb. It’s great to have teammates like the guys on the 88 truck because we worked with them last night to get our truck better. It’s awesome to have everyone working together as a team and trying to get both ThorSport trucks in the top five. But we’re racers man, we’re here to get wins and we’re not happy unless we get this team into victory lane. We finally have a race under our belts this year and we’ll get to work on getting us a win at Martinsville.”

Sauter improved 16 positions in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series standings, jumping to 19th. He is just 29 points out of the top-10 in the standings entering the third race of the 2010 season.

Next up for Johnny Sauter and the No. 13 etc. EasytoInstall.com/Curb Records Chevrolet is the Kroger 250 at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday March 27. There will be two rounds of practice on Friday March 26, the first at 10 A.M. Eastern and the second at 1:10 P.M. The 36-truck starting field will be set immediately following Sprint Cup Series qualifying. The race will be televised live on SPEED starting with a 30-minute pre-race show at 1:30 P.M. Eastern. The race can also be heard live on select affiliates of the Motor Racing Network nationwide and on Sirius NASCAR Radio Channel 128 (XM 104).

03-02-10

Johnny Sauter No. 13 etc. EasytoInstall.com/Curb Records Chevrolet Preview: Atlanta

Johnny Sauter is ready to finally get his chance to race in 2010 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season. Sauter was swept up in a multi-truck crash on the opening lap of the season-opening race at Daytona and was unable to complete a lap as a result. After a couple of off-weeks to regroup, Sauter and his Joe Shear, Jr.-led crew are ready to return with a vengeance. In the final four races on 1.5-mile speedways during the 2009 season, Sauter racked up four top-ten finishes including a dominant win at Las Vegas.
 
For the second consecutive race, ThorSport Racing will partner with Easy Transitional Cabinetry’s etc. brand cabinets and Southern Candle, Inc. Both companies will be featuring their websites, EasytoInstall.com and southerncandle.com. etc will be on the hood and quarter panels of the No. 13 Chevrolet, while SouthernCandle.com will be displayed on the tailgate. Curb Records recording artist Tim McGraw and his new album Southern Voice, as well as 94.9 “The Bull,” will be displayed on the bed cover.
 
How anxious are you to finally get a chance to go race the No. 13 truck after what happened in Daytona? “You’re only as good as your last race in this business, so I am really anxious to get there. We all look at restrictor plate-style racing knowing it can either be really good for you or really bad, and unfortunately we got the raw end of the deal down there. But I like racing at Atlanta and I know we have a good truck. It’s the same truck we had at Las Vegas when we won last year and the guys have worked all winter and have made it even better. It went to the wind tunnel on Monday so we should be ready to go as soon as practice starts.”
 
You and your team performed extremely well at the intermediate tracks in the second half of 2009; what type of advantage does that give you heading into Atlanta this weekend? “It’s a big boost knowing we have a truck that’s capable of winning. The guys worked all winter on making it even better too. We know what shocks and springs we want to try, and the only real variable is the tire Goodyear is bringing is a little different. We’ll work on getting the tire data we need during practice and I think we’ll be as competitive during the race as we were on the mile and a half tracks last season. After the way we started the season I can’t wait to get back in the truck and go show what the No. 13 team is capable of.”
 
Sauter at Atlanta: Johnny Sauter has eleven previous NASCAR starts at Atlanta Motor Speedway: three in the Sprint Cup Series, seven in the Nationwide Series, and one in the Camping World Truck Series. His best finish was in the NNS, a tenth-place finish in March 2002. Last year he finished 18th in his Camping World Truck Series debut at the 1.54-mile quad-oval.
 
Johnny’s Atlanta Truck: Johnny will be racing ThorSport Racing Chassis No. 23 at Atlanta; it is the same truck Johnny drove to victory at Las Vegas in September, 2009 and used to score three other top-five finishes over the final third of the 2009 season. It is the first time Sauter has raced this chassis in 2010.

 
Atlanta On-track: The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series takes to the 1.54-mile Atlanta Motor Speedway for their first practice at 1 P.M. on Friday, March 5, with final practice scheduled for 4:10 P.M. The 36-truck starting field will be determined in two-lap qualifying runs at 9:35 A.M. on Saturday, March 6. The second round of the 2010 NASCAR Camping World Series, the Atlanta 200 (130 laps/200 miles) is scheduled for 1:30 P.M. Eastern on Saturday, March 6. The race will be televised live on SPEED, starting with a 30-minute pre-race show at 1 P.M. Eastern. The race will also be broadcast live on select radio affiliates of the Motor Racing Network nationwide, and on Sirius NASCAR Radio Channel 128.

02-15-10

Sauter Frustrated with Early End to 2010 Season Opener at Daytona

To say Johnny Sauter was frustrated following the lap one crash that eliminated him from the NASCAR Camping World Series season-opening NextEra Energy Resources 250 at Daytona International Speedway may be the understatement of the year. Sauter, last year’s NCWTS Raybestos Rookie of the Year, was taken out in the rain-delayed event after another competitor made a mistake going into turn three on the first lap of the Truck Series race, doing terminal damage to Sauter’s ThorSport Racing No. 13 EasytoInstall.com/Curb Records Chevrolet and leaving him with a 35th-place finish.
 
“You can’t put into words just how frustrating it is to be taken out of the first race of the season on the first lap because someone else made a mistake,” Sauter said following the race. “My guys worked their guts out for three months to build a great truck for Daytona, and the three of us (Sauter and his ThorSport Racing teammates Matt Crafton and Landon Cassill) had planned on dropping back and letting the field thin itself out before going up and mixing it up for the win late in the race. Unfortunately, we never made it past the third turn of the first lap. It’s a real shame because we had a truck that could have been a contender, and instead of taking home a trophy we’re taking the truck home in pieces.”
 
Even with the frustration fresh in his mind, Sauter has high hopes for the remainder of the 2010 season.
 
“We knew going in this was a possibility,” Sauter said. “Getting taken out by someone else at Daytona is a 50-50 proposition, and it got us this time. But we know we had a good truck and we know we’ll have a good truck everywhere else we run this season. We’re going to go out and win some races – hopefully a lot of races – and make this all just a bad memory. We’re still all a little upset by it now, but like I’ve said before you can’t move forward by looking behind, so we’ll all put this behind us and look ahead to going to Atlanta and winning there.”
 
The next race for Sauter and the ThorSport Racing No. 13 FunSand/Curb Records Chevrolet is the Atlanta 200 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Saturday, March 6. The 135-lap/200-mile race will be televised live on SPEED starting with a 30-minute pre-race show at 1:30 P.M. Eastern. The race will also be broadcast live on select affiliates of the Motor Racing Network nationwide and on Sirius NASCAR Radio Channel 128 (XM 104).

02-09-10

Johnny Sauter No. 13 Curb Records/EasytoInstall.com Chevrolet Preview: Daytona

Johnny Sauter returns to ThorSport Racing in 2010 for his second season as driver of the No. 13 FunSand/Curb Records Chevrolet. Sauter’s performance in 2009 – one win, two poles, seven top-five finishes and 13 top-ten finishes en route to sixth in the final championship standings and the Raybestos Rookie of the Year award – has made him an early championship favorite in 2010.

Sauter teamed with ThorSport Racing in 2009 and once Joe Shear, Jr. joined the team in August the team hit its stride. Sauter scored eight of his eleven top-ten finishes over the final ten races, including five top-fives and a victory at Las Vegas. Although he’s a definite contender for the championship with Shear calling the shots from the pit box, Sauter won’t think about points until he has to; he prefers to chase after wins and let the points fall where they may. The first victory to chase is at Daytona where he finished a disappointing 27th after being collected in someone else’s mess in 2009.

ThorSport Racing has added sponsorship from Easy Transitional Cabinetry’s etc. brand cabinets and Southern Candle Inc. for the Daytona race. etc.’s website, EasytoInstall.com, will be on the quarter panels of the No. 13 Chevrolet, while Southern Candle will be displayed on the tailgate. Curb Records recording artist Tim McGraw and his new album Southern Voice will be displayed on the hood.

Your dad raced at Daytona starting in the early 1980s and your brothers Jay and Tim also both have raced there. With your family history dating back almost 30 years at Daytona, what does racing there mean to you? “I don’t think I’ve ever thought about it that way until now. It’s pretty cool that my family has raced there all these years with some of the greatest drivers to have ever driven stock cars, and it’s really cool for me to have a chance to do the same thing too. I guess the way I’ve always looked at Daytona is it’s the start of a new season and you want to start off on the right foot. It’s good to get into Daytona and get back in the truck and get back into the routine, but it’s always nice to get out of Daytona with a little momentum that you can carry over to the next race.”

You were caught up in someone else’s problem last year at Daytona and it ended your night early. Is there anything you can do as a driver to put your fate in your own hands? “I look at that as a one-hundred percent question. Fifty percent of that is in your hands. That’s not doing anything on the track that’s going to compromise you or the other drivers out there and start the big wreck. The other fifty percent is it’s either going to happen or it’s not. So much of it is really out of your control, which is what happened to us last season. I guess you could say you’re just in the hands of the racing gods at that point.”

Have you and your crew chief Joe Shear talked about what the No. 13 team can do to be better than last season? “We have talked about it and we have a little different philosophy about it. I would rather go out and win 8 or 10 races and forget about worrying about the points until the end of the season, and he would rather be in a position to win the championship even without winning any races. We both agree we need to put forth our best effort every week. I guess I am a little different because I wonder how you can set a goal for yourself to come somewhere and finish sixth or seventh and have a good points day. I always look at it that you want to go out and win every race you’re in. If you do that, the points will end up taking care of themselves. I don’t want to look back at last season because I don’t think you can move forward by looking backward. I know the guys at the shop have worked extremely hard over the winter to do their jobs the best they can, and I know I am going to give it all I can on the track.”

Johnny Sauter at Daytona: Johnny has raced at Daytona in all three of NASCAR’s top divisions, the Sprint Cup Series, the Nationwide Series, and the Camping World Truck Series. In the NSCS, he’s made five starts with three top-20 finishes the best of which was a 16th-place finish in the 2007 Daytona 500. He’s completed 877 of a possible 884 laps (99.2%) with a 24.4 average starting position and a 21.0 average finishing position. In the NNS, he’s made 11 starts with two top-five finishes and four top-ten finishes, including a best finish of second in February 2004. He’s completed 1,104 of a possible 1,227 laps (90.0%), with an average start of 14.7 and an average finish of 17.6. In the NCWTS he has one start, coming in 2009, in which he finished 27th after starting ninth. He was eliminated in an early accident after completing 47 of the race’s 100 laps. He was at the front of the field for three laps before the accident.

Sauter’s Daytona Truck: Johnny will pilot ThorSport Racing Chassis No. 16, known as “Patches”. It’s the truck Sauter used in competition at Daytona and Talladega in 2009. Sauter was caught up in an early crash at Daytona, resulting in a 27th-place finish. At Talladega, Sauter qualified 17th and finished 14th. Patches replaces “Miss Piggy,” ThorSport Racing’s original chassis dating back to 1996 which has been used at Daytona and Talladega each year since 2000.

