ABOUT JOHNNY
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Johnny Sauter
Birthdate: May 1, 1978
Hometown: Necedah, WI
Resides: De Forest, WI
Wife: Cortney
Children: Penn Joseph, Paige, Anne & Alice
Hobbies: family activities
Twitter: @JohnnySauter
No. 47 Liftkits4less
Team: G2G Racing
Team Owners: Tim Viens & Bill Shea
Crew Chief: Tim Silva
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Career Starts:
Career Wins: 24
Career Poles: 9
Best Points Finish: 1st (2016)
First Full Season: 2009
First Start: Aug. 20, 2003 (Bristol)
First Win: Sept. 26, 2009 (Las Vegas)
First Pole: June 5, 2009 (Texas-1) |
Sauter Biography
Johnny Sauter began racing in 1996, after fulfilling a promise he made to his father, short-track racer Jim Sauter, to finish high school before he started his career. The Necedah, Wisconsin native joined the American Speed Association (ASA) in 1998. In 2001, led by crew chief Joe Shear, Jr., Sauter was named ASA Champion and Rookie of the Year with a record 10 wins.
That same year he made his first start in what is now known as the NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS). He shared the ride for the 2003 season, winning the NXS Owners Championship. Sauter also made his NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series (NMECS) debut and his NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series (NGOTS) debut that year.
Sauter moved to the NGOTS full-time in 2009 and earned his first win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway that year. In 2016, Sauter claimed his first NCWTS Championship following a season which included three wins, one pole, 12 top fives and a career-high 19 top-ten finishes.
Sauter continued to earn his place in the record books in 2017 and 2018, winning 10 additional races and securing championship four berths in both seasons; becoming the only driver in the series to appear in all three championship battles since the inception of the Chase format.
Like a true real racer, Sauter continues to compete on a local level in his home state of Wisconsin, where he resides with his wife Cortney and their four children.
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
• 2016: NCWTS Driver Championship
• 2016: 3 wins, 19 top-tens, 12 top-fives, 1 pole
• 2013: Career-best three wins highlighted by superspeedway sweep: Wins at Daytona and Talladega.
• 2013: Tied NASCAR national series record by winning first two races of season.
• 2011: Finished career-best second in NASCAR Camping World Truck Series standings.
• 2009: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Rookie of the Year.
• 2009: Won first career race, first two career poles as a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series rookie.
• 2003: Won NASCAR Nationwide Series owners’ championship for Richard Childress Racing as co-driver with Kevin Harvick.
• 2002: NASCAR Nationwide Series Rookie of the Year runner-up while winning first series race and pole.
• Has won poles and races in both NASCAR Camping World Truck and NASCAR Nationwide series.
• 2001: ASA national champion, Rookie of the Year, with record 10 wins.
YEAR-BY-YEAR NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES RECAP
2013: Finished fourth in series points. … Fifth consecutive full season driving for ThorSport Racing, first in No. 98 Toyota and fifth consecutive year in top-10 in points. … Best start, fifth career pole, at Texas. … Average start, 12.5. … Best finish, three wins (Daytona, Martinsville-1, Talladega, which marked ThorSport’s first superspeedway wins), has won at least two races for three consecutive seasons, at least one for five straight. Average finish, 10.3. … Scored ThorSport’s third career one-two finish, with Matt Crafton at Martinsville-1. … Nine top-five, 14 top-10 finishes. … Completed 96.6 percent of laps attempted. … Led 62 laps.
2012: Finished ninth in series points. …. Fourth consecutive season for ThorSport Racing, first in No. 13 Toyota. … Best start, second at Kentucky-2. … Average start, 11th. … Won twice for second consecutive season, sweeping Texas races and continued four-year streak of winning at least one race per season. … Scored one-two finish with ThorSport teammate Matt Crafton at Texas-1. … Average finish, 13.8. … Six top-five and nine top-10 finishes. … Completed 95.7 percent of laps attempted. … 93 laps led.
2011: Finished career-best second in series points. … Raced third consecutive full season in No. 13 ThorSport Racing Chevrolet, with 11 top fives, 16 top 10s, the latter tying his career high. … Won poles at Martinsville-1, Kentucky-1. … Average start of 8.5 keyed by 16 top-10 starts. … Won twice in a season for first time in his NASCAR national series career, at Martinsville-1, Homestead-Miami. … Average finish of 9.4. … Completed career-best 98.5 percent of laps attempted, for second consecutive season running at finish of 24 of 25 races. … Led career-high 373 laps.
