NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Victoria’s Voice Foundation 200 presented by Westgate Resorts
Race 19 of 22
Johnny Sauter | No. 13 All American Quarter Horse Congress Toyota Tundra
Las Vegas Race Information
Started: 11th
Stage 1: 17th
Stage 2: 15th
Finished: 4th
Laps: 134/134
Laps Led: 2
Status: Running
Driver Points: 12th
Owner Points: 13th
Notables:
- Johnny Sauter tied his best finish of the season (Atlanta).
- Sauter has eight top-10 finishes this season and a current streak of four straight.
Describe the last restart and where you had to put your truck to get a top-five finish?
“We didn’t choose very wisely there on the pit strategy call, but thankfully the caution came out and we could get a decent run with our American Quarter Horse Congress Toyota. I think we lined up 12th or 14th, something like that. I tried to time it just right to where I could get a run and it worked out pretty good. By the time I got to turn three, I could run the top and just rip the top those last three or four laps. I think we would have had the 88 (Matt Crafton) there, we were door-to-door with him and just caution came out. Nonetheless, ThorSport one, two, three, four – that’s pretty awesome. We had a good truck tonight. We struggled at the beginning. Worked on it, worked on it, worked on it and just proud of everybody at ThorSport. Good effort.”
Matt Crafton | No. 88 Ideal Door / Menards Toyota Tundra
Las Vegas Race Information
Started: 6th
Stage 1: 13th
Stage 2: 8th
Finished: 3rd
Laps: 134/134
Laps Led: 0
Status: Running
Driver Points: 4th
Owner Points: 5th
Notables:
- Matt Crafton posted his 16th top-10 finish in 26 races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
- Crafton has top-10 finishes in all four playoff races.
What made the biggest difference tonight?
“These guys behind pit wall. Junior (Carl Joiner, crew chief) and them making all of the right adjustments. We’ve never ever made as many adjustments as we did tonight. The Menards Toyota Tundra was good on long runs, but our short run speed – we were pathetic. We weren’t wanting that last restart but we did. I thought I had a good run off turn four and was going to try to do something with the 98 (Christian Eckes) and then the 99 (Ben Rhodes) turned underneath me and drove on by me. All-in-all, I’m really happy for Duke and Rhonda Thorson. 1-2-3-4, I don’t think that has ever been done. Thanks to Menards and everybody.”
Christian Eckes | No. 98 Curb Records Toyota Tundra
Las Vegas Race Information
Started: 15th
Stage 1: 7th
Stage 2: 9th
Finished: 1st
Laps: 134/134
Laps Led: 4
Status: Running
Driver Points: 20th
Owner Points: 9th
Notables:
- Christian Eckes scored his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory Friday night at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
- This is his fourth top-10 finish in 2021
- This is his first victory and fourth top-10 finish in six races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
How did you come away with the win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway?
“Great people, great organization, great race trucks. This is a brand new truck. We redesigned a lot of things this week and it paid off. Can’t stress it enough, thank you Duke (Thorson, team owner), thank you Rhonda (Thorson, team owner), thank you Toyota Racing, thank you Curb Records, thank you T-Sport, Farm Paint and everybody this year. It’s been a rough year. Ever since 2020 really, it’s been a rough couple of years. Man, we’re back in victory lane and I couldn’t be happier.”
Ben Rhodes | No. 99 Bombardier / Learjet 75 Toyota Tundra
Las Vegas Race Information
Started: 7th
Stage 1: 4th
Stage 2: 2nd
Finished: 2nd
Laps: 134/134
Laps Led: 5
Status: Running
Driver Points: 1st
Owner Points: 1st
Notables:
- Ben Rhodes grabbed his 14th top-10 finish of the season – tying his career high (2020).
- Rhodes leads the driver point standing by 6 points over John Hunter Nemechek.
- Rhodes lead the owner point standing by points.
How difficult is to think big picture on a late-race restart?
“It’s tough to begin with but at this track it’s even crazier. We all saw at this track the restarts were wild all night long. I think I’m just happy with the night. Come in from Bristol, barely getting in, and now I hear we are the points leader. But I couldn’t be more proud of ThorSport Racing. Heck, we were one-through-four. I heard that was the first time in series history. I’m super proud of Christian Eckes. I gave him as big of a shove as I could down the backstretch and when that happened, he got the lead. I thought I could challenge him. We needed one more corner before that caution came out and maybe I could have challenged him for the win, but super proud of him. He deserves it. He’s been working hard on it, and with his part-time schedule, it’s really good to see. ThorSport Racing is on fire tonight.”
Team Notables:
- ThorSport Racing made series history last night at Las Vegas Motor Speedway becoming the only team to have a 1-2-3-4 finish.
- ThorSport Racing is the only team to have a 1-2-3 and 1-2-3-4 finish in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.
Next Race: Talladega Superspeedway | Saturday, Oct. 2 at 1:00 p.m. ET on FOX Sport 1 | MRN | SiriusXM NASCAR Channel 90