Johnny Sauter No. 21 Allegiant Chevrolet Silverado Kentucky Recap

Johnny Sauter and the No. 21 Allegiant team started from the first position for the Buckle Up in Your Truck 225 at Kentucky Speedway after Thursday’s qualifying session was rained out. The Necedah, Wis., native led the first 26 laps, but lost the lead following the first caution period of the night when the rest of the field pitted for tires. Just two laps later, Sauter pitted for four tires, fuel and a chassis adjustment to fix a tight-handling condition. He was scored in the 18th position at the end of stage one and stayed on track under caution to restart within the top-10.

Sauter reported to the team on lap 66 that he was free in traffic, finished stage two on lap 70 in the eighth position. Crew chief Joe Shear, Jr., brought his driver to pit road for left-side tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment. The Allegiant Chevrolet restarted just outside the top-five but slipped back to the 13th position following a quick caution on lap 79. He quickly regained his track position to run within the top-five as the team closed in on the final stop of the night.

Shear, Jr., called for the team to make their last pit stop under caution on lap 108, for right-side tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment. Sauter ran as high as the fourth position before Sauter reported that he believed he had an issue with the engine with just over 20 laps remaining. The team stayed on track, ultimately finishing in the ninth position for their ninth top-10 finish of the season.

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“We had a decent Allegiant Chevrolet tonight. I think we all knew coming into the race that it would be tough to pass and track position would be important and I think we saw a lot of that tonight. Unfortunately we were faced with what I think was an engine issue right at the end. As much as I would have liked to have another top-five finish, I’m glad we were able to be there in the end and get a decent top-10 result.”

GMS Racing PR