Johnny Sauter played the strategy game with his crew chief in the NASCAR Camping World Truck series race Saturday at Michigan International Speedway and it paid off as he went to Victory Lane.
Sauter, driving the #98 truck, took the checkered flag for the 10th victory of his Truck Series career and it would have been even more special to win here as it is his home track. Reigning Truck Series champion Matt Crafton in the Menards #88 truck came home in 2nd place and sits just 7 points behind Sauter who leaves Michigan with the points lead.
Sauter told Fox Sports 1 reporters after the race, "I'm so proud of everybody on this #98 team. I knew on that last pit stop that I had to get everything perfect and when I left pit lane I though dang that was good but it's just a great, great weekend."
Ron Hornaday in the #30 truck who was in contention all day long for his first Truck Series win since Las Vegas in 2011 came home 3rd. Taylor Malsam in the #32 came home 4th and Sprint Cup Series driver Kyle Busch in the #51 rounded out the top five.
The 100 lap race around this 2 mile oval began with BK Racing on the front row with Ryan Blaney in the #29 on pole and team mate Joey Logano in the #19, who was subbing for Tyler Reddick, alongside him. Blaney managed to hold the lead for lap 1 as Darrell Wallace Jr in the #54 got to 2nd place by the end of the first lap.
There was trouble for Busch at the end of lap 3 when he went to high up the track, got loose, and just clipped the wall with his #51 truck, but was able to carry on and there was no caution.
The lead began to change hands on lap 4 as Travis Kvapil in the #05, sitting in for the injured John Wes Townley, went to the point passed Blaney, but Blaney was back out front into turn one of lap 5. By the end of lap 6, T.J. Bell in the #50, Peck in the #07, Edwards in the #57, and Roark in the #0 were already out of the race.
Lap 7 saw the first caution of the race when Kvapil in the #05 blew his engine and had to come to the garage area and retire from the race because of engine troubles. There was strategy beginning to be played under the caution, as drivers began to save fuel and Austin Dillon in the #20 was on pit road for a problem under the hood.
When the green flag was back out Timothy Peters in the #17 was the new leader as he and Wallace Jr stayed out under the caution as the leaders pitted. Dillon was back on the track in 24th and three laps down after repairs and a new spark plug in the engine of the #20 truck, as Bell was also back on the track 14 laps down in 29th position.
By lap 23 Kyle Busch was into 2nd place in the #51 truck after starting the race in the 11th position. At the 25 lap mark of the race Wallace Jr, Busch, Peters, Jeb Burton, and Logano were the top five as the were still only four trucks out of the race.
Lap 34 brought problems for one of the Sprint Cup Drivers in the field as Logano reported to his team that he could feel a problem with the front right of the #19 truck. The top three on the track at lap 35, Wallace Jr, Busch, and Peters had an eight second lead over 4th place Burton.
Busch was out front for the first time on lap 38 when Peters and Wallace Jr came to pit road for the first time. Wallace Jr reported to his team that the temperatures were rising on his truck before the pit stop, which they fixed under the stop by cleaning the grill.
At the halfway point on lap 50, Busch, Hornaday, Sauter, Peters, and Burton made up the top five, as there had only been one caution, but there were only 16 trucks on the lead lap and 23 on the track in total.
Blaney was on the pit road in the #29 from 7th and not in the teams pit window, which put them in a catch 22 needing cautions to make it to the finish. Busch was on the pit road on lap 52 out of fuel so he had to coast down pit lane as Sauter went to the lead for the first time in the race.
There was trouble on pit road for two drivers. First, Burton's team could not get the left rear changed quickly and Busch could not get his truck restarted, which put them both in traffic. With 47 laps to go, Crafton was on the lead for the first time, as he stayed out later than the other leaders.
However, Wallace Jr was back to the lead with 45 laps to go as the pit stops cycled through as Logano was on pit lane again to fix a dropped splitter on the #19 truck. He was on pit road once again with 32 laps to go for more repairs to the #19 which out him in 20th four laps down from leader Wallace Jr.
At the three quarter way mark of 75 laps, Wallace Jr, Sauter, Hornaday, Quiroga, and Crafton made up the top five as Peters came to pit lane for the last time in the #17. But with 24 laps to go, leader Wallace Jr was out of fuel, much like his boss and teammate Busch, and had to coast to his pit box. He also struggled to get the engine re-fired, which put him down in 16th and two laps down.
Blaney was then on pit road with 22 laps to go with the same problem as team mate Logano, a dropped splitter. Sauter was back to the lead for the second time with 18 laps to go just ahead of Hornaday, who was looking for his first win since Las Vegas in 2011, a total of 59 races ago. Quiroga was then on pit road from 3rd position for his last stop of the race with 15 laps to go.
With only ten laps to go around the 2 mile oval Peters, Hornaday, Crafton, Malsam, and Burton made up the top five as there were only 7 trucks on the lead lap. Race leader Peters was on the pit lane one lap later for a splash and go to put Crafton in the lead.
There was almost drama and a second caution with 8 laps to go when Ben Kennedy in the #31 truck stalled leaving pit road and had to be pushed out of the way. The green flag stayed out and Crafton pitted from the lead with just four laps to go for a splash and go much like Sauter.
Crafton rejoined the race side-by-side with Sauter on the back stretch, but the driver of the #98 truck just edged out as they had three laps to battle for the win. But luckily for Sauter he managed to hold off the reigning series champion and take the tenth victory of his Truck Series career and get the points lead at the half way stage in the 2014 season.