Sauter Eyes Another Win at Martinsville

Johnny Sauter will once again carry the colors of America’s original and best-selling tobacco-free smokeless brand, Smokey Mountain Herbal Snuff, in Saturday’s Kroger 200 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. With a solid resume in toe at the half-mile “paper clip,” Sauter enters the 19th race on the 2014 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) schedule looking for redemption. After a 31st-place finish at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway last weekend, the ThorSport Racing driver has ground to make up in the driver point standings and there’s no better “time” or place than Martinsville Speedway to get back in the hunt for his first series title.

In 13 starts at the .526-mile track, Sauter leads all NCWTS drivers entered in the 32nd annual event with two wins (April, 2011 and April, 2013). In addition to those two wins, since 2006, the ThorSport Racing driver has scored one pole (April, 2011), four top-five and five top-10 finishes including a fourth-place finish earlier this year.

With an average finish of 8.75 at tracks less than one-mile in length this season, Sauter hopes to capitalize on his short-track experience and add a third grandfather clock to his growing trophy collection.

Sounding off – Johnny Sauter:
“I like Martinsville. Having won a couple races there in the last two years has changed my opinion of it. There was a long time there when I was always fast; I just couldn’t get the finishes. I think I changed the way I drive just a little bit, trying to take care of my stuff, trying to get speed without forcing it. Having said all that, I love that race track. It’s a fun place to race – it’s short-track racing at its best. In fact, I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like going there. It’s what most of us grew up doing, and we don’t get to do a lot of that now, so I think it’s fun.”

“Martinsville is a tough track. Double-file restarts are tough. If you have a good truck and you get stuck up on that outside groove you will have a combination of dirty air and being in that non-preferred groove. You’re close to the marbles so if you get too high, you’re in trouble. It’s a treacherous place to double-file restart for sure and traffic is tough – especially when you are leading the race because of lap traffic. They don’t want to concede because they want to stay on the lead lap, so it’s just a touch and go place and you definitely have to use your bumper.”

Sauter’s Martinsville Stats:
• 13 NCWTS starts since 2006 including two wins and four top-five finishes
• Two wins
• One pole (April, 2011)
• 2936 of 2963 laps completed (99.1%)
• 245 laps led
• Average start: 10.7
• Average finish: 14.2
• According to NASCAR’S Loop Data Statistics, Sauter ranks:
  º Second in Fastest Laps Run (206)
  º Fourth in Laps in the Top 15 (1982)
  º Fourth in Laps Led (245)
  º Sixth in Driver Rating (95.5)
  º 12th in Average Running Position (12.244)
• Four NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts

Johnny Sauter at Martinsville Speedway:

Johnny Sauter’s Martinsville Speedway NCWTS Performance Profile:

Johnny Sauter 2014:
• After a 31st-place finish at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, Sauter dropped to fourth in the driver point standings, 36 markers behind series point leader and teammate Matt Crafton
• Was victorious for the first time in 2014 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn (8/15/14)
• Recorded a season-best first-place start at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet when qualifying was cancelled due to weather and the field was set based on the 2014 NCWTS rule book (9/12/14)
• In 18 starts this season, Sauter has one win, eight top-five and 13 top-10 finishes
• Has led 113 laps
• Has completed 2521 of 2678 laps attempted (94.1%)
• Average start: 8.4
• Average finish: 9.0
• According to NASCAR’s Loop Data Statistics, Sauter ranks:
  º Third in Laps in the Top 15 (2355)
  º Fourth in Average Running Position (9.106)
  º Fourth in Driver Rating (94.4)
  º Ninth in the Laps Led (113)
  º 10th in Fastest Laps Run (65)
• Sixth full-time season in the NCWTS

Sauter’s Career Truck Series Stats:
• 148 starts since 2003
• 10 wins
• 56 top-five finishes
• 83 top-10 finishes
• Five poles
• 22,273 laps completed
• 1118 laps led
• Average start: 10.6
• Average finish: 11.0

ABOUT SMOKEY MOUNTAIN:
Smokey Mountain is America’s original and best-selling tobacco-free smokeless brand. Appealing to adult smokeless tobacco consumers who are seeking tobacco-free and nicotine-free alternatives, Smokey Mountain is available in long cut and easy-to-use pouches. For more information visit www.SmokeySnuff.com .

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 375 Billboard number one records, nearly 1,200 Billboard Top Ten records and charted just under 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 and Radio & Records Magazine’s 2005 Overall Gold Label of the Year. For more information visit www.curb.com.

ABOUT THORSPORT RACING:
ThorSport Racing, based in a state-of-the-art 100,000-square-foot facility in Sandusky, Ohio, is the longest-tenured NASCAR Camping World Truck Series team. ThorSport, which has run in the Truck Series since 1996, in 2014 will run the No. 88 Menards Toyota Tundra driven by 2013 drivers’ champion Matt Crafton, the No. 98 Nextant Aerospace/Smokey Mountain Herbal Snuff/Carolina Nut Co./Curb Records Toyota Tundra driven by Johnny Sauter and the No. 13 Carolina Nut Co. Toyota Tundra driven by Jeb Burton in the Truck Series and the No. 13 Toyota Camry in the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards.