Catchfence

Johnny Sauter raced to a ninth-place finish in the season-ending Ford 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Friday, falling just shy of a top-five spot in the NCWTS final standings. Sauter finished sixth in the standings, a mere seven points removed from a coveted top-five slot.

It was Sauter’s third-consecutive top-ten finish, and his thirteenth of the season. He racked up seven top-five finishes. Sauter captured a dominating win at Las Vegas, and was whisker-close to victory in at least a handful of other races this season. He won Pole Awards at Texas and Phoenix. He also won the NCWTS Raybestos Rookie of the Year title.

“I’m proud of how far this No. 13 Fun Sand Chevrolet team came this season,” Sauter said. “We missed a spot in the top-five in the points-standings by a slim margin, and that’s something we were really shooting for, but, at the same time, we know how much progress we made this season. As we all know, it takes time for a group of new guys on a team to jell, and we really saw it happen with this team.”

Sauter and his Fun Sand bunch served notice that they’ll be a force with which to reckon in 2010.

“We did some good things this season, won a race at Las Vegas, which was big for our team, and special for ThorSport Racing as an organization,” he said. “We know we should’ve won a few others, too, and felt like we kind of let them get away from us. But it all contributes to continued growth, to knowing we’re capable of winning races and expecting to run in the top-five each time out and knowing what we need to do to be that much better. I’m thankful to (crew chief Shear Jr.) Joe and all of our guys for their great work this season. They busted their rear-ends for me, kept me in awesome race trucks all season. I appreciate the opportunity that (ThorSport Racing owners) Duke and Rhonda Thorson have given me to drive this No. 13 Fun Sand Chevy, and I’m having a blast. I’m confident we’ll keep improving, and expect that we’ll be hard to beat next season.”

Sauter and ThorSport Racing teammate Matt Crafton (No. 88 Menards Chevy) raised eyebrows throughout the Truck Series garage as a formidable and consistent one-two team punch this season. Crafton finished in 2nd place in the NCWTS standings.

“I’m thankful to Matt for his help and advice,” said Sauter. “He fought hard for a championship all season, has been in this series a long time, and knows what it takes to succeed. It’s been pretty cool to be able to lean on him for his insight. ThorSport Racing is in a great spot, with two teams that have what it takes to win races and compete for championships. This No. 13 team has a ways to go yet, but we’re confident good things are around the corner for us. We’ll just keep working hard to get there.’

- ThorSport Racing Press Release