Johnny Sauter Wins Phoenix Truck Race as Final 4 is Set

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AVONDALE, AZ – RIS – Johnny Sauter is on fire. Showing momentum by winning two consecutive races, Sauter took advantage of a side-by-side accident by young drivers Christopher Bell and Noah Gragson, and won a two-lap shootout with John Hunter Nemechek at Phoenix International Raceway.  The final elimination race before the top four drivers vie for the Camping World Truck Series championship, was filled with action. 

Sauter scored his first win at Phoenix Raceway, and the 17th of his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career, in a wild Lucas Oil 150 that set the Championship 4.

On the final restart, Sauter got the jump on Nemechek and was able to maintain the advantage to the checkered flag. It was his fourth win of the season and second straight after his Texas victory a week ago.

 “This is the greatest team I’ve ever been a part of,” Sauter said. “To have a chance to win a second straight championship next week is just unbelievable.”

 Nemechek came up one position short of transferring to next week’s championship race in Miami.

 “It stinks to be that close,” Nemechek said. “We definitely have to keep our head held high. There’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

 Cody Coughlin, Chase Briscoe and Kaz Grala rounded out the top five. Stewart Friesen, Todd Gilliland, Bell, Austin Cindric and Bayley Currey completed the first 10 finishers.

 “It sucks to not win again, but there’s nothing you can do about it,” Bell said. “Homestead is a totally different race track from this. What we did here today relates nothing to next weekend."

 A major incident with 21 laps to involved Cindric and Ben Rhodes, who were battling for the last playoff transfer spot. The duo made contact on a restart and the impact sent Rhodes into the inside pit wall before sliding back up on track into Matt Crafton with the pair hitting the outside turn one wall hard.

 “He put me in a bad place and I was trying to do everything I could to keep the spot, but once we filed into turn one, we were all going to wreck,” Rhodes explained. “I don’t know if that was the right move on his part. It looked like a desperation move. I guess if I was in his position, I can’t blame him, but it’s not the move I would have liked to see. … Just driving over his head, I guess.”

 Rhodes’ ThorSport Racing teammate had a short and sweet response to the incident.

 “Just wrong place, wrong time,” he said. I told Ben, the 19 (Cindric) better not finish Homestead.”

 Cindric provided his view of what happened.

 “It’s one of those racing deals,” Cindric said. “Two guys fighting for the same amount of real estate.  As I mentioned on TV, it was very similar to what happened at Homestead last year in the Cup race, two guys racing for the same real estate with Carl Edwards and Joey Logano. Unfortunately, that’s how it had to end.  I wish we were able to race hard from there, racing three-wide, but we’ll move on.  It will give us a shot to win a championship at Ford Championship Weekend in BKR’s last race.”

 In all the race was stopped by three red flags for accidents and clean-up.The Championship 4 next Friday night at Homestead-Miami Speedway will feature Sauter, Crafton, Bell and Cindric all with a chance to win the 2017 title.

Unofficial Race Results for the 23Rd Annual Lucas Oil 150 - Phoenix Raceway
Total Race Length - 150 Laps - 150 Miles

Fin, Str, Driver, Truck, Laps, St1, St2, Tms, Laps, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
1) 10, Johnny Sauter (P), No. 21 ISMConnect Chevrolet, 150, 6, 1, 5, , 6, 50, Running
2) 6, John H. Nemechek (P), No. 8 Fire Alarm Services Inc. Chevrolet, 150, 5, , , , 7, 45, Running
3) 