Johnny Sauter
| Johnny Sauter | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Awards | 2001 American Speed Association Champion | ||||||
| NASCAR Cup Series career | |||||||
| Car no., team | None Best_Cup_Pos = 30th - 2007 | ||||||
| First race | 2003 Tropicana 400 (Chicago) | ||||||
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| NASCAR Xfinity Series career | |||||||
| Car no., team | None Best_Busch_Pos = 8th - 2003, 2006 (Busch Series) | ||||||
| First race | 2001 Autolite Fram 250 (Richmond) | ||||||
| First win | 2002 Tropicana Twister 300 Presented by Sam's Club (Chicagoland) | ||||||
| Last win | 2005 SBC 250 (Milwaukee) | ||||||
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| NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career | |||||||
| 10 races run over 4 years | |||||||
| Best finish | 54th - 2004 | ||||||
| First race | 2003 O'Reilly 200 (Bristol) | ||||||
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Johnathan Sauter (born May 1, 1978, in Necedah, Wisconsin) is a NASCAR driver from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Sauter is the son of former NASCAR driver Jim Sauter, and the brother of NASCAR drivers Tim Sauter and Jay Sauter.
Early Career
After graduating high school in 1996, Sauter began competing at in various amatuer series throughout Wisconisn and the Midwest. By the end of 1997, Sauter had collected three wins in the Sportsman Division at the Wisconsin Dells Motor Speedway and a win in the Late Model Division at LaCrosse Motor Speedway. Enboldened by his success, Sauter joined joined the American Speed Association Series in 1998. By 2001, he was the ASA Series Championship.
NASCAR
Richar Childress Racing
Taking notice of Sauter's ASA preformance, Richard Childress Racing invted him to drive five Busch Series races in the #21 PayDay Chevrolet. Sauter finished in the top 15 in three of his five starts, including a 5th-place finsih at AutoLite Fram 250 in Richmond.
In 2002, Sauter ran a full Busch Series schedule notching five top-10 finishes, including his first Busch Series in the Tropicana Twister 300 at Chicagoland Speedway.
In 2003, Sauter drove the #21 Rockwell Automation Chevrolet and the #2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. He captured fourteen top-10 finsishes in 34 starts and a win at Richmond. He finished the season 8th in driver standings and, together with Kevin Harvick, led the 21 car to the owners' points championship.
Despite struggling in a handful of cup race for the #4 Kodak EasyShare Pontiac in 2003, in 2004 Sauter was asked by Childress drive the #30 AOL Chevrolet in the cup series full-time. However,
Team Yellow Racing
After a brief stint in the #27 Kleenex Chevrolet for Brewco Motorsports, Sauter joinerd Phoenix Racing in 2004. Driving mainly the #1 Yellow Transportation/Miccosukee Gaming Dodge Charger in 2004 and 2005, Sauter collected nineteen top-10 finishes and a win at his hometown track, the Milwaukee Mile. In 2006, Sauter earned a then career high $1.2 million in purse money as he returned to the top-10 in the drivers standings, finishing the season at number 8 in the driver standings.
In 2004 he was hired by Richard Childress to drive the 30 car with AOL sponsorship but was replaced later in the year by Jeff Burton. In 2006, Sauter left Phoenix Racing for Haas CNC Racing to drive the #00 Chevrolet, and took the Yellow Transportation sponsorship with him to the new team.
Sauter was the first driver to be fined and docked points for swearing during a radio interview after the Sam's Town 300 Busch race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March 2004, under new NASCAR rules implemented in the wake of Super Bowl XXXVIII.
At Lowe's Motor Speedway, Sauter made his first NEXTEL Cup start for Haas CNC Racing, driving the #70 Chevrolet. He was running in the top 10 for much of the race with teammate Jeff Green. But late in the race, he blew a left rear tire, which caused minor damage to the car; Sauter ended up finishing 24th. He will race the #70 Chevrolet full time in Nextel for 2007. He qualified for the 2007 Daytona 500 in 8th place. In the first quarter of 2007, he is in the top 35 in owner's points with a top ten at Phoenix.
Johnny Sauter finished 2nd in the Nextel Open and transferred into the Nextel All-Star Challenge. He was impressive all night, finishing 6th in the All Star event against NASCAR's best.
In the Chevy Rock and Roll 400, Sauter started in 35th but had one of the fastest cars all night, and was in the top 10 almost the entire night. Even though a bad pit stop put him back about halfway, he made his way back up and finished in 5th at the end, his best career finish. He also jumped in the standings.
Sauter is engaged to marry Cortney Owen, also a Wisconsin native, and a former Miss USA pageant contestant. She might also be reconginzed as a former contestant ontthe reality TV show, Outback Jack. They are scheduled to marry in December 2007 in Wisconsin. [1]
In 2008, Sauter was tabbed to drive for his former Nationwide Series team, Phoenix Racing, in the #1 Chevrolet but was cut after 5 races and is with out a ride.
Sauter will drive the Wood Brothers #21 car in the Sprint Cup Series race at Las Vegas.