Still sponsorship opportunities available: Although the No. 13 Chevrolet will carry the FunSand and Curb Records banner again throughout the 2010 Camping World Truck Series season, partnership opportunities with the team are still available. Anything from a one-race primary sponsorship to full-season primary and/or associate sponsorship is still available. “Our owners Duke and Rhonda Thorson and Mike Curb have given the No. 13 team everything they need to go after the championship in 2010, but we still have sponsorship opportunities available,” said ThorSport Racing Vice President of Motorsports Partnerships Matt LaNeve. “If there is a company out there that wants to be a part of a winning team that’s going to make a serious run at the Camping World Truck Series championship, even if it’s just for one race, they should give us a call. If there is a company out there that wants to be a part of a winning team that’s going to make a serious run at the Camping World Truck Series championship, they should give us a call. We’re always interested in talking to people and seeing what kind of unique and exciting business-driven partnerships that drive results we can create through a motorsports partnership.”

ThorSport Racing No. 13 Curb Records/EasytoInstall.com Chevrolet Pit Crew:

Crew chief: Joe Shear, Jr.
Rear tire changer: R.B. Bracken
Truck chief: Danny Lemasters
Rear tire carrier: Nate Megrow
Front tire changer: Brandon Barr
Gasman: Danny Lemasters
Front tire carrier: Kevin Gravitte
Spotter: David Pepper
Jackman: Cody Jarrett
Transport driver: Danny Bolton

Daytona Schedule: The 2010 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series kicks off with the NextEra Energy Resources 250 at Daytona International Speedway on Friday February 12. The first practice is a 90-minute session scheduled for 6 P.M. on Wednesday February 10, with the final two-hour session slated for Thursday February 11 at 9 A.M. The 36-truck starting field will be determined in two-lap qualifying runs at 6 P.M. on Thursday evening. The eleventh annual NextEra Energy Resources 250 will go green shortly after 8 P.M. on Friday night; it can be seen live on SPEED and heard live on select affiliates of the Motor Racing Network and on Sirius NASCAR Radio Channel 128.

01-15-10

Congrats to Cortney & Johnny Sauter

Congratulations go out to Cortney and Johnny Sauter on the birth of their baby boy, Penn Joseph who was born January 13, 2010 and weighed in at 8 Lbs. 5 ounces.

Johnny Sauter 2009 Headlines

11-24-09

Sauter Narrowly Misses Spot in Top-5 of Standings

Johnny Sauter raced to a ninth-place finish in the season-ending Ford 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Friday, falling just shy of a top-five spot in the NCWTS final standings. Sauter finished sixth in the standings, a mere seven points removed from a coveted top-five slot.

It was Sauter’s third-consecutive top-ten finish, and his thirteenth of the season. He racked up seven top-five finishes. Sauter captured a dominating win at Las Vegas, and was whisker-close to victory in at least a handful of other races this season. He won Pole Awards at Texas and Phoenix. He also won the NCWTS Raybestos Rookie of the Year title.

“I’m proud of how far this No. 13 Fun Sand Chevrolet team came this season,” Sauter said. “We missed a spot in the top-five in the points-standings by a slim margin, and that’s something we were really shooting for, but, at the same time, we know how much progress we made this season. As we all know, it takes time for a group of new guys on a team to jell, and we really saw it happen with this team.”

Sauter and his Fun Sand bunch served notice that they’ll be a force with which to reckon in 2010.

“We did some good things this season, won a race at Las Vegas, which was big for our team, and special for ThorSport Racing as an organization,” he said. “We know we should’ve won a few others, too, and felt like we kind of let them get away from us. But it all contributes to continued growth, to knowing we’re capable of winning races and expecting to run in the top-five each time out and knowing what we need to do to be that much better. I’m thankful to (crew chief Shear Jr.) Joe and all of our guys for their great work this season. They busted their rear-ends for me, kept me in awesome race trucks all season. I appreciate the opportunity that (ThorSport Racing owners) Duke and Rhonda Thorson have given me to drive this No. 13 Fun Sand Chevy, and I’m having a blast. I'm confident we’ll keep improving, and expect that we'll be hard to beat next season.”

Sauter and ThorSport Racing teammate Matt Crafton (No. 88 Menards Chevy) raised eyebrows throughout the Truck Series garage as a formidable and consistent one-two team punch this season. Crafton finished in 2nd place in the NCWTS standings.

“I’m thankful to Matt for his help and advice,” said Sauter. “He fought hard for a championship all season, has been in this series a long time, and knows what it takes to succeed. It’s been pretty cool to be able to lean on him for his insight. ThorSport Racing is in a great spot, with two teams that have what it takes to win races and compete for championships. This No. 13 team has a ways to go yet, but we’re confident good things are around the corner for us. We’ll just keep working hard to get there.’

11-16-09

Sauter Finishes Fifth at Phoenix, Heads for Homestead Finale

Johnny Sauter charged to a fifth-place finish in the Lucas Oil 150 at Phoenix International Raceway on Friday.
The effort was Sauter’s seventh top-five finish of the season, and propelled his return to a spot in the top-five in the NCWTS standings. Sauter started the race from the pole position after capturing his second Keystone Light Pole Award of the season.

“All in all, it was a solid evening for us,” he said. “We’re looking to win races each time out, and we had a really strong truck and thought we’d have something to say about it, but we came up a little short. We started loose, got tight and ended-up just a tick free. We just missed it a little bit. But I’m thankful to the guys on this No. 13 Fun Sand Chevy team for everything they’re doing for me. Hopefully, we can close out the season on a strong note with a win at Homestead.”

Sauter enters the Ford 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Friday seeking his second victory of the season (he won at Las Vegas), a spot in the top-five in the standings for the season, and to serve notice of his designs on a NCWTS championship in 2010.

“We’re happy with what we’ve accomplished this season, but we know that we let a few additional wins get away from us,” he said. “It’s been a learning process for me in driving these trucks this season, and it always takes time for a new group of guys to jell. We feel like we have all the pieces in place now, and I think we’ve only begun to show what we’re capable of. Our expectations are high, and, while that may not always be realistic, I think that’s the way you have to approach it. We’ve come a long way this season, but we still have a long way to go. This team is here to win races each week, and, as far as next season is concerned, there’s no reason we shouldn’t expect to battle for a championship. But we still have business to tend to at Homestead first.”

Friday will mark Sauter’s third NCWTS start at Homestead-Miami, including a previous start for ThorSport Racing there during the 2005 season. He finished tenth in a Nationwide Series race at Homestead-Miami in ’06.

“I love racing at Homestead because of the true progressive banking of the track,” Sauter said. “It allows for being able to pass other trucks, and makes for great side-by-side racing. We expect to be really strong again on Friday, and it would be awesome for our guys to finish the season in Victory Lane.”

11-13-09

Sauter Scores Second Pole

Johnny Sauter scored his second career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series pole on Friday after he grabbed the top spot for tonight's Lucas Oil 150. Sauter turned a lap of 131.019 mph in his Chevrolet. Source: RacingOne Staff (RacingOne.com)

11-10-09

Sauter Says Phoenix One of Favorites

Johnny Sauter enters the Lucas Oil 150 at Phoenix International Raceway on Friday seeking a return to Victory Lane and a spot in the top-five in the NCWTS standings.

Sauter, who scored a sixth-place finish last week at Texas, is in seventh-place in the standings and less than sixty points from reclaiming a top-five spot with two races remaining this season.

“Phoenix is one of my favorite tracks,” said Sauter, who owns four top-ten finishes in Cup and Nationwide Series competition at the one-miler. “It’s flat, fun and just great racing. Hopefully, we can take our No. 13 Rodney Atkins-Curb Records Chevrolet to Victory Lane on Friday.”

Sauter has collected six top-five and eleven top-ten finishes this season, but has finished outside the top-five in each of the last three races following a streak of five-consecutive top-five finishes highlighted by a win at Las Vegas.

“We felt like we had a better truck last week than what we showed,” Sauter said of his effort at Texas. “It was a solid night, but we felt like the potential was there for a great night. We felt like we kinda let one get away from us a little bit. Hopefully, we can show our strength at Phoenix and in the season-finale at Miami next week, and put ourselves back in the top-five in the points for the season. This group has done a heck of a job for me, and we’ve come a long way. There’d be nothing better right now than to finish the season with another win and in the top-five in points. We’ll give it all we have at Phoenix, and hope that things fall the right way for us.”

11-04-09

Sauter Finishes 14th at Talladega

Johnny Sauter returns to Texas Motor Speedway for the WinStar World Casino 350 on Friday looking to top his strong effort at the track in June, when he captured the Keystone Light Pole Award and finished sixth in the race.
“Texas is an awesome place to race,” Sauter said. “It’s just a great atmosphere there. We sat on the Pole for the June race, led the first fifty laps and felt that we had the truck to win, but had a hiccup or two that cost us track-position. We’re bringing back the same truck, so we feel good about it. Texas is a place where it takes the total package to get it done; you’ve gotta have the aero, horsepower, track-position…all the elements have to be there. When your truck is right at Texas, you can hold it wide-open all night, and, hopefully, that will be the case for us on Friday.”

Sauter looks to recapture the momentum that took him to five-consecutive top-5 finishes and a spot in the top-5 in the NCWTS points-standings recently. He leads the series’ Raybestos Rookie of the Year race.

“The guys on this No. 13 Advance Auto Parts/Rio Grande/Curb Records Chevy team have built great trucks all season for me, and I’m really thankful for all of their hard work,” Sauter said. “I’m proud of the progress we’ve made and the way this team has come together, and we’re at a point where, frankly, we expect to win races each time out. We just keep looking for ways to get better. We’ll be disappointed if we’re not right there in contention for a win on Friday.”

11-02-09

Sauter Finishes 14th at Talladega

Johnny Sauter raced inside the top-ten for much of the afternoon and appeared primed for a possible victory push, but suffered truck damage in a wreck with four laps remaining and fell to a 14th place finish in the Mountain Dew 250 at Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday.

“A couple of the usual suspects swung wide coming up off the corner, and one of them tried to squeeze his way back in line,” said Sauter of the wreck which took him out of victory-contention. “I was already there, and, in that position, there’s no way you can lift. If you roll out of the throttle there, you stand a good chance of taking yourself out. But it just wasn’t meant to be for us today.”

Sauter had jumped to the high-line in front of ThorSport Racing teammate Matt Crafton a few laps prior to the accident in hopes of making a push to the front.

“I saw Matt coming on the outside, and felt like it was the right move at the time to try to win the race,” Sauter said. “I took a chance, but probably ended-up costing him a win. That was a problem for me all day. I just wasn’t fast-enough, and whenever I got out in front of somebody, whether it was Matt or anyone else, I just seemed to slow ‘em down.”

