With pit stop strategy taking full effect early on in Friday’s Lucas Oil 200, Johnny Sauter, driver of the No. 98 Smokey Mountain Herbal Snuff/Curb Records Toyota Tundra, was able to rally back from a 16th-place starting position to secure his fifth top-10 finish of the 2015 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) season, finishing 9th.
Making his seventh start at the grueling “Monster Mile,” the SmokeySnuff.com driver searched for balance in his Toyota Tundra throughout the 200-lap race. Due to pit strategy, Sauter found himself scored as high as third, and as low as 21st, but maintained an average running position of 10.9 throughout the evening.
With the leaders on varying pit strategies, Sauter brought the Smokey Mountain Herbal Snuff Toyota Tundra to pit road under caution at laps 28 and 75 for four tires, fuel and adjustments. When the seventh caution of the race flew on lap 106, crew chief Doug George made the call to come for fuel and adjustments only, saving one set of tires for their final pit stop later on in the race. Coming down pit road for the final time at lap 137, the No.98 machine received its final set of tires, fuel and adjustments to aid a Toyota Tundra that was, “a little free through the middle and tight on exit.”
Restarting eighth on lap 142, the race went green for the final 58 laps, and Sauter was able to maintain a top-10 finish, finishing ninth. The solid effort was Sauter’s 91st career top-10 finish in 158 starts.
Quote:
“Clean air was huge today. Our Smokey Mountain Herbal Snuff Toyota Tundra handled so much better up front and out of traffic, but we just couldn’t get the track position we needed. My team made a lot of changes, and didn’t give up on it, but we just didn’t have enough to get up to the leaders.”
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