Johnny Sauter punches ticket to Truck Series final Chase round with Martinsville win
Johnny Sauter has punched his ticket into the final round of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Chase with a victory at Martinsville Speedway.
Sauter led a total of 50 laps in Saturday's Texas Roadhouse 200 on his way to sealing his fate to battle for a championship in the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
"I feel like it was one of the smartest races I've ever ran," Sauter said in the makeshift Victory Lane on the Martinsville frontstretch after the race. "People don't accuse me of being very smart a lot of times. I just kept trying to take care of it. I just kept riding in third and kept trying to save them (the tires). Then I knew with 40 to go, I could do what I needed to."
After experiencing brake trouble early, Sauter held off a hard-charing Chase Elliott in the closing laps to score his second victory of the season.
"Looking back, I wish I would have done something a little bit different," said Elliott after the race. "I got loose of two (Turn 2) coming to the checkered, and that was probably my opportunity to try to get him. You have to be careful because those guys are racing for a championship. For me, some days it's just not worth making a mistake or wrecking a guy."
Four of the six Chase drivers finished in the top-10 spots, as John Hunter Nemecheck, Christopher Bell and Timothy Peters rounded out the top five, while William Byron finished 8th.
But the day didn't go as smoothly for two other Chase contenders, as both Matt Crafton and Ben Kennedy experienced problems late in the race.
On Lap 175, Ben Rhodes ran into the back of Kennedy in Turns 1 and 2, sending him for a spin. Kennedy also received damage after John Wes Townley was unable to avoid hitting his No. 33 GMS Racing Chevrolet.
Kennedy let his frustration be known as he and Rhodes got into a heated exchange in the garage area after the race.
"He (Rhodes) just wrecked us, plan and simple," said Kennedy after the conversation with Rhodes. "He gave us a headache all day. He tried to wreck us earlier and he failed at it. It's really unfortunate. We're racing here for the Chase. If he wanted to race me that way, then I'm going to race him back that way."
Crafton was having a solid run when the left-rear wheel well caught fire on his No. 88 Thorsport Racing Toyota Tundra on Lap 148.
The team reported seals blew off the left-rear brake caliper resulting in the fire. Crafton had to make multiple pit stops for repairs and was only able to salvage a 17th-place finish.