Sauter is in eighth-place in the NCWTS standings, with three races remaining this season, including Friday’s visit to Texas, where Sauter won the Keystone Light Pole Award earlier this season. He is within fifty points of a spot in the top-five in the standings. Sauter leads the series race for the Raybestos Rookie of the Year title.

10-28-09

Sauter Expects Typical Wild Affair at Talladega

Johnny Sauter enters the Mountain Dew 250 at Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday looking to regain the rhythm that led him to five consecutive top-five finishes and victory at Las Vegas prior to last week’s 16th place finish at Martinsville.

Sauter suffered a flat-tire at Martinsville, and fell out of contention for possible back-to-back NCWTS victories. He is in eighth place in the NCWTS points-standings with four races remaining this season, but is within easy striking distance of reclaiming a spot in the top-five.

“We didn’t have the day we wanted at Martinsville, obviously, but that’s just the way it goes sometimes,” Sauter said. “All you can do is to look ahead and be ready for Talladega, hope to give ourselves the best possible shot to win the race there, and that’s what we’ll do.”

Saturday will mark Sauter’s first NCWTS start at Talladega, but he has made numerous starts at the track in Cup and Nationwide Series competition. He started from the Pole in a Nationwide Series race there in ’02. He claimed
his lone top-10 finish at Talladega in a Nationwide Series race in ’06.

“Talladega is one of those ‘all or nothin’ tracks,” he said. “The bottom line there is, you can be running great all afternoon, having a flawless day, and someone can get in trouble and ruin that good day in a hurry. Things just happen so fast at Talladega. I started a race from the Pole there in ’02, was feeling pretty good, and within fifteen laps someone had clipped my right-rear quarter-panel and sent me barrel-rolling across the track. You just never know.”

One thing Sauter knows, however, is that patience is a must where Talladega is concerned.

“It’s a place where you have to almost drive defensively,” said Sauter. “You have to take your chances when you get ‘em, but, at the same time, you can force yourself into a big pack of trucks and then someone has trouble and there’s just nothing you can do. I think most drivers have a love/hate relationship with Talladega, and the excitement you love about the place is the same thing that makes you cringe sometimes. Drafting at Talladega is a blast. I love racing there. It’s a heck of a show, that’s for sure, especially when we get down to those last few laps. Hopefully, we’ll be able to avoid any real trouble, and be there in the last few laps with a shot to put our No. 13 Fun Sand/Rodney Atkins-Curb Records Chevy in Victory Lane."

Sauter remains the leader in the NCWTS Raybestos Rookie of the Year standings.

10-23-09

Johnny is on Trackside Live Tonight!

Johnny Sauter will be on Trackside Live on SPEED Channel tonight. The show airs from 7:00-8:00pm Eastern.

10-21-09

Sauter Has Sights Set on Victory at Martinsville

Johnny Sauter enters Saturday’s Kroger 200 at Martinsville Speedway on a tear that has taken him to five consecutive top-5 finishes and a dominant victory at Las Vegas last time out.

Sauter has surged to 5th place in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series standings, and says he expects the race on Saturday to be more front-running business-as-usual.

“There’s no reason to believe we can’t win the race,” he said. “I’ll be disappointed if we’re not right there at the end, with a strong shot to win it. I love racing at Martinsville. This track will test a driver’s patience in a major way, and you never really know what’s gonna happen. There’s a tendency for drivers to get impatient at Martinsville, and that can get you into trouble in a hurry. It’s a fine line between aggression and impatience. You have to be aggressive, because track position is so important, but you have to be smart, too. You have to have the whole package to win at Martinsville. Brakes are key as you get into the corners, and your truck has to turn well thru the center of the corner and have strong forward bite. Pit stops take on added importance here, because track position is such a key. Our guys on this No. 13 Fun Sand/Rodney Atkins-Curb Records Chevrolet have just been awesome in the pits, and I expect that to continue this weekend.”

Sauter is plenty familiar with Martinsville. He has numerous starts at the track in Cup, Nationwide and Truck series races. He nabbed a top-5 finish at Martinsville in a Nationwide Series race in ’06.

“We’re always confident coming to Martinsville,” he said. “As we look at Martinsville and the remaining races (five) this season, there’s no reason to think we shouldn’t be challenging for wins at each of the tracks. This team is in a great place right now, as far as putting the pieces together and continuing to find ways to get better. I’m so proud of our guys for their effort, and we saw it pay off with our win at Las Vegas a few weeks ago. That was huge for us, because we've been in position for it to happen numerous times this season. Hopefully, we can keep this thing rolling, and make it pay off again on Saturday.”

09-27-09

Sauter Rolls to Victory in Vegas

Johnny Sauter has been hotter than Las Vegas nightlife for a couple of months, and the driver of the No. 13 Fun Sand Chevrolet sealed the winning deal as he stormed to victory in the Qwik Liner 350 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Saturday.

Sauter, who came within a whisker of a win at New Hampshire last week, started on the outside of the front row and dominated the field this time around en route to his first Truck Series victory and a spot in the top-5 in the NCWTS standings. Sauter is on a streak of five consecutive top-5 finishes. His last finish outside the top-5 came at Bristol in mid-August.

“I’m just thrilled to be able to take our No. 13 Fun Sand/Rodney Atkins-Curb Records Chevy to Victory Lane,” Sauter said. “I’m so thankful to Joe (crew chief Shear Jr.) and the guys on this No. 13 team for their efforts. Itmeans so much to me, because I know how much it means to them. They’re doing a heckuva job for me all the way around. We had a bad-fast truck tonight, and, truthfully, we just weren’t gonna be denied. We felt like we should’ve won the race last week, but we just didn’t close the deal. We felt like should’ve won a few races earlier this season, too. But it’s been a learning situation for us, and this Fun Sand Chevy team has really started to jell. It takes time for a new group of guys to come together, to realistically expect to run up front consistently and win races, and that’s been our goal since the season started. The pieces are in place now, and there’s no telling how good this team can be.”

If recent races are any indication, the answer would appear to be ‘quite’. Adding to Sauter’s enjoyment of victory on Saturday was ThorSport Racing teammate Matt Crafton’s 2nd place finish, the organization’s first one/two finish in NCWTS competition.

Crafton is in 2nd place in the NCWTS standings and battling for his first championship.

“It’s just really cool for ThorSport Racing to show our strength across the board,” said Sauter. “It’s a testament to what (ThorSport Racing owners) Duke and Rhonda Thorson are doing. Matt and Bud (crew chief Haefele) and the guys on that No. 88 Menards team have been really good for a long time, and have helped us in a variety of ways this season. It’s been invaluable for me to be able to lean on Matt as a teammate. He’s obviously one of the top drivers in this series, and I’m grateful for the knowledge he continues to share with me.”

Sauter owns six top-five and ten top-10 finishes this season. His on-track effort to stay on a hot streak will temporarily move to the backburner, however, as the next NCWTS race is October 24 at Martinsville.

“It’s huge for us to go into this break with a win,” Sauter said. “After several races in a row, it gives the guys a chance to catch their breath a little. We’ll do some fine-tuning, tweak some things and be ready to go at Martinsville. As we look at the final five races of the season, we feel like we should have a legitimate shot to win in each of them. We’ll prepare hard and be ready, and, hopefully, things will continue to go our way."

09-26-09

Sauter wins at Vegas for first Truck Series victory

By Sporting News Wire Service

Getty Images

LAS VEGAS -- Johnny Sauter drove to his first victory Saturday in the Camping World Truck Series and ThorSport Racing teammate Matt Crafton was second in the Las Vegas 350.

Sauter, a rookie in the Trucks who has three wins in the Nationwide Series, passed Crafton for the lead on the outside exiting Turn 2 on the 130th of 146 laps on the 1.5-mile Las Vegas Motor Speedway and steadily pulled away to win by 2.47 seconds.

"It's unbelievable, man," Sauter said. "This is a big deal for me. Last year at this time, all I was doing was start-and-parks in the Nationwide Series. We've had speed all year, but we haven't been able to close the deal. Our truck has been phenomenal for the last two months."

Sauter, driving a Chevrolet, became the first rookie to win in the Truck Series since Scott Speed on May 30, 2008, at Dover.

It was Sauter's fifth consecutive top-five finish and lifted him two spots to fifth in the points. Sauter's best finish in the opening 15 races was fifth at Dover. His newfound competitiveness in the past five races began with the arrival of crew chief Joe Shear, who Sauter had worked with earlier in his career.

"I believe in him and I trust him 100 percent," Sauter said.

Sauter's win was the third victory in the series for ThorSport, owned by Duke and Rhonda Thorson and based in Sandusky, Ohio. ThorSport is one of the few Truck teams not based in the Charlotte, N.C. area.

"My truck just didn't have the speed that Johnny Sauter's did," Crafton said. "Wow, that truck was fast."

Crafton, who gave the team its second victory last season, cut 20 points from leader Ron Hornaday, but still trails by 197 with five races remaining. Hornaday finished sixth.

"It was a decent points day, but the thing that makes me happy is finishing 1-2 for Duke and Rhonda Thorson," Crafton said. "It's the first time we've finished 1-2."

Jason White finished third, a career-best in the series. Todd Bodine was fourth and Timothy Peters fifth.

Sauter led a race-high 62 laps. He surrendered the lead to pit under caution on Lap 120 to take right-side tires and emerged in fourth behind Crafton, White and Peters, who all stayed out. Following the restart, Sauter climbed into the lead in eight laps and led the final 17, all run under green.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

09-24-09

Sauter Opening Eyes in His First Season Driving a Truck

By Bill Kimm, NASCAR.COM

Rookie sitting seventh in points, close to first CWTS win

It's hard to call Johnny Sauter a rookie. The 31-year-old, who has seen extensive time in the Cup and Nationwide series, even laughs when he thinks about it. But the fact is, this is Sauter's first full year in a truck and he is making the most of it.

Sauter has been nothing but impressive in 19 Truck Series races this season, and this weekend he heads to Las Vegas Motor Speedway for Saturday's running of the Las Vegas 350 (9 p.m. ET, SPEED) looking for his first Truck victory.

Currently, Sauter leads the rookie of the year standings by 24 points on Tayler Malsam and is sitting seventh in the overall point standings thanks to five top-fives and nine top-10s, including his current stretch of four consecutive top-five finishes.

Sauter has some experience on the 1.5-mile track just off The Strip in Las Vegas and even though the results have been mixed, the knowledge could give him a leg up on most of the competition. He has two Cup starts at LVMS with finishes of 24th and 39th. In the Nationwide Series he has six starts with an average finish of 18.2 and a best finish of third in 2002.

If Sauter can maintain his top-10 spot in the points, he will be the first rookie since Carl Edwards in 2003 to finish the Truck Series season in the top 10.

09-24-09

Sauter Hopes to Stay Hot at Vegas

Johnny Sauter enters Saturday’s Las Vegas 350 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on a roll that has swept him to four consecutive top-5 finishes and within striking distance of a spot in the top-5 in the NCWTS standings.
While Sauter’s stellar string of performances has raised eyebrows in the NCWTS garage, he sees the results in matter-of-fact fashion.

