CONCORD, N.C. – Johnny Sauter laid claim to Kyle Busch’s house on Friday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway, charging to his third NASCAR Camping World Truck Series win of the season in the North Carolina Education Lottery 200.
Sauter led a race-high 71 of 134 laps and dominated the final stage of the race, taking the lead from Brett Moffitt just prior to a caution with 48 to go and never looking back after that.
He survived two restarts inside the final 17 laps en route to his 20th career Truck Series win, holding off a hard-charging Busch by 1.340 seconds at the checkered flag and scoring his first Charlotte triumph in 10 tries.
“This is a tough place. Everyone wants to win here and I never thought I would win here,” admitted Sauter. “I’ve had good runs here and I’ve had very humbling runs, to say the least, but I’m so proud of everybody at GMS Racing for everything they’ve put into this program to make us so fast every time we hit the race track. I can’t thank the Gallagher family enough. What a night.”
Sauter found himself mired back at the end of the lead lap after the first stage break, having stayed out on strategy and then pitting for fresh tires after most of the leaders had already come down for service.
However, he charged back to fifth at the end of the second stage before dueling with Moffitt and then eventually pulling away.
“To win this race is super special. It’s a team effort,” noted Sauter. “I was worried about our pit strategy towards the beginning and we just mowed right back through there. This truck was so strong and it did everything I needed it to do tonight. I feel like I’m driving the best I’ve ever driven right now and we’re on a roll. I sure hope it keeps on going.”
After Noah Gragson and John Hunter Nemechek split the first two 30-lap stages in Friday night’s race, action in the final stage kicked off with 67 to go.
On the restart, Brett Moffitt jetted out to a huge advantage over Sauter, who stayed patient and then hauled past Moffitt on the inside entering turn one to take command of the field with 63 laps left.
Nine laps later, the caution flag waved for a heavy crash by Justin Fontaine in turn four, splitting the field’s strategy. Moffitt and Jesse Little stayed out, while Sauter led most of the lead lap runners down pit road for fuel and tires.
When racing resumed with 49 to go, Little spun the tires and faded, while Moffitt could only hold the lead for a lap before Sauter came charging past to resume command before Josh Reaume spun in turn four to cause another caution.
Moffitt pitted for tires and fuel at that point, leaving Sauter and Stewart Friesen on the front row when the green flag waved with 42 laps left. Friesen couldn’t get going on the inside, allowing Sauter to get away while Gragson scrapped for second with Justin Haley on the inside.
However, lurking despite two penalties for crew members going over the wall too soon was Busch, who found his way to seventh after the restart and then methodically picked off trucks one by one.
Busch cracked the top five with 39 to go and it was only five more circuits before he passed Justin Haley for third. He then closed to within a second of the race lead before the caution flag waved with 22 to go for debris on the backstretch, setting Busch up on the inside of the second row for another restart.
Racing resumed with 17 to go and it took less than a lap before carnage ensued again, with Matt Crafton getting run into by Todd Gilliland and Austin Wayne Self smacking the outside wall to bring out the final yellow of the night.
That set up a 10-lap sprint to the finish, with Sauter escaping on the outside while Haley spun his tires down low and faded into a side-by-side duel with Brandon Jones for the runner-up spot.
Jones eventually got the edge in that battle after Haley went for a four-wheel slide in turn four, falling to 14th as Busch charged into third and gave chase to his young protégé in the final laps.
The seven-time Charlotte Truck Series winner eventually passed Jones with two to go, but ran out of time to track down Sauter.
After the race, Busch lit into his team, furious for the pair of pit penalties that cost him a shot at victory.
“Pure talent. That’s how I got back through the field,” Busch quipped. “My pit crew did absolutely nothing to help me out tonight.
“My truck drove like (crap) and these splitters are absolutely horrendous. You can’t pass in traffic and you can’t race alongside anyone. You can’t even get within five truck lengths of anyone. Yet somehow, someway, I was able to get back to the front. I had a blast,” he fumed.
Jones came home third ahead of Moffitt and Ben Rhodes, who rallied from a battery issue one week ago at Kansas Speedway for his third top-five finish of the season.
