NCWTS: SAUTER EYES ANOTHER WIN AT MARTINSVILLE

Sandusky, Ohio (October 22, 2014) – Johnny Sauter will once again carry the colors of America’s original and best-selling tobacco-free smokeless brand, Smokey Mountain Herbal Snuff, inSaturday’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:
- Second in Fastest Laps Run (206)
- Fourth in Laps in the Top 15 (1982)
- Fourth in Laps Led (245)
- Sixth in Driver Rating (95.5)
- 12th in Average Running Position (12.244)
Four NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts

Johnny Sauter at Martinsville Speedway:

Series	Races	Wins	Top-5	Top-10	Pole	Laps	Led	Avg. Start	Avg. Finish
NCWTS	13	2	4	5	1	2936/2963	245	10.7	14.2
NSCS	4	0	0	0	0	1544/2006	0	21.2	33.0

Johnny Sauter’s Martinsville Speedway NCWTS Performance Profile:

Date	Started	Finished	Laps	Status	Led
4/1/06	30	22	250/250	Running	0
10/18/08	33	23	200/200	Running	0
3/30/09	14	27	244/251	Running	0
10/24/09	9	16	199/200	Running	3
3/27/10	7	15	250/250	Running	5
10/23/10	5	21	206/206	Running	49
4/2/11	1	1	250/250	Running	71
10/29/11	4	4	200/200	Running	37
3/31/12	8	29	231/250	Running	0
10/27/12	8	14	200/200	Running	1
4/6/13	4	1	250/250	Running	17
10/26/13	2	8	200/200	Running	9
3/30/14	14	4	256/256	Running	61

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:
- Third in Laps in the Top 15 (2355)
- Fourth in Average Running Position (9.106)
- Fourth in Driver Rating (94.4)
- Ninth in the Laps Led (113)
- 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

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