“I’ve said all along that we expect to run up front and win races, so to us, it’s kind of ‘business as usual’,” Sauter said. “We’re excited, don’t get me wrong, but it’s more from a perspective of having known that this was possible. It’s just been a matter of time. We had a new group of guys to start the season, and, like anything, there’s an adjustment process involved. We’ve had great trucks all season, and we feel like we should already have a few wins. We’ve been right there a number of times, but have had some things happen to let a few get away from us. That’s just the way it goes sometimes. We keep learning, and we continue to improve in all phases. The sky really is the limit for this No. 13 Fun Sand Chevy team right now.”

While Saturday will mark Sauter’s first NCWTS start at Vegas, he is no stranger to the track. He has made several starts at LVMS in Cup and Nationwide Series competition, and owns a top-three Nationwide Series finish here.
“I love racing at Las Vegas,” he said. “The track is really fast, and seems to be coming in well since they reconfigured it. Vegas is a great town to visit, and the people just love their Truck Series racing here. We’ve made up some serious ground in the points-race in a fairly short period of time (Sauter has moved to 7th in the NCWTS standings), and we expect to put ourselves in the top-5 in the standings. We’ll be disappointed if we don’t win a race or two yet this season."

Though it might appear Sauter's momentum will be tested by the four-week break in the NCWTS schedule following Saturday's race, he sees the break as a positive.

"Ideally, we'd like to be at the track, but the break gives us a chance to tweak some things," he said. "We see it as an opportunity to continue to fine-tune some stuff, and hopefully, we'll just be that much better when we get to Martinsville after the break. I'm proud of our guys. We'll be ready to go on Saturday, and hopefully, we can contend for the win."

09-21-09

Sauter Storms to 4th Consecutive Top-5 Finish at New Hampshire

Johnny Sauter overcame late-race issues and stormed to his 4th consecutive top-5 finish in the Heluva Good! 200 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Saturday.

The finish was bittersweet at best for Sauter, however. He was about to take the race lead with thirty laps to go in his wicked-fast No. 13 Fun Sand Chevrolet when he ran out of fuel a lap prior to a planned pit stop, effectively ending any shot at victory. Sauter tumbled well outside the top-10 when he was forced to the pits, then resumed his hard-charging business as usual, picking off several trucks and storming back to claim a 5th place finish.

“In one respect, we’re disappointed, because we had the fastest truck on the track and feel like we should’ve won the race,” he said. “At the same time, the fuel issue could’ve been a crusher, but we hung in there and fought back to finish in the top-5 again. Joe (crew chief Shear Jr.) and the guys just keep building awesome race trucks for me, and we’re proving that we have the ingredients to run up front and fight for wins each week. We should’ve had this one, but I don’t have any doubt that wins are coming. This No. 13 Fun Sand Chevy team has really come together, just keeps getting better every week, and the results show it. We’re showing our strength on all types of tracks. I’m thankful to our guys for everything they’re doing for me. We’re working hard and having a lot of fun right now, and we’ll just keep looking to improve.”

Sauter has blasted to 7th place in the NCWTS standings, with an eye on, and within easy striking-distance of, a spot in the top-5.

“We’ve made up a lot of ground in the standings during the last four or five races, and, hopefully, we’re not done yet,” he said. “If we keep doing what we’re capable of, there’s no reason we can’t finish in the top-5. As I’ve said all along, we expect to win races and finish in the top-5 every week, and we’re putting ourselves in position to do it. We can’t wait to get to Las Vegas next weekend.”

Coverage of Saturday’s Qwik Liner 350 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway begins at 9pm EST on SPEED TV.

09-17-09

Sauter Looks to Stay on Roll at New Hampshire

Johnny Sauter is on a roll, and looks to continue his hot streak in the Heluva! Goood 200 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Saturday.

Sauter owns top-5 finishes in his last three races, including a 2nd place finish at Gateway last week, and has blasted into the top-10 in the NCWTS standings. With seven races remaining this season, he is within striking distance of a spot in the top-5.

“We’re a confident bunch right now, and the results have shown it,” Sauter said. “I’m so proud of the guys on this No. 13 Fun Sand/Rodney Atkins-Curb Records Chevy team for their efforts. They continue to work their tails off for me, and it has begun to pay off for us. We’ve always known what we’re capable of, and thought it was only a matter of time for things to come together. We show up each week with strong trucks, expecting to run up front and win races. There’s no reason to think we can’t win a couple of ‘em yet this season.”

Sauter is bullish on New Hampshire.

“I love the place,” said Sauter, who started on the front row and finished in the top-10 in Nationwide Series competition at the track a few years ago. “I’ve always had solid runs at New Hampshire. With the characteristics of the track, having a truck that will turn well is key, and obviously brakes are important here. Hopefully, we can unload strong again, and be a contender for the win on Saturday.”

09-14-09

Sauter Roars to 2nd Place Finish at Gateway

Johnny Sauter roared to a 2nd place finish in the Copart 200 at Gateway International Raceway on Saturday, his third consecutive top-5 finish.

With the effort, Sauter blasted into the top-10 in the NCWTS standings, and is focused on a spot in the top-5.
“It was another strong performance by our No. 13 Fun Sand Chevrolet team,” Sauter said. “We were fast when we unloaded at Gateway, and fast throughout the weekend. This team is dialed-in right now, and we’re expecting to win races. Obviously, you hope to run in the top-5 each week, and we’re doing that, but we’ll be surprised if we don’t get a win or two yet.”

Despite Sauter’s sterling effort, his mind was on the strange hand dealt to ThorSport Racing teammate Matt Crafton, who was headed for victory at Gateway before being black-flagged with a few laps remaining under circumstances that could only be described as curious at best.

“Matt won the race today,” Sauter said matter-of-factly. “Anyone who saw what happened out there knows what the deal was, and I feel badly for him. But at the same time, he’s such a competitor that he won’t let it keep him from focusing on New Hampshire. He’ll be focused there, just like he always is, and will hopefully be in position again to win the race.”

Sauter was also the victim of peculiar circumstances which may have cost him a possible win during a late-race caution. When the caution flag flew, Sauter lifted, as is expected of drivers, and the No. 5 truck passed him to move into third-place at the time. When Crafton was forced to the back, the No. 5 assumed the front position and went on to win the race.

"I wasn't aware that you could pass someone under caution, but the No. 5 did it and eventually got the win," said Sauter.

According to Sauter, his No. 13 Fun Sand crew continues to come together. “I’m proud of our guys and the way everybody has the same mission,” he said. “Joe (crew chief Shear Jr.) and the guys are building me some great trucks, and I’m doing my best to drive the hell out of ‘em. We keep getting better, and right now, there’s no telling what this team can accomplish. We’ll go to New Hampshire looking to win the race, and see what happens.”

09-11-09

Sauter Beginning to Make a Move in Truck Series - Up to 12th in Points, Leads Rookie of the Year Standings

By Sporting News Wire Service

Johnny Sauter, a veteran of the Nationwide and Sprint Cup series, recognized there would be an adjustment period in his first full season in the Camping World Truck Series. What he didn't completely grasp was its degree of difficulty.

"You don't realize how competitive it is until you get here," Sauter said. "It's opened my eyes."

Back-to-back fifth-place finishes going into Saturday's Copart 200 at Gateway International Raceway, show the significant progress Sauter and his No. 13 ThorSport Racing team have made in understanding what it takes to run at the front.

Purchase your race tickets!
"We're starting to round the corner week in and week out and I'm pretty excited about that," Sauter said. "We're making a push to finish the season pretty damn strong."

Joe Shear Jr. has been Sauter's crew chief for the past two races and he has made a contribution, but Sauter says there are "a million reasons" he's running stronger on a more consistent basis. Sauter has seven top-10s this season and three have been in the past four races.

"We finally got the trucks where we want them for a lot of places," Sauter said. "We've jelled as a team, the guys, myself, our pit stops. The whole package came together. The crew chief change has helped a little, too."

Sauter has moved up to a season-high 12th in points and is only 68 behind seventh-place David Starr.

"The top-10 [season finish] is definitely our goal, and I've been watching it pretty closely. We can get there," Sauter said. "The way we're running, I'll be disappointed if we don't end up sixth or seventh in points."

Sauter made his NASCAR debut in the Nationwide Series in 2001 and was a regular in the series from 2002 through 2006. He has three victories and was eighth in the points standings in 2003 and 2006. Sauter also has 76 starts in Cup, including a full season in 2007 when he finished 30th in points with Haas CNC Racing.

Without a full-time ride last season, Sauter drove in one truck, nine Cup and 12 Nationwide races.

"I was beating the pavement last winter to find something to drive, and there was an opportunity with [ThorSport owner] Duke Thorson," Sauter said. "I'd run some truck races in the past [11 spread through five seasons] and had always enjoyed it. When somebody gave me an opportunity to race full time again, I was all about it."

Sauter, 31, leads the rookie of the year standings on Tayler Malsam 176-163. If Sauter wins, it would become his first rookie-of-the-year award in NASCAR.

"Without a doubt, I'd like to win it," Sauter said. "I had mixed emotions about being eligible for it starting out the year. But rules are rules, and hey, I'm a rookie. Anytime you set out for something and you accomplish it, it's good. And if I win it, that's all more positive for my guys."

Sauter would like to continue to race for ThorSport in the Truck Series next year.

"I'm totally happy and would love to be back where I'm at," he said. "I'd like to keep doing what we're doing. I feel like we're on the verge of doing something great here."

09-10-09

Sauter Seeks 3rd Straight Top-5 Finish at Gateway

Johnny Sauter enters the Copart 200 at Gateway International Raceway on Saturday looking to add to consecutive top-5 finishes.

Sauter, who leads the Raybestos Rookie of the Year standings, finished in the top-5 at Chicagoland and Iowa, respectively. He hopes to drive the No. 13 Fun Sand Chevrolet to similar territory on Saturday.

“This team is brimming with confidence right now, and there’s no telling what is possible,” Sauter said. “When a team has that confidence, and has the momentum we have, good things happen. There’s no reason to think we can’t win the race on Saturday. We’re taking the truck we raced at Iowa. Joe Shear Jr. (crew chief) and the guys are working their tails off for me, and the results have been a nice reward for their effort. Things are starting to come together for us. But we’re far from satisfied. We want to win races.”

While Saturday will mark Sauter’s first visit to Gateway in NCWTS competition, he is plenty familiar with the track. He owns a pair of top-10 finishes in 5 Nationwide Series starts there.

“I’m looking forward to getting back to Gateway,” he said. “It’s one of those tracks where I’ve usually run well, but, for whatever reason, maybe haven’t had the finishes to reflect it. Gateway is a big ‘momentum’ track, especially with these trucks. You have the two distinct corners. I think turns one and two are the key to running good laps at Gateway. You have to be on the gas and committed from turn two down that straightaway. We’re excited to see what Saturday has in store for us. Hopefully, we can fight for a win, and at least come out of there with another top-5 finish and keep rolling.”

