Catchfence

Hampton, Ga. – September 2, 2011 – Johnny Sauter, driver of the No. 13 Safe Auto / Curb Records / Carrier Chevrolet Silverado, started the Atlanta 200 at Atlanta Motor Speedway in 12th position – positive for the team after some challenging practice runs at the track. After contact with the 8 truck, a night-long inescapable battle with tire woes commenced for the team – resulting in a hard-fought effort for 29th place. Hope remains, as Sauter came out of Atlanta just 12 points behind leader James Buescher.

“It was a tough day for us, from practice to the race. We were encouraged by the qualifying run, because it was better than we had run in practice – but we’re going to need to get back to the shop and focus hard here. We’ve got eight to go, and we’ve got racetracks that we know how to race. This is when other teams start feeling the pressure, and we start excelling.”

After early contact with the 8, the team watched the right rear tire closely for damage. Upon first inspection, the truck was fine – however the tire went down on lap 54, starting a chain reaction of stops to fix fenders, tires, toe and adjustments. The 13 rallied to get Sauter back on track to finish the race and preserve precious points. At the checkers, Sauter finished in the 29th position.

“We’re going to bring a new chassis to Chicagoland, so the focus is getting back to the shop to possibly test and get that chassis perfect. It was a disappointing night, but that’s racing. We’ll get back at it.”

He sits in second place in the the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver championship points lead behind James Buescher going into Chicagoland Speedway in two weeks. Next weekend is an off week.

- ThorSport Racing Press Release