DOVER, Del. – Johnny Sauter found himself in the unenviable position of being a last-minute substitute driver for GMS Racing in Saturday’s OneMain Financial 200 at Dover Int’l Speedway.
Though Sauter hadn’t competed in a NASCAR Xfinity Series race since 2014, he shook off the rust with ease and powered to a sixth-place finish at the Monster Mile just one day after winning the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at the high-banked concrete oval.
Sauter got the call to race the No. 23 Allegiant Travel Chevrolet Camaro mid-week, following regular driver Spencer Gallagher’s indefinite suspension from NASCAR for a violation of the sanctioning body’s substance abuse policy.
Though it was an unexpected chance to do double duty, Sauter counted it as a blessing and stressed three different times how much he enjoyed the opportunity to step back up to NASCAR’s second-highest level.
“I had a lot of fun out there today,” said Sauter. “I learned a lot of discipline driving this thing, for sure.”
Sauter said he struggled to adapt to the differences in driving style between his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series machine and the Xfinity Series car he drove on Saturday.
“At the beginning of the race, I was trying to drive it like the truck and pushing it really deep into the corner, and I couldn’t figure out if I was loose or if I was tight,” Sauter explained. “Then, once I got started backing the corners up, we got to where we were a lot better.
“Knowing what I know now, I wish I would have started the race with the track bar up about five more rounds, because that would have made a huge difference. We had good speed on short runs, but as the run went on I would get way too tight. Like I said, though, I had a lot of fun.”
Saturday marked Sauter’s first top-10 finish in the NASCAR Xfinity Series since the 2006 finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, as well as the milestone 50th top-10 of his career in the series.
On that November day, Sauter drove the No. 00 Yellow Transportation Chevrolet for owner Gene Haas, back when the older body style was still used in what was then the NASCAR Busch Series.
“Noah (Gragson) asked me, ‘How does this car drive compared to the old car?’ and I told him, ‘Man, I don’t even remember the old cars!’” Sauter joked. “This was a new experience for me.”
Sauter said his enjoyment from Saturday’s race came largely from the fact that he was able to race out of some “sketchy situations” to come home with a strong result.
“There was some action out there today, for sure,” he laughed. “We were on top of three wide at a couple points, and a few of those restarts got pretty wild. But man, like I said, doing this deal today was a lot of fun. It felt good to run with some guys I saw in the Trucks over the last few years.
“To go from getting the call just a day or two ago to a top 10 finish … this was great. Hopefully, these GMS guys learned a few things today too, just like I did,” Sauter noted. “If they can take some things out of here and apply them later on, then I’ve done my job.”