2010: Finished third in series points. … Raced second consecutive full season for owner Mike Curb in No. 13 ThorSport Racing Chevrolet, with 14 top fives, 16 top 10s; both career highs. … Raised driver rating by 13 points over 2009. … Won second career race, at Kansas. … Average finish 8.1. … Best start, second, at Kentucky. … Average start, 6.5, with only two races started outside the top 10 … Completed 97.4 percent of laps attempted, led 220 laps and finished on the lead lap in 23 of 25 races.
2009: Finished sixth in series points. … First full season with ThorSport Racing in No. 13 Chevrolet. … Won first series race, in his 19th career start, at Las Vegas, leading a race-high 62 laps. … Average finish, 11.5. … 13 top-10 finishes. … Scored ThorSport’s first career one-two finish, with Matt Crafton at Las Vegas. … Won first two career poles (Texas-1, Phoenix). … Average start 10.6. … Had six top fives in last 10 races of season. … Won Rookie of the Year Award. … Completed 97.8 percent of laps attempted, led 118 laps.
2008: Finished 87th in series points. Ran one race, Martinsville-2, for owner Ken Smith, finished 23rd on lead lap.
2006: Finished 57th in series points. … Ran two races for two owners, started third, finished 12th at The Milwaukee Mile, his home state track, in the No. 51 of owner Billy Ballew. 2005: Finished 59th in series points. … Ran three races for three owners, including 11th-place finish at Texas for Billy Ballew, an introduction to ThorSport with 20th place at Homestead finale.2004: Finished 54th in series points. … Finished every lap in two starts for owner Cary Agajanian, including second-place finish at Lucas Oil Raceway. 2003: Finished 69th in series points. … Ran three races in owner Chris Beckington’s No. 9 Ford. … Made series debut at Bristol. … career-first top-10 finish in second start, at Richmond.
PREVIOUS RACING HISTORY In 2013 made two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts for Phil Parsons Racing, at Michigan-2 and New Hampshire-2. … Continued to operate his own Super Late Model team he runs from a shop behind his home, in select special events throughout the season. … In 2012 made a single NASCAR Nationwide Series start as a fill-in for owner Joe Nemechek at Daytona-1. … Has 83 Sprint Cup Series starts, with a debut in 2003 for owner Larry McClure. … Highlights include Haas CNC Racing’s (currently Stewart-Haas Racing) first top-five finish, a fifth in 2007 at Richmond and finishing second in the 2007 Nextel Open that transferred him into the Nextel All-Star Race, where he finished sixth. … In 2005 became first Wisconsin-born driver to win a Nationwide Series race at The Milwaukee Mile, for owner James Finch. … Has 202 starts in the Nationwide Series, with a debut in 2001 with a fifth-place finish at Richmond for owner Richard Childress. … In 2003 won a Nationwide Series race for owner Mike Curb at Richmond-2 and that season teamed with Kevin Harvick to win Nationwide Series owners’ championship for Childress. … Scored first career win, for Childress in 2002 at Chicagoland. … Has four Nationwide Series poles and 936 laps led. … Began racing in 1996 in the sportsman division at Dells Raceway Park in Wisconsin Dells, Wis. … Moved to late models in 1997, winning in his third start at LaCrosse Fairgrounds Speedway in West Salem, Wis.
*Noteworthy
In 2013 tied Mark Martin (NASCAR Camping World Truck Series), Tony Stewart and current NCWTS director Chad Little (NASCAR Nationwide Series) and Jeff Gordon and Matt Kenseth (NASCAR Sprint Cup Series) as the only drivers to win a NASCAR national series’ first two races of a season. … Enjoyed record-setting family affair at The Milwaukee Mile in 2003, joining father Jim and brothers Jay and Tim in the Nationwide Series’ starting field, becoming only the second family in NASCAR history to have four members compete in a national series race; joining the Flocks – three brothers who were joined by their sister for a race in 1949. … Brother Jay also won in the Camping World Truck Series, for owner Richard Childress. … Continues to build and race his own late model cars. … He and wife Cortney reside in DeForest, WI with their 4 children.
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Champion – 2016