09-08-09

Sauter: Top-5 Finish at Iowa

Johnny Sauter charged to his 2nd consecutive top-5 finish in the Lucas Oil 200 at Iowa Speedway on Saturday.
Sauter has finished 6th or better in 3 of his last 4 races, including Saturday’s 5th place effort.

“Our No. 13 Fun Sand Chevrolet was really good tonight,” said Sauter, who qualified 6th for the race. “I’m proud of our guys for hanging in there and making the adjustments we needed to make to keep our truck near the front all night. These guys have been working their tails off for me, and their efforts have started to pay off. We know what we’re capable of, and, frankly, we expect to battle for wins and top-5 finishes each time out. We just keep looking to improve, and, hopefully, we can win a race or two yet this season.”

Sauter has collected 3 top-5 and 7 top-10 finishes thus far this season.

09-03-09

Sauter Looks to Build Momentum at Iowa

Johnny Sauter looks to follow-up last week’s top-5 finish at Chicagoland with similar results in the Lucas Oil 200 at Iowa Speedway on Saturday.

Sauter’s effort at Chicagoland was his 2nd top-5 and 6th top-10 finish this season. He enters this weekend’s action as the leader in the Raybestos Rookie of the Year standings.

“We’re really looking forward to our first race at Iowa,” Sauter said. “We’ve heard great things about the track, and it’s obvious the people in that area love their racing. It’s always cool to have an opportunity to race at different tracks, and to have Chicagoland and Iowa on back-to-back weekends is great for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. I expect it to be a heckuva race for the fans.”

While the NCWTS jury is still out on racing at Iowa, Sauter suspects the speedway will yield a combination of short-and-intermediate-track action.

“From what I’ve heard, Iowa races like a short-track in some respects, but is also a big momentum track, which means speed,” said Sauter. “We’ll use more of a typical 1.5 mi. package, and we’re taking a new piece. The bottom line is, there’s still a bit of guesswork involved for everybody.”

It is clear to Sauter that NASCAR events at Iowa Speedway are supported in feverish fashion.

“The fans out there are incredible,” he said. “Like pretty much everyone else, I’ve just heard great things about the fan support and the tremendous facility at Iowa. I’m looking forward to racing there, especially under the lights. Hopefully, we can put our No. 13 Fun Sand Chevrolet in contention for the first Truck Series win at Iowa.”

08-31-09

Sauter Charges to Top-5 Finish at Chicagoland

Johnny Sauter charged to a 5th place finish in the EnjoyIllinois.com 225 at Chicagoland Speedway on Friday.

The finish was Sauter’s 2nd top-5 and 6th top-10 of the season. “It was a solid night for us,” Sauter said. “We were good on the long runs, but just a little too free on the short runs. We’ll take it. I’m happy for the guys on this No. 13 Fun Sand Chevy team; we just keep trying to find ways to get better, and I feel like things are coming together for us.”

Sauter and his fellow NCWTS competitors make their first race visit to Iowa Speedway for the Lucas Oil 200 on Saturday. “It was great for us to take the trucks to Chicago, and it’s cool that we follow it up with a visit to Iowa,” said Sauter.

“From everything I’ve heard, the race at Iowa should be a blast for the drivers and fans. We’ll give it all we have, and hopefully we can come out of Iowa with another top-5 finish.”

08-26-09

Sauter Familiar with Victory Lane at Chicagoland

Johnny Sauter returns to the site of sweet NASCAR victory for the EnjoyIllinois.com 225 at Chicagoland Speedway on Friday.

Though this is the first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series visit to Chicagoland, Sauter is familiar with the track, including Victory Lane. He won his first Nationwide (Busch) Series race at Chicagoland in ’02.

“I love racing at Chicagoland,” Sauter said. “In a way, it’s like a home-away-from-home for me (Sauter is a Necedah, WI native), because I’ll have a whole bunch of family and friends come out to support me. That’s always special, and of course, we want to put on a good show for them. It’s cool that the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series is coming to Chicago, because those fans love racing and they support the heck out of it.”

Sauter expects a wide-open affair on Friday. “The track has a ton of grip, and it’s obviously a fast place to race,” said Sauter. “And the track, especially the back straightaway, is a bit different from how it might appear on television, because you’re constantly turning. It’s a great facility, and I expect an outstanding race. I think the fans are in for a treat. Hopefully, we can put all the pieces into place at Chicagoland, and take our No. 13 Fun Sand/Rodney Atkins-Curb Records Chevy to Victory Lane on Friday.”

08-17-09

Sauter Ready to Rumble at Bristol

Johnny Sauter takes to the familiar high-banks of Bristol Motor Speedway on Wednesday with his hopes and sights set on a visit to Victory Lane.

Sauter has made numerous starts at Bristol in Cup, Nationwide and Truck Series competition. He owns a top-5 and three top-10 finishes there.

“I think Bristol is the most exciting race of the season,” Sauter said. “It’s just a place where it would be extra special for any driver to win. There’s so much tradition at Bristol, and guys are just gunning that much harder. It’s just a really cool environment, and the fans are incredible. With the newer configuration, you can run from top to bottom, and there’s a ton of grip with the concrete. As much as you’re competing against other drivers, at Bristol, you’re also kind of racing against the track itself. To succeed at Bristol and have a chance to win the race, you first have to survive the messes, because you know there will be some. It can change your night in a hurry. You have to pick your spots as much as possible, and try to stay aware of everything happening around you. You just hope to stay out of someone else’s trouble, and put yourself in position to be there when it matters most.”

Sauter enters Bristol on the strength of a 6th place finish at Nashville, his 5th top-10 finish this season.

“Each guy on this team is committed to getting better, and we keep looking for ways to do that,” said Sauter. “It’s a matter of consistency, and we feel like things are coming together for this No. 13 Fun Sand/Rodney Atkins-Curb Records team. We know what we’re capable of, and we’re confident we can win a race or two before the season is said and done. We’re on the right track. There’d be no better place to break thru than at Bristol. Our guys are working their tails off for me, and they just keep getting better. We’ll give it everything we have at Bristol, and hopefully we’ll be there at the end with a shot to win the race.”

08-07-09

Sauter Nabs 6th place Finish at Nashville

Johnny Sauter battled to a 6th place finish in the Toyota 200 at Nashville Superspeedway on Saturday. It was Sauter’s fifth top-5 finish of the season.

“I’m real happy for the guys,” Sauter said of the No. 13 Fun Sand/Rodney Atkins-Curb Records crew. “We had one of the fastest trucks out there, a top-three truck for sure. We knew in practice we had a strong truck, and we qualified in the top-ten. Unfortunately, we had a brake issue that bit us during the race. But all in all, it was a decent night for us. We’re looking forward to Bristol in a couple of weeks.”

Sauter has been in the thick of victory-contention several times this season, and says the No. 13 team continues to draw a bead on Victory Lane.

“This team continues to make progress, and our trucks keep getting better,” he said. “Our pit stops have been really strong. I’m proud of the guys, and we’ll keep looking for ways to improve. We’re confident we can win races yet this season.”

08-06-09

Sauter & Star De Azlan featured in Country Weekly Magazine Star De Azlan didn't realize that she was carving herself a slcie of history when she recently landed her record contract. The Texas native, who has just released her single "Like A Rose," became the first female Hispanic artist in the annals of country music to be signed to a major record company. "I did not know that I would be the fisrt," says the 24-year-old singer/songwriter. "but when I found out, signing the contract was even better." To that end, Star has set some lofty goals for herself. Asked if she desires to be a trailblazer of sorts, Star doesn't hesitate...to read more click here

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07-30-09

Sauter Confident on Nashville Concrete

Johnny Sauter has been close to victory at Nashville Superspeedway before, and hopes to break thru in the Toyota Tundra 200 on Saturday. While this will be Sauter’s first NCWTS start at the track, he owns a pair of 2nd place finishes in 11 Nationwide Series starts there.

“Nashville is a track where I’ve just always felt comfortable, feel like I adapted to it right out of the gate,” he said. “It's a really cool place to race. It’s interesting to me how the track seems to have evolved over the years. We used to burn the brakes up, were on them hard during a race, almost like you would at a short-track. Now, it’s become more of a ‘momentum’ track. It’s a fun place to drive, and the concrete surface definitely provides more grip. Hopefully, we can put our No. 13 Fun Sand/Rodney Atkins-Curb Records Chevy right in the thick of contention for a win on Saturday.”

Sauter foresees good things for the No. 13 team. “There’s a lot of racing left this season, and I’m proud of the progress this team has made,” said Sauter, who owns four top-10 finishes. “We continue to get better in the pits, and that’s a testament to how hard the guys are working. We’ve just been a bit off on our handling recently, but we’re getting that squared away. There’s no doubt in my mind that this team is capable of winning a race or two before the season is over, and hopefully we can get it done. We’ll keep working hard, and hopefully it will pay off in strong finishes for us."

07-22-09

Sauter Hopes For Fitting Finish at ORP

Johnny Sauter returns to ORP for Friday’s AAA Insurance 200 presented by JD Byrider looking to capture the victory to which he was oh-so-close in his only previous Truck Series start at the track.

Sauter is no stranger to success at ORP, as he won a Pole Award and owns a pair of top-5 finishes in 5 Nationwide Series starts here.

His Truck Series start at ORP in ’04, however, was the stuff of dreams, minus the storybook ending.
“’I built the truck for that race in my garage, with a couple of buddies,” recalled Sauter. “There was no pressure. We built it on a whim, and took it to the race with no expectations.”

Sauter qualified 6th for the race, and had some kind of fun for much of the evening, leading 139 laps of the race before caution erased a dominant lead. He was a mark without fresh tires, got tangled on a restart, and finished 2nd. “We had a blast, but it was tough to dominate the race like that and not win it,” he said.

Fast-forward to 2009, and Sauter enters the race at ORP confident (four top-10 finishes in the season's first half) and comfortable with his surroundings at the short-track.

“ORP is action-packed, a unique track that is lots of fun to drive, so long as your truck or car handles well,” he said. “ORP has that awesome short-track atmosphere, with big-track characteristics. I’ve always felt at home at this track, and have been fortunate to run well here. You don’t necessarily have to have the best truck to win here. You can pick people off in traffic. There’s just lots of action, and it’s a blast for the drivers. You can race in the middle or up-top here. It’s always exciting to race at ORP, and hopefully we can take our No. 13 Fun Sand/Rodney Atkins-Curb Records Chevy to Victory Lane on Friday."

07-14-09

Sauter Seeks Breakthrough at Kentucky

Johnny Sauter enters the Built Ford Tough 225 presented by the Greater Cincinnati Ford Dealers at Kentucky Speedway on Saturday night looking to build on momentum established prior to the recent NCWTS schedule break.
Sauter has driven the No. 13 Fun Sand/Rodney Atkins-Curb Records Chevy to top-10 finishes in four of the last seven races, including an 8th place finish a few weeks ago at Memphis. He has challenged for victory in multiple races, and won the Keystone Light Pole Award at Texas. According to Sauter, however, the No. 13 team is just beginning to come into its own.

