Talk about the win tonight. Did you leave anything on the table?
JOHNNY SAUTER: “Yeah, what an eventful day. This place here during the daytime typically doesn’t — your truck doesn’t handle very well, and last year same deal, and I knew the racetrack was going to come to us, or at least I thought it was, and sure enough, it did. Joe made a great change on that first pit stop and that thing came to life. Phenomenal year. I’ve always wanted to have two wins in the NASCAR series in the same year, and to some people that probably doesn’t mean much. I’ve been fortunate to win some Nationwide races and some Truck races but never two in a year, so that was a huge accomplishment.”
“To come out of here six points back is kind of a bummer with some of the problems we had or whatever throughout the course of the year, but I couldn’t be more proud of Joe and everybody at ThorSport, Duke and Rhonda Thorson. This is essentially the race that I consider you thank everybody, and Safe Auto Insurance, Curb Records. Mike Curb has been a huge supporter, Mud Jugs, UCoat It, Carrier Heating and Cooling, Chevrolet, ECR Engines, Goodyear Tires, everybody that helps get this deal to the racetrack. It’s a pleasure to drive this truck.”
Crew chief Joe Shear, Jr., talk about the effort out there tonight by the No. 13 truck.
JOE SHEAR, JR.: “Just like Johnny said, we came here knowing we had to do what we did tonight. We had to dominate. We had to lead the most laps. And I can’t thank my guys — my guys worked hard all year, and it showed tonight. We had awesome pit stops. You know, we chased the track and everything and we made some adjustments, and we worked very hard to get where we were. It’s just awesome to be here. Really, I’m kind of lost for words. Working as hard as we do, and we’re working on it, and I think we’re pretty strong, and I can’t wait until next year.”
For both you guys, with what Duke and Rhonda’s organization has done this year, looking ahead and moving ahead, would you guys consider yourselves the championship favorite for next year, and why would that be?
JOHNNY SAUTER: “Well, first of all, I don’t think it’s any secret Duke and Rhonda’s commitment to not only NASCAR but to the Camping World Truck Series, 16 seasons full-time. There’s not a lot of people that can say that, whether they were sponsored or unsponsored. I know Duke and Rhonda spend a lot of their own money to make sure I get to the racetrack every weekend. I couldn’t appreciate that more first and foremost. Built a brand new 100,000 square foot shop, we moved into it in August up in Sandusky, Ohio, which is an anomaly in this business, being outside the Charlotte hub, so to speak. I think it’s a huge accomplishment, but I also know what I have for a team, and those guys work hard, and I guarantee you they work harder than anybody in the garage, and I guarantee you that we are a championship team. Even though we’re not champions right now, we are a championship team, and I do believe we’re the favorites for next year.”
At what point did you know the rain was going to be an issue?
JOHNNY SAUTER: “I had no clue until there was rain on the windshield. That’s the only time I knew. We went down into turn 3 there, the lap before, and it started to sprinkle pretty hard, and I came on the radio and I probably was yelling so loud that they probably didn’t even understand what I was saying, and I said, “it’s raining, it’s raining,” and we went down into turn 3 and it was pouring by the time I got to the back stretch, and I knew this was no good.”
“So I just knew that Denny was running the high line, so I knew that I needed to run the high line, but I got really loose getting down in there and just washed up the racetrack. It’s a good thing he’s as good of a driver as he is, or that could have been ugly. He’s amazingly talented and drove a hard race. I’ve gotta thank him for that.”
Race Recap:
Date: November 19, 2011
Track: Homestead-Miami Speedway
Race: 25 of 25
Started: 5th
Finished: 1st
Championship Point Standings: 2nd (-6)
Up Next on the Truck Series Schedule:
Date: November 22, 2011
Loew’s South Beach Hotel & Resort
Event Name: NCWTS Awards Banquet
Broadcast: SPEED at 8pmET
- ThorSport Racing Press Release
