The American Ethanol 200 at Iowa Speedway in Newton was the ninth race on the 2014 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) schedule for Johnny Sauter and his ThorSport Racing team. Although, the seasoned veteran has seen his fair share of success at the 7/8-mile track, Sauter’s day seemed to be as gloomy as the weather that plagued the Midwestern track most of the afternoon. Fighting a Tundra that was “plowing in the corners,” the Wisconsin native struggled to find the balance he needed to continue his strong performance in the Hawkeye State.
Starting from the outside of row nine, in the18th position, Sauter ran as high as 10th and as low as 26th throughout the 200-lap event. Scored 12th, just past the halfway mark, the ThorSport Racing driver was forced to bring his SmokeySnuff.com Tundra to pit road under green at lap 115 for a flat right front tire. The unfortunate chain of events mired the No.98 team multiple laps down to the race leaders and relegated Sauter to an 18th-place finish, two laps down to race winner, Erik Jones.
Notes:
• In eight starts at Iowa Speedway, Sauter has led 24 laps en route to six top-five and six top-10 finishes
• Sauter fell from first to third in the 2014 NCWTS driver point standings following the American Ethanol 200 at Iowa Speedway, a mere seven points back from ThorSport Racing teammate Matt Crafton
• In 2014, Sauter has led 64 laps en route to four top-five and seven top-10 finishes
• According to NASCAR’s Loop Data statistics in 2014, Sauter ranks third in Average Running Position (8.493), and Laps in the Top-15 with 1322, and fourth in Driver Rating (95.6)
• The American Ethanol 200 was the 11th straight win for Toyota, dating back to Phoenix International Raceway (November 2013) when Erik Jones visited victory lane – marking the longest active win streak by any manufacturer in the NCWTS
Quotes:
“It was a tough night for us, definitely not the night we were hoping for. We struggled from the time we unloaded. Plowing, tight, chattering the front tires – we just couldn’t get it dialed-in. I was running 12th when the right front tire went down, and I had to pit under green. We lost a lot of track position and went multiple laps down. A solid run at Eldora and we can rebound from this.”
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.