“We’re starting to find our stride a little bit, and it’s nice to see things coming together,” Sauter said. “We had our best pit stops of the year so far at Memphis. The guys have been working their tails off, practicing like crazy, and it has begun to show. We’re only eleven races into this deal, and we’re finding our rhythm.”

Sauter hopes that rhythm includes Kentucky, where he’s had his share of problems over the years. In five career starts at Kentucky, all in Nationwide Series competition, Sauter hasn’t come close to a top-ten finish. This will be his first NCWTS start at the track, and Sauter is confident it will be a ‘new beginning’ of sorts.

“Kentucky has been a place where, for whatever reason, I haven’t run well,” he said. “I love the track, in terms of the great side-by-side racing it provides. I always look forward to racing there, especially with the race being at night and the cool atmosphere that comes with it. It’s a lot of fun, and hopefully we can give ourselves a strong shot to win the race.”

Sauter says the requisite education that accompanies his status as a first-year, fulltime driver in the NCWTS continues.

“I feel like I’m making progress as a driver in this series, and that brings added confidence,” he said. “I’m learning a lot about these trucks each time out. And again, the team is making progress, and the guys can feel it. This series has such an intense, great ‘grass-roots’ feel that you can’t duplicate. Guys don’t give an inch, and that’s the way it should be. I’m enjoying the heck out of it, and just trying to get better. I’m confident we can win some races before the season is over.

06-29-09

Sauter Races to Top-10 Finish at Memphis

Johnny Sauter raced back into top-10 territory in the steamy MemphisTravel.com 200 presented by O’Reilly Auto Parts on Saturday.

Memphis typically brings the early-summer heat to NCWTS competition, and Saturday was no exception. Nor was an exception Sauter’s 8th place finish in the race, his fifth top-10 finish at Memphis in eight career starts. He owns a pair of top-5 finishes at the track, and captured a Pole Award there in Nationwide Series competition in ’06.

“We’re happy to come out of Memphis with a top-10 finish, but, at the same time, we felt like we had a strong top-5 truck, you know what I mean?” Sauter said. “So it was a little disappointing from that aspect. I love the short-track racing, and I’ve always felt comfortable at Memphis. The guys just keep building great trucks for me, and we expect to be good every week. I feel like we’re closing in on taking this No. 13 Fun Sand Chevy to Victory Lane. All in all, it was a decent day for us, and we’ll bring our best at Kentucky in a couple of weeks.”

Sauter has now raced to four top-10 finishes in his last seven races. He was the Raybestos Rookie of the Race, and is a point from the lead in the Raybestos Rookie of the Year standings.

06-26-09

Sauter Looks to Get Back on Track at Memphis

Johnny Sauter hopes to get back on the top-10 track in the MemphisTravel.com 200 presented by O’Reilly Auto Parts on Saturday.

Sauter has finished 16th and 14th in his last couple of races, following a streak of three top-10 finishes in his previous four races.

Racing at Memphis would appear to be the perfect turnaround tonic for Sauter. He won the Pole Award for a Nationwide Series race at the track in ’06, and finished 4th. In 7 career starts at Memphis, Sauter owns a pair of top-5 finishes. He has finished in the top-10 four times.

“Memphis is just one of those tracks where I’ve always felt comfortable,” he said. “It’s short-track racing, and I love it. It’s a unique track, and especially with the race under the lights, it just adds a really cool element. With the heat there, the track can get really slick, so obviously grip will play a big part in the race. Racing at Memphis is always a great show for the fans.”

Sauter and the No. 13 Fun Sand/Rodney Atkins-Curb Records Silverado are headed in the right direction, he says.
“We’re disappointed with our results the last couple of races, but that’s the way it goes sometimes,” he said. “We expect to finish in the top-10 every week, and to be fighting for wins. These guys are building great trucks for me and this team continues to jell. It’s a process, and we’re making strides. Hopefully, we can take this No. 13 Fun Sand Chevy to Victory Lane on Saturday.”

06-25-09

Johnny Sauter Does a Curb Museum Walk Through with Rodney Atkins

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06-17-09

Sauter Brings Stellar Track Record to Milwaukee

The relationship between driver and track is often fickle, at best. In rare cases, however, that partnership may seem hand-in-glove smooth, for reasons difficult to determine. Such has been the case with Johnny Sauter and The Milwaukee Mile thru the years.

After a separation of a few seasons, Sauter and the track get together again for Friday’s NCWTS Copart 200. Sauter hopes his stellar record at the track bodes well for a repeat performance. “Milwaukee is just one of those places where I seemed to adapt quickly to the track, and I’ve always felt comfortable here,” he said. “I can’t really pinpoint why, but hopefully we can have the same kind of results here on Friday that I’ve been fortunate to have previously.”

Sauter’s history at Milwaukee includes a trip to Victory Lane (he won a Nationwide Series race here in ’05, leading 162 of the race’s 200 laps), a pair of Pole Awards (in ’03 and ’05) and qualifying efforts that put him in the front row in four consecutive races.

Some might assume the Necedah, WI native grew up at the track and turned countless laps here as a youngster. Not so, he says. “The first start I made at Milwaukee came in an ASA race,” Sauter said. “As far as a homecoming, it’s always been special to me to race here, because lots of friends and family come out to support me. All races are important to me, but this one definitely brings some extra emotion.”

Milwaukee’s flat one-mile track is a shift from recent wide-open outings at Texas and Michigan. Sauter welcomes the change. “It brings a whole different rhythm,” he says. “It’s a rhythm race track. It’s a huge help to qualify well and stay up front here, out of potential trouble. It’s one of the few places where brakes are a big factor, and that adds a whole different element. Being able to lean on that brake package for a couple-hundred laps is critical. It’s all about the mechanical package here instead of the aero. Hopefully, we can put our No. 13 Fun Sand/Rodney Atkins-Curb Records Silverado on the pole, and finish the race up front.”

Sauter remains in a heated battle for NCWTS Raybestos Rookie of the Year status. He is within two points of the lead. Sauter appeared headed for another top-5 finish at Michigan last week, but suffered a blown-tire late in the race and finished 16th. "We were really strong again, like we have been pretty much each time out," he said of his finish at MIS. "That's the way this sport goes sometimes. You put it behind you quickly. We know what we have for Milwaukee, and we expect to be really good."

06-09-09

Sauter Finding Groove as MIS Awaits

Johnny Sauter enters the Michigan 200 at Michigan International Speedway on Saturday riding a wave of momentum that has swept him to three 3 top-10 finishes in the last four races.

Sauter won the Keystone Light Pole Award, led for a huge chunk of the race and finished 6th at Texas last week, another key building block in the foundation of success that is taking shape for the No. 13 Fun Sand/Star De Azlan-Curb Records Silverado team.

Sauter is no stranger to NASCAR success, and isn’t surprised by what he sees from his team.
“This team hasn’t been together long, and it takes some time to figure things out,” he said. “We’re doing that now. We’re still a work-in-progress, and whether it’s the crew working on pit stops or looking for ways to make our trucks better or me in the driver’s seat, we’re all constantly looking to improve.”

As witnessed at Texas, and as has largely been the case thus far this season, Sauter and crew are steadily dialing in a recipe for NCWTS success. The No. 13 trucks have been in the thick of victory-contention several times, and are making their on-track presence felt.

“We’ve been really close, and frankly, we’ve been disappointed that we haven’t been able to close the deal,” Sauter said. “But we win and lose as a team, and we’re all working together to make it happen. I thought from day one that we had the potential to be a really strong team, so it’s been somewhat rewarding in recent weeks to show what we’re capable of. We’ve shown it in qualifying by winning the Pole Award, and by leading laps in races and with some decent finishes. Once you get a taste of it, anything less is not satisfying, so we’ll keep pushing. We’re still figuring this thing out. We’re getting closer.”

Sauter looks forward to the multi-grooved action at MIS. “Michigan is a fun race track,” said Sauter, who has made eight previous starts at MIS in Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series action. His lone top-10 finish there came in a Nationwide Series race in '05. This will be his first NCWTS start at Michigan.

“I think everybody enjoys racing there, because you can move around quite a bit," he said. "We may be wide-open from the first lap. The emphasis is on handling, because the corners are so long and make up a large percentage of the speedway. The draft should play a big part there, also. We’re taking the truck we had at Dover and Texas, so hopefully, we’ll see the results we expect.”

06-05-09

Johnny Sauter Puts Silverado on the Pole at Texas

Ft. Worth, TX - Chevrolet Silverado drivers swept the top three starting positions at Texas Motor Speedway (TMS) for the Winstar World Casino 400 and four of the top-five starting spots.

Johnny Sauter captured his first career NASCAR Camping World Series (NCWTS) pole position with a lap of 30.086 seconds and average speed of 179.485 m.p.h. He was followed by fellow Silverado driver and winner of the last two NCWTS races at TMS, Ron Hornaday, Jr. The runner-up position will be the best career start for Hornaday at TMS.

Johnny becomes the first rookie to sit on the pole in the Camping World Truck Series since Scott Speed at Bristol last fall.

Sauter's ThorSport Racing teammate Matt Crafton, No. 88 Australian Gold Silverado qualified third and Dennis Setzer, fresh off a runner-up finish at Dover, put the No. 8 Malcolmson Silverado in the fifth starting position.

Johnny Sauter, FUN SAND/CURB RECORDS/STAR DE AZLAN CHEVROLET, Qualified 1st

Johnny you are coming off a fifth place finish at Dover, your best finish of the season. Talk to us about any momentum that might have carried over from last week to this week.

“Yeah, we struggled the first part of the year. We came out of the box really fast at Daytona and went to California and we were mediocre. We got totally embarrassed and got lapped twice in a one-hundred lap truck race. So we worked really hard and last week we took a new truck to Dover and did great there and the guys have been working really hard with me and we brought the same truck this week as we had last week at Dover and pretty much just changed a few things and it came super-fast off the truck.

I’m stoked. This is a big deal for me and obviously a big deal for Thorsport and the guys on the thirteen truck because its their first pole. Now all we got to do is close the deal tomorrow night and have a solid day. It feels good to be on the pole at Texas.”

Talk about your grandmother, you mentioned her on the radio out there.

“Yeah, she lives right in Dallas there so I flew in early yesterday morning and actually went over to her house and she is getting ready to turn ninety years old. So every time we come to Texas I get to go over there and hang out. My brother was fortunate enough to win a truck race here a few years ago and every time I come here I seem to struggle.

We’ve got a good start and my grandmother has lived here for forty-six years so she’s been here a long time and I believe this will be the first time she has been unable to come out, but winning the pole is pretty cool.”

- Courtesy of GM Racing

06-05-09

Sauter enjoying life after Cup as full-timer in Trucks

Johnny Sauter is proof that life still goes on after racing in NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series.

Once a full-time driver for the team formerly known as Haas CNC Racing, Sauter was forced to redefine his role in the sport after he was let go early last season. He spent the remainder of the year watching races from home but never once thought his career was over, despite appearances to the contrary.

