Trackin’ Trucks: Johnny Sauter Wins at Charlotte

Johnny Sauter celebrates with a burnout at Charlotte.

Credit: Sean Gardner

by Courtney Horn

Johnny Sauter scored his third win of the season Friday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway, leading 71 of 134 laps toward his victory in the North Carolina Education Lottery 200.

The win is Sauter’s first at the 1.5-mile track and 10th win with GMS Racing.

“This is a tough place,” Sauter said. “Everyone wants to win here. I never thought I’d win here. To win this race is just super special. I never thought 40 would be so good.”

“This is the biggest race of my career, and I’ve won a lot of big races. We kept making adjustments on the truck all night and made it better and better.”

Sauter won by a 1.34-second margin of victory over Kyle Busch, who was penalized twice for crewmembers being over the wall too soon during pit stops. Busch came from the back of the field but came up short from earning his second Camping World Truck Series of 2018.

Grant Enfinger battled back from early troubles to finish in the 12th position. Enfinger suffered a flat right rear tire on Lap 21.

Brett Moffitt won Stage 1 and John Hunter Nemechek won Stage 2, earning his first stage win of the season.

A multi-truck wreck ensued on Lap 118 when the No. 88 Ford of Matt Crafton started blowing smoke. Nemechek, Austin Wayne Self, Todd Gilliland, and Jordan Anderson were all involved as a result.

A Look Ahead 

The Camping World Truck Series takes a two-week vacation, but returns on June 8th at Texas Motor Speedway.

Sauter extended his points lead to 59 points over Noah Gragson. Moffitt, Ben Rhodes, and Enfinger are all inside the top 5.

Christopher Bell held off Chase Briscoe one year ago for the win. Can Johnny Sauter earn back-to-back victories or will another young gun win in Fort Worth, TX?

Find out on Friday, June 8, 2018, at 9 p.m ET on Fox Sports 1.