Johnny Sauter Wins Third-Straight Dover Truck Race

Johnny Sauter celebrates his third-straight Dover truck series victory
Matt Sullivan/Getty Images

You can call him the Dover Dominator.

With a No. 13 ThorSport Racing Ford that was strongest at the end of Saturday’s Jegs 200 at Dover International Speedway, Johnny Sauter beat pole winner Brett Moffitt to the finish line after a late restart to win his first NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series race of the season and his third straight the Monster Mile.

The former series champion, who returned to ThorSport this season after a less-than-amicable split with GMS Racing, could hardly contain himself after taking the checkered flag .603 seconds ahead of Moffitt, the reigning series champion, who signed with GMS during the offseason.

"When you get kicked to the curb, you feel like you have a lot to prove," Sauter said in Victory Lane. "I have to thank (owners) Duke and Rhonda Thorson most importantly— a couple months ago I didn't know if I'd be racing.

"To get three in a row here is extra special. I have to thank these guys. I was highly motivated. I shut the motor off earlier today in the race and it wouldn't re-fire and I was like, 'Oh well.' Track position was so important, but experience paid off.

[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"]"It's so special. This ranks up there as one of the biggest wins of my career. We've got to keep it going—that's the main goal here, not to get complacent. I knew after Atlanta (where Sauter finished second on Feb. 23) we'd have a shot to win races. I felt like we gave one away at Martinsville but got it today."

Moffitt won the first 45-lap stage wire-to-wire and held the lead with nine laps left in Stage 2. But Sauter charged from third to first in two laps, passing Moffitt for the lead—and ultimately the stage win on Lap 82.

Saving fuel during the final run, however, Sauter was turning his ignition off and on under caution, but the engine wouldn’t re-fire. Eventually he let the clutch out and the truck started, but Sauter fell to eighth for a restart on Lap 160.

Systematically, he worked his way back through the field, aided by a subsequent caution. He restarted sixth on Lap 166 after an accident that KO’d the No. 2 truck of Sheldon Creed. On Lap 170 Sauter navigated around both Moffitt and third-place finisher Harrison Burton to take the lead.

Johnny Sauter beats out Brett Moffitt to the finish
Chris Trotman/Getty Images

From that point on, Moffitt pursued Sauter to the finish line.

"It’s all about track position, really," Moffitt said. "When we were out front, we could lead and won the first stage, but it was just a lot of traffic cost us track position that we never got back."

ThorSport teammates Grant Enfinger, Matt Crafton and Ben Rhodes finished fourth, fifth and sixth, followed by Austin Hill, Derek Kraus, Tyler Ankrum and Ross Chastain, who recorded his sixth top 10 in six races this season.

RACE RESULTS

Finish Start # Driver Sponsor/Make Laps Status Led
1 2 13 Johnny Sauter Tenda Heal Ford 200 Running 43
2 1 24 Brett Moffitt ISM Connect Chevrolet 200 Running 81
3 9 18 Harrison Burton # Safelite AutoGlass Toyota 200 Running 1
4 6 98 Grant Enfinger Champion Power Equipment Ford 200 Running 3
5 5 88 Matt Crafton Shasta/Menards Ford 200 Running 0
6 11 99 Ben Rhodes Carolina Nut Ford 200 Running 13
7 12 16 Austin Hill Toyota Racing Development Toyota 200 Running 0
8 15 19 Derek Kraus ENEOS/NAPA Filters Toyota 200 Running 0
9 10 17 Tyler Ankrum # May's Hawaii Toyota 200 Running 0
10 16 45 Ross Chastain(i) Florida Watermelon Association Chevrolet 200 Running 0
11 7 46 Raphael Lessard Spectra Premium Toyota 200 Running 0
12 4 52 Stewart Friesen hfracingforautism.com/crossroadscenterChev 200 Running 0
13 19 51 Brandon Jones(i) Chigo/Menards Toyota 200 Running 0
14 18 12 Gus Dean # OverkillRV.com Chevrolet 200 Running 0
15 14 4 Todd Gilliland Mobil 1 Toyota 200 Running 0
16 32 33 Ryan Sieg(i) Night Owl Contractors Chevrolet 198 Running 0
17 20 54 Natalie Decker N29 Technologies LLC Toyota 197 Running 0
18 23 2 Tyler Dippel # Jersey Filmmaker Chevrolet 197 Running 0
19 17 22 Austin Wayne Self Go TEXAN/AM Technical Solutions Chevrolet 197 Running 0
20 25 56 Tyler Hill Southern Maryland Crane Rentals Chevrolet 197 Running 0
21 22 3 Jordan Anderson Bommarito Automotive Group Chevrolet 196 Running 0
22 27 20 Spencer Boyd DLX Mattresses Chevrolet 192 Running 0
23 8 30 Brennan Poole Toyota 189 DVP 0
24 30 49 Ray Ciccarelli CMI Motorsports Chevrolet 188 Running 0
25 28 10 Jennifer Jo Cobb Driven2Honor.org Chevrolet 186 Running 0
26 21 8 Joe Nemechek Chevrolet 167 Suspension 0
27 3 2 Sheldon Creed # Chevrolet Accessories Chevrolet 160 Accident 59
28 24 44 Reid Wilson TruNorth.Paul Jr Designs Chevrolet 140 Alternator 0
29 13 97 Jesse Little JJL Motorsports Ford 115 Track Bar 0
30 26 7 Korbin Forrister All Out Toyota 108 Accident 0
31 29 34 Josh Reaume Surface Prep Supply Chevrolet 51 Too Slow 0
32 31 6 Norm Benning H&H Transport Chevrolet 28 Too Slow 0