A Wisconsin driver who won the 2016 Truck Series title, spent years in NASCAR's Busch and Winston Cup ranks and returned to part-time work in later seasons.
Johnny Sauter is an American stock car driver from Wisconsin who won the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship in 2016 with GMS Racing. He also won the ASA Series title in 2001 and made starts in NASCAR's Busch and Winston Cup series.
Johnny Sauter is a Wisconsin racer who spent much of his career in NASCAR's trucks, where he took the 2016 championship with GMS Racing. The son of former driver Jim Sauter, he has also raced in the Busch and Winston Cup series. His record includes wins at Daytona, Martinsville and Chicagoland.
Who is Johnny Sauter?
Sauter was born on May 1, 1978, and graduated from high school in 1996. He is the son of NASCAR driver Jim Sauter, his brothers Tim and Jay also raced in NASCAR, and he is the uncle of Travis Sauter.
After high school he competed in amateur series across Wisconsin and the Midwest. By the end of 1997 he had three Sportsman wins at Dells Raceway Park and a Late Model win at La Crosse Fairgrounds Speedway. He joined the American Speed Association Series in 1998 and won its championship in 2001.
An ASA champion who became a Truck Series title winner, then saw his full-time seat pass to others as the years went on.
How did Sauter reach NASCAR?
Richard Childress Racing gave him five Busch Series starts in 2001 after his ASA title. He finished in the top 15 in three of them, including a fifth at Richmond in his first start in the series. The results led to a full Busch season the following year.
In 2002 Childress hired him for a full Busch season in the No. 2 Chevrolet. He recorded five top-ten finishes and won the Tropicana Twister 300 at Chicagoland Speedway, his first Busch win, despite missing one race.
That year he was also caught up in a huge crash at Talladega in the Aaron's 312, where 33 of 43 cars were involved and fifteen were taken out of the race.
What did the 2003 Busch season bring?
In 2003 Sauter drove for Childress and for the Curb Agajanian Performance Group, in the No. 21 PayDay Chevrolet and the No. 43 Channellock Chevrolet. He scored 14 top-ten finishes in 34 Busch starts, including a win at Richmond in the No. 43, and he finished eighth in the driver standings.
He also made his Winston Cup debut that year with Morgan-McClure Motorsports, driving the No. 4 Kodak Pontiac for five races. His best finish in that run was 23rd at Loudon. He shared the No. 21 car with Kevin Harvick, and the pair took the owners' points title in Busch.
How did the Winston Cup years develop?
Sauter ran the No. 30 American Online Chevrolet full-time in 2004, but after thirteen races Dave Blaney replaced him. Later he drove a few races for Childress's No. 33 without qualifying for any of them. He finished that season with a best of 29th in Phoenix's No. 09 Dodge.
In 2005 he joined Phoenix Racing full-time with Yellow Transportation as sponsor. He had eleven top-ten finishes and won at his home track of Milwaukee, climbing to 12th in the points. He was disqualified at Texas after failing a post-race inspection.
Where did the Haas years leave him?
He moved to the No. 00 Haas CNC Racing Chevrolet after 2005. In 2006 he had one pole and nine top-ten finishes and tied his best series finish of eighth. He moved to the No. 70 Haas car in 2007 and ended that season 30th in the points.
He was dropped after that season and returned to Phoenix in 2008, only to be released after five races. He then made substitute starts for several teams and drove a few Nationwide races, but none of those teams gave him a full season.
How did he become a full-time truck driver?
Sauter returned to the trucks in 2009 with ThorSport Racing, taking over the No. 13 FunSand truck from Shelby Howard. He won his first Truck Series race at Las Vegas that year and beat Tayler Malsam to the Rookie of the Year standings. A late-race collision and save with Ron Hornaday Jr. gave him a Kansas win in 2010.
He won at Martinsville in 2011, battling Kyle Busch on the final lap, and then took the season finale at the Ford 200. Austin Dillon still took the title by six points. In 2012 he won the WinStar World Casino 400K, with ThorSport finishing 1-2 alongside Matt Crafton.
How did 2013 open?
Sauter won the NextEra Energy Resources 250 at Daytona International Speedway, the first race of his 2013 season and Toyota's 100th Camping World Truck Series win. He then won the Kroger 250 at Martinsville on April 6.
That back-to-back start to a season was rare. It was only the second time in Truck Series history that a driver had won consecutive season-opening races, matching a feat that Mark Martin had achieved in 2006.
Did Sauter win the 2016 Truck Series title?
Yes. Sauter moved to GMS Racing for 2016, announcing the move on October 15, 2015. He won on debut at Daytona, took Martinsville and Texas in the Chase, and then won the title at Homestead, where he finished third.
The 2017 season brought wins at Dover in June and Chicagoland in September, and he added Texas and Phoenix to reach the final round at Homestead. There he finished third again, but Christopher Bell took the championship and Sauter was second in the standings by one point.
What happened in 2018 and 2019?
He opened 2018 by winning the Daytona race, his third career win there. Dover, Charlotte, Texas, Bristol and Martinsville followed, and he finished fourth in the points. In May 2018 he also drove the No. 23 GMS car in the Xfinity Series at Dover, in place of a suspended driver.
GMS parted ways with him on January 9, 2019. He rejoined ThorSport for the No. 13 and won at Dover in May. At Iowa he was parked for wrecking Austin Hill under caution, and at Talladega he was placed 14th after blocking. He finished sixth in the final standings.
What were his later seasons?
Sauter went winless in 2020 for the first time since 2015, missed the playoffs and finished 13th. In 2021 ThorSport switched from Ford back to Toyota, and he finished 12th after another winless season.
For 2022 ThorSport demoted him to part-time, and Ty Majeski took his place full-time. Sauter drove the G2G Racing No. 47 truck at Daytona that year. In 2023 he was listed for G2G at Daytona in the No. 46 truck before being replaced on the entry list. On April 19, 2023 he was announced as the replacement for Kaden Honeycutt in the Roper Racing No. 04.
Career summary
| Season | Team and series | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Richard Childress Racing, Busch | Five starts, fifth at Richmond |
| 2002 | Richard Childress Racing, Busch | First Busch win at Chicagoland |
| 2003 | Childress and CAPG, Busch | Eighth in points, win at Richmond |
| 2009 | ThorSport Racing, Truck | First Truck win at Las Vegas |
| 2011 | ThorSport Racing, Truck | Martinsville win, title lost to Dillon by six points |
| 2013 | ThorSport Racing, Truck | Daytona and Martinsville season openers |
| 2016 | GMS Racing, Truck | Truck Series champion |
| 2018 | GMS Racing, Truck | Daytona and five other wins, fourth in points |
| 2019 | ThorSport Racing, Truck | Sixth in points |
| 2021 | ThorSport Racing, Truck | 12th in points |
Where did his later career take him?
In 2015 Sauter raced several times in Wisconsin, including the Slinger Nationals and a Super Late Model track record at Wisconsin International Raceway.
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