Fortunately for the 31-year-old, Sauter has found a comfortable home in the Camping World Truck Series driving a Chevrolet co-partnered by ThorSport Racing and Mike Curb, and he is finding that NASCAR doesn't start and stop with the Cup Series. He is finding that being competitive is rewarding no matter the series.

"Obviously, you go to Cup and get an opportunity and do the best you can but at the end of the year you're sitting in 30th [in points] and the team needs to make the program better and they look to make a change," Sauter said. "Unfortunately, some times things don't work out but at the end of the day it's all about being competitive, that's all you really want."

After struggling in the Cup Series and sometimes failing to qualify for races, Sauter finally is feeling what it is like to run up front again and contend for wins.

On Friday night Texas Motor Speedway, Sauter, who made 11 previous series starts over five seasons, will become the first rookie to sit on the pole since Scott Speed at Bristol last year and is coming off his season-best finish (fifth place) at Dover.

"We worked really hard and last week we took a new truck to Dover," Sauter said. "The guys have been working really hard with me and we brought the same truck this week as we had last week and pretty much just changed a few things and it came super-fast off the truck. I'm stoked. This is a big deal for me and obviously a big deal for Thorsport and the guys on the [No.] 13 truck because it's their first pole. Now all we got to do is close the deal [Friday] night and have a solid day."

The results are a large improvement from where the team began in Daytona.

"Yeah, we struggled the first part of the year," Sauter said. "We came out of the box really fast at Daytona and went to California and we were mediocre. We got totally embarrassed and got lapped twice in a 100-lap Truck race."

Yet, Sauter has adjusted over time, not only to the truck but also with a new crew chief.

"One thing you learn spending time in the Cup Series and coming back to the Truck Series is that rules change and so much of the equipment changes," he said. "I had to figure out some things and then nailed down a crew chief in Jason Overstreet, so we just finally established a package that I'm comfortable [with] and we unload pretty much the same every weekend."

Sauter feels like he is getting closer to Victory Lane and the truck is fitting his driving style.

The Truck Series, which is stereotypically filled with older drivers who are more than rough around the edges, also is fitting Sauter's lifestyle.

"I feel old that's for sure, and I'm definitely rough around the edges so I fit right in," Sauter said with a laugh. "You know, the Cup Series overshadows the Trucks and the Nationwide series, as it should, but I just enjoy where I'm at right now. It's more laid back with a grassroots feel and atmosphere. That is why you see a lot of Truck drivers who have been to Cup content to stay in the Truck Series."

That is not to say Sauter would turn down a Cup ride tomorrow, but he is fully invested in his new job.

"I mean, every race car driver aspires to get to Cup, but mostly you're looking to be competitive and win races and I feel like we are close to accomplishing that here in the Truck Series," Sauter said.

By Raygan Swan, NASCAR.COM
June 5, 2009
06:25 PM EDT

06-04-09

Sauter Seeks to Add to Momentum at Texas

Johnny Sauter enters the WinStar World Casino 400 at Texas Motor Speedway on Friday seeking to add to the momentum established by top-5 and top-10 finishes in two of the last 3 races.

Sauter claimed his first top-5 finish of the season last week at Dover. While no driver will sneeze at a top-5 finish, it was nonetheless bittersweet for Sauter. “It was good to get a top-5 finish, but we felt like we had a truck that was more than capable of winning the race, and I thought it was gonna happen,” he said. “We were just a little too tight at the end, and couldn’t make the hard charge we expected to make. But the name of the game at Dover is survival, so, from that perspective, we did what we needed to do.”

Sauter has made numerous starts at Texas Motor Speedway, including a previous Truck Series start, and expects good things for the No. 13 Fun Sand/Rodney Atkins-Curb Records Silverado. “Texas is a great place to race,” Sauter said. “You can always expect strong side-by-side racing here. You have to be fast, but you have to be patient, too. It’s wide-open, and there’s a ton of grip. It’s a track that’s known for taking a toll on tires, and we’ll obviously keep an eye on that. It’s just a lot of fun to race here.”

For Sauter and the No. 13 team, confidence is on the rise. “We’ve had great trucks and speed all season,” he said. “We keep working hard, and we’re making progress. We feel more comfortable each time out, and obviously, it’s started to show. We know what we’re capable of, and we keep working on our stuff to get it where we want it to be, which just takes a little time. We’re putting it all together. Hopefully, we can put ourselves in position for a shot to win the race on Friday, but if we can come out of Texas with a top-5 finish and keep building momentum, we’ll take it.”

06-01-09

Sauter Nabs Top-5 Finish at Dover

Johnny Sauter battled to his first top-5 finish of the season in the AAA Insurance 200 at Dover on Saturday, his second finish in the top-10 in the last three races.

“It was a decent day for ThorSport Racing, with me and Matt (teammate Crafton) finishing 5th and 6th,” Sauter said. “It’s good to get a top-5 finish, but we felt like we had a truck that was capable of winning the race, and I thought it was gonna happen. With the fresh right-side tires on the last restart, I thought I’d be able to make a hard charge, but we had a little right-side damage from earlier in the race that probably made us a little too tight at the end. With the situation the way it was out there, it was tough to race real hard, but that’s the way it goes sometimes. The bottom-line at Dover is survival, so from that perspective, we did what we needed to do and we’ll take it.”

Sauter has been in the thick of contention for his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series win each time out thus far, and believes the No. 13 team is on the verge.

“We’ve had great trucks and speed all season,” he said. “Sometimes, drivers will say they’re better than what they’ve shown and not be sincere, but I really feel that way. We had a legitimate chance to win at Martinsville, a strong shot at Daytona, and we had a great shot at this one, too. But you take it and learn from it, and just try to get better for the next race.”

It appears Sauter and the No. 13 crew is jelling at an opportune time, as they enter the meat of the NCWTS season.
“We’re getting closer,” said Sauter. “We’re getting our truck figured out, and that’s the biggest thing. We have a great teammate in Crafton, too, and we can rely on a lot of their knowledge. At the same time, drivers are different, and sometimes I want to feel something different in the truck. We’ll just keep figuring out what that is. The guys are doing a heck of a job for me, and it’s just a matter of time.”

Sauter claimed Raybestos Rookie of the Race honors for the second time this season, and is tied for the lead in the battle for NCWTS Raybestos Rookie of the Year.

“We’re all on the same page, in terms of knowing what we need to do, and trying to find a way to get it done each week,” Sauter said. “We’re putting things together, and we’ll keep trying to build momentum. We’ll just keep looking to get better.”

05-26-09

Sauter Welcomes Challenge of Monster Mile

Johnny Sauter looks to pilot the No. 13 Fun Sand/Rodney Atkins-Curb Records Chevy to top-5 territory in the AAA Insurance 200 at Dover on Friday. Sauter is quite familiar with the Monster Mile (he owns top-5 and top-10 finishes in Nationwide Series competition at the track) and the havoc Dover has been known to wreak with drivers.

“Needless to say, Dover is an exhilarating place to race,” he said. “I’ve always enjoyed it. There’s usually good side-by-side racing here, and you have a lot of options, as far as where you want to run. You might be trimming the white line around the bottom on one lap, and running up top the next. The track is a little tricky on corner exits, though. It stands out so wide in the middle, but you run out of real estate pretty quickly trying to get out of the corner.”
According to Sauter, the track is at once accommodating and unforgiving.

“The biggest challenge at Dover is getting a clean start, so you can get spread out a bit and just go race,” he said. “Obviously, track position is important, but at the same time, it’s a place where you can make your way back to the front. If you can hook the bottom all day, and keep the truck hugging the white line in the bottom of the corner, you’ll be successful at Dover. But when someone makes a mistake here, it usually gets ugly. There’s no such thing as just scraping the wall a little here. It’s usually pretty bad, and a lot of trucks can get caught up in a mess pretty quickly.”

Sauter is confident as the No. 13 team continues to jell. “This group of guys is busting their backsides for me, and I’m thankful,” he said. “We continue to improve, and that’s what you have to do. We have strong trucks, and we’ll keep fine-tuning and bringing everything we have each time out. Hopefully, I can bring a top-5 finish home for these guys on Friday.”

05-12-09

Sauter Looks to Add to Momentum at Charlotte

Johnny Sauter looks to build on the momentum of his top-10 finish at Kansas with another in Friday’s North Carolina Education Lottery 200 at Charlotte.

Sauter and his No. 13 Fun Sand-Rodney Atkins/Curb Records Chevy crew have displayed strength thus far this season, with trucks in the thick of contention most weeks. Sauter expects to compete for wins and top-5 finishes each time out, and says the effort at Kansas is but a glimpse of the team’s potential. “It meant a lot to the guys to get that first top-10 finish, because we’ve had great trucks and felt it was just a matter of a little time before things came together for us,” Sauter said. “There’s no doubt the work the guys are doing will pay off for us.”

Sauter thrives on the excitement that racing at one of NASCAR’S highest-profile tracks-and under the lights, no less-provides. “I love racing at Charlotte,” he said. “This is a big race for all of these teams. There’s a lot of excitement in the air. The race is at night, which brings a certain added energy to the scene, it’s the ‘home track’ for many teams, and it brings some cool bragging rights if you’re fortunate enough to win the race. Charlotte is just one of those extra-special races that gets your blood pumping. It’s about running wide-open, from qualifying thru the race. The track will have a ton of grip, and the driver that can hold the throttle open the longest may win the race.”

Sauter’s teammate, Matt Crafton, driver of the No. 88 Menards Chevy, won the race last year, and Sauter, who has made several starts at Charlotte in Cup and Nationwide Series competition, would like nothing better than to keep the winner’s trophy in the race team family. “It’s cool that Matt won this race last year, and I’m a little bit envious,” said a chuckling Sauter. “It’s a place where any driver would love to win, for all of the history and what it means. We’re bringing the same truck we had at Kansas. Hopefully, it will be fast when we unload and we can just tweak it a little and be right where we want to be, with a strong shot to win the race.”

04-27-09

Sauter Nabs Top-Ten Finish at Kansas

Johnny Sauter raced to his first top-10 finish of the season in the rain-soaked O’Reilly Auto Parts 250 at Kansas Speedway on Monday.

Sauter finished 9th in a race that was delayed, postponed and ultimately shortened to 132 laps of a scheduled 167.
“As a competitor, you’re ready to go, and it’s tough waiting out the delays, especially once the race has already gotten underway,” Sauter said. “But we’ve dealt with it before, and you just realize the weather is out of your control. We unloaded fast here, and we felt good about our truck. We'd love to have seen what we could do on that last run, because we had four fresh tires and fuel, and were ready to go to the end. We felt like we would have had a great shot to win the race or be right there, but the rain just bit us again.”

