Catchfence

Johnny Sauter returns to Texas Motor Speedway for the WinStar World Casino 350 on Friday looking to top his strong effort at the track in June, when he captured the Keystone Light Pole Award and finished sixth in the race.

“Texas is an awesome place to race,” Sauter said. “It’s just a great atmosphere there. We sat on the Pole for the June race, led the first fifty laps and felt that we had the truck to win, but had a hiccup or two that cost us track-position. We’re bringing back the same truck, so we feel good about it. Texas is a place where it takes the total package to get it done; you’ve gotta have the aero, horsepower, track-position…all the elements have to be there. When your truck is right at Texas, you can hold it wide-open all night, and, hopefully, that will be the case for us on Friday.”

Sauter looks to recapture the momentum that took him to five-consecutive top-5 finishes and a spot in the top-5 in the NCWTS points-standings recently. He leads the series’ Raybestos Rookie of the Year race.

“The guys on this No. 13 Advance Auto Parts/Rio Grande/Curb Records Chevy team have built great trucks all season for me, and I’m really thankful for all of their hard work,” Sauter said. “I’m proud of the progress we’ve made and the way this team has come together, and we’re at a point where, frankly, we expect to win races each time out. We just keep looking for ways to get better. We’ll be disappointed if we’re not right there in contention for a win on Friday.”

- ThorSport Racing Press Release