Recap: Sparta, KY. (June 26, 2014) – Johnny Sauter and his Nextant Aerospace/Curb Records Toyota team have been the picture of consistency throughout the 2014 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) season. With seven top-10 finishes in the first eight races this season, Sauter leads all NCWTS drivers with an average finish of 7.1. The No. 98 ThorSport Racing team remains atop the NCWTS point standings for the second consecutive week, following a ninth-place finish in Thursday night’s UNOH 225 at Kentucky Speedway.
Starting fifth, the Necedah, Wisconsin native battled a Toyota Tundra that was too tight on the race track, a problem he and his ThorSport Racing team faced all afternoon throughout both practice sessions and qualifying. Running as high as first and leading three laps, Sauter remained unhappy with his Toyota Tundra throughout the 150-lap event, telling crew chief Dennis Connor that it was, “killing the splitter and dragging the corners.” Connor and crew made three attempts on pit road to adjust the handling, and in the closing laps Sauter was able to fight back from a race-low 14th to continue his five-race streak of top-10 finishes, capturing a ninth-place finish.
Notes:
- Sauter spent 100% of laps attempted in the top-15 (150/150)
- Sauter’s ninth-place finish was his fourth top-10 finish at Kentucky Speedway in eight NCWTS starts
- Sauter’s solid finish was his fifth consecutive top-10 finish of 2014
- In 2014, Sauter has led 64 laps en route to four top-five and seven top-10 finishes
- The UNOH 225 was the 10th 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
- For the second week in a row, Sauter remains the NCWTS point leader, eight points ahead of ThorSport Racing teammate Matt Crafton
Quotes:
“We struggled getting the truck handling like we needed it to. We tried a lot of things to get it off the race track, but it ended up being a frustrating night for our Nextant Aerospace/Curb Records team. Consistency has been the key to us staying in contention this season and ending with a top-10 isn’t a bad thing.”
ABOUT NEXTANT AEROSPACE:
Nextant Aerospace is recognized as the first company in the world to introduce aircraft remanufacturing to the business jet market. The Nextant 400XTi is a completely-rebuilt Beechjet 400A/XP with Williams FJ44-3AP engines and the Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21™ integrated avionics suite. The new aircraft also has major aerodynamic enhancements and an improved engine mounting configuration with redesigned nacelles and pylons. The 400XTi is delivered with a two-year full-aircraft warranty and after-sales support provided by a global network of owned and authorized service centers. Founded in 2007, Nextant is based in Cleveland, Ohio. Nextant is a Directional Aviation Capital company. For more information, please visit, like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter @NextantAero or join us on LinkedIn.
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 Estes Toyota Tundra driven by Jeb Burton in the Truck Series.