Sauter has had strong trucks and impressive runs through the early season, but didn’t have the results to show for it until yesterday. “It means a lot to get that first top-10 finish, especially for the guys,” he said. “They’ve been working so hard for me, and we’ve had great runs but haven’t been able to close the deal. We’re not gonna get too excited, obviously, because we expect to finish in the top-5 or top-10 each week, but we can build on this. We’ll come home, clean up the truck, tweak it a little, and take this same piece to Charlotte. We’ll make a strong truck even better for Charlotte, and hopefully get to Victory Lane.”

04-22-09

Sauter Looks to Build Momentum at Kansas

Johnny Sauter enters the O’Reilly Auto Parts 250 at Kansas Speedway on Saturday looking to capture his first top-5 finish of the young season.

Sauter, driver of the No. 13 Fun Sand/Rodney Atkins-Curb Records Chevrolet, is chomping at the bit to return to the track after a few weeks off. “We’re ready to go,” he said. “We’ve had great trucks, some strong runs so far, but just haven’t had the finishes to back it up. That’s the way it goes sometimes. In three of the first four races, we’ve legitimately had at least a top-ten truck, and that’s encouraging. We know we’re right there. It’s just a matter of knocking down that first top-5 or top-10 finish, and then the others will come. You keep your focus on the race at hand, and try to make sure you do all the little things right to give yourself the best opportunity each time out. The guys are working their tails off for me, and I appreciate it. Hopefully, we can come out of Kansas with a top-5 or top-10 finish and start to build some momentum.”

According to Sauter, from a team perspective, the time off between early-season races has been a positive.
"It's allowed the guys to prepare that much more, to gain an even better feel for what we have," he said.
Though this will be Sauter’s first NCWTS start at Kansas, he has a combined 7 career starts there in Nationwide and Sprint Cup Series competition. He finished 3rd in a Nationwide series race at the track in ’05.

“I love racing at Kansas,” he said. “I always look forward to racing there. There’s lots of room to run, and it's always a good show for the fans. It’s essentially all about the grip. It’s important to be on the throttle as much as possible thru those long corners. I always have lots of friends and family who come out to watch me race at Kansas, so that makes it special for me. I’m excited to get back on the track and show what we’re capable of.”

03-25-09

Sauter Looks to Repeat Success at Martinsville

Johnny Sauter has tasted success at Martinsville Speedway, and hopes for more of it in Saturday’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Kroger 250. Sauter raced to a top-5 finish in a Nationwide Series race at Martinsville in ’06. This will be his third NCWTS start at the half-mile track. “I love racing at Martinsville,” he said. “To me, it’s the essence of short-track racing. I think the fans love it because there’s lots of side-by-side racing, and you never know what’s gonna happen. And there’s so much history here. It’s a special place.”

Sauter recognizes the importance of qualifying well at Martinsville. “It’s especially important for truck races, because the races are shorter,” he said. “Things happen quickly, and you don’t want to have to spend all your laps just trying to catch up. Qualifying well is usually an important part of having a strong day here.” Sauter says the No. 13 Fun Sand/Rodney Atkins-Curb Records Chevy team is taking maximum competitive advantage of the time between early-season NCWTS races. After Saturday’s race, the NCWTS is out of action again until April 25 at Kansas.
“We have a great group of guys on this team, and everyone is on the same page in terms of wanting to get better, looking for ways to improve,” said Sauter. “That means not only being aware of our weaknesses, but also realizing our strengths. We know what we’re capable of, and we saw it to some extent at Daytona. We came out of the gate well there, and it looked like we were headed for a top-10 finish at California but had an unfortunate break. That’s the way it goes. You just have to focus on the next race and come back and give it everything you have.”

Sauter realizes it takes time for newcomers on a team to jell. “With any group of guys together for the first time, it takes some time for things to click, and we’re getting closer,” he said. “There are a lot of positives on this race team right now, and I’m confident that will be reflected in our finishes. These guys are working hard for me, and I appreciate it. Hopefully, we can come out of Martinsville with a top-5 finish and build some momentum.”

03-05-09

Sauter Seeks Top-10 Finish at Atlanta

Johnny Sauter enters the American Commercial Lines 200 at Atlanta on Saturday seeking his first top-10 finish of the season. Despite strong trucks at Daytona, where he ran near the front of the pack for much of the race, and California, Sauter caught a couple of unlucky breaks and finished 27th and 17th, respectively, in those races. He is confident Saturday will bring a different result.

“We had top-10 trucks in both races, and coming out of the box, you can’t ask for any more than that,” Sauter said. “The speed is there, and now we just have to put a whole day together.” According to Sauter, patience is vital to success. “As they say, ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day,” he said. “We know our trucks are strong, and we just had some misfortune. We’ll keep digging, and we’re confident our luck will turn around this weekend.”

In 10 career starts at Atlanta, Sauter has one top-10 finish. “Atlanta is a fun place to race,” he said. “From a racer’s standpoint, I look forward to the speed this track brings. It’s exhilarating, especially during qualifying. During the race, the tires seem to wear out and you start to slip around pretty quickly, which puts things in the driver’s hands a little more. It’s all about the grip here. At some tracks, you’re pinned on the bottom all day long, and if you’re truck is off a little bit, there’s nothing you can do. This place has a bunch of grooves, so you can always find a place to race. It’s exciting to race here, and I’m looking forward to showing what we’re capable of.”

Sauter is enjoying his first full-time run in the NCWTS. "This series is so competitive," he said. "It's a lot of fun. You have probably twenty trucks that can win any given race, so you don't have any margin for error. With the shorter races in this Series, there's the added emphasis on getting where you're going quicker."

Sauter believes the No. 13 Fun Sand/Rodney Atkins/Curb Records Chevy is right on track. “We’ve got a great bunch of guys on this team, and everybody is dedicating and working hard,” he said. “It’s just a matter of building some consistency, and we know we can get on a nice roll. Hopefully, that will start this weekend.”

02-19-09

Sauter Looks to Rebound at California

Johnny Sauter looks to rebound from a disappointing finish in last week’s season-opener at Daytona with a strong run at Auto Club Speedway in Saturday’s San Bernardino County 200.

On-track occurrences not of a driver’s making can sometimes turn a promising run to ruin in an instant, and such was the case for Sauter at Daytona. Sauter’s No. 13 Fun Sand/Curb Records/Rodney Atkins Chevy looked to be among the strongest in the race, and he seemed poised for a special evening until he was swept up in a wreck that ended his night. He finished the race 27th.

“We had a great truck at Daytona, and we felt after practice that we could win the race,” Sauter said. “But things can happen in a hurry at Daytona, and it wasn’t meant to be for us. That’s just part of racing at a track like Daytona. You realize you can't control what other drivers do, and you regroup and move on and focus on the next race, and we’re really looking forward to California.”

Sauter has made many starts at Auto Club Speedway in his career, but this will be his first in the NCWTS.
“You have lots of room to run here, but I believe the place to be is at the bottom of the track,” he said. “I always enjoy racing at California. This is a handling track. There’s a lot of corner here, so if you’re off a little bit as far as the chassis goes, it shows. We’re excited to see what we can do with our No. 13 Fun Sand/Curb Records/Rodney Atkins Chevy, and hopefully we can challenge for a win on Saturday."

02-09-09

Sauter Hopes For Early Truck Series Success At Daytona

Johnny Sauter begins his fulltime foray into NASCAR Camping World Truck Series competition in the NextEra Energy Resources 250 at Daytona on Friday. Sauter will drive the No. 13 Chevrolet Silverado for ThorSport Racing this season. “I’m excited to get going, and there’s no better place than Daytona to do it,” Sauter said. “The whole Daytona experience is incredible; our season-opening race, the fans, the atmosphere, racing at night…just a combination of all of these really cool elements. I’m looking forward to it.”

While Friday will mark Sauter’s first visit to Daytona as a driver in the NCWTS, the Necedah, Wisconsin native is hardly a stranger to the track. He has made 16 career starts at Daytona, and collected top-5 Nationwide Series finishes there in ’03 and ’04. The veteran knows he still has a lot to learn, however. “As far as the draft, and superspeedway racing with these trucks, I’m trying to pick up as much information as I can from Matt (ThorSport teammate Crafton),” said Sauter. Crafton drives the No. 88 Menards Silverado. “These trucks punch such a big hole in the air. Matt has talked to me about how the closure rate in the draft is so different with the trucks. He’s been a big help to me.”

High-speeds aside, Sauter says handling at Daytona is critical for success. “I’ll definitely be cognizant of how my truck is handling, especially during the first fifty laps or so…from a driver’s perspective, you’d love to just be able to keep your foot on the gas, and not have to check up or be too tight or too loose, but that’s not the case. Daytona is a handling track. Your truck has to handle well for you to have a shot.” According to Sauter, Daytona’s unpredictable nature calls for a cool head. “I think a big part of being able to run well at Daytona is just common sense,” he said. “You have to be aggressive, of course, but there’s a fine line between being aggressive and doing something foolish, and creating a mess around you. There’s really no safe place at Daytona. The wrecks can happen anywhere. We'd like to try to run up front as much as we can, but you try to balance it and stay aggressive and be as smart as you can, so you can be in it at the end and give yourself a shot to win.”

Sauter would relish the momentum a strong finish at Daytona would provide. “The competitor in me would love to win the race,” he said. “It’s Daytona, and that speaks for itself. But at the same time, it’ll be hard to complain if I can come out with a top-5 or top-10 finish and the truck in one piece. It’ll be interesting to see how it unfolds.”

01-06-09

Thorsport Racing Names Johnny Sauter Driver of No. 13 Truck

ThorSport Racing has named Johnny Sauter driver of the No. 13 truck in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in ’09, the organization announced on Tuesday.

Sauter, a native of Necedah, WI, has raced in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and Nationwide Series. This will be his first full-time foray into the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. “I’m excited to race fulltime in the Truck Series, and to do it with a quality team like ThorSport,” Sauter said. “The Truck Series provides some of the best racing out there, with a tremendous ‘grass-roots’ feel.”

Sauter joins forces with teammate Matt Crafton at ThorSport Racing. Crafton is the driver of the No. 88 Menards Silverado. He finished 5th in last season’s championship standings. “Matt has tremendous knowledge and he’s had great success in this series, and I’m looking forward to learning from him and bouncing ideas off each other,” said Sauter. “There’s nobody better than Matt to get me up to speed in this series. He’s more than willing to share his knowledge, and that is invaluable to me.”

According to Crafton, Sauter’s addition to the ThorSport fold bodes well for all involved. “I’m looking forward to having Johnny as part of our team, and I’m confident he’ll do well in this series,” Crafton said. “He brings lots of experience and has those intangibles that are important to success. Hopefully, I can help make it a smooth transition for him, and at the same time, there’s a lot I can learn from him, too. I think we'll make a great team.”

Sauter believes all of the key ingredients are in place at ThorSport Racing to make a championship push.
“(team owner) Duke Thorson has established a strong, winning organization at ThorSport, and I’m thankful he’s given me this opportunity,” Sauter said. “All of the pieces are lined up for great things to happen. This is a great group of guys with a fierce determination to succeed, and I’m excited to be a part of it. I can’t wait to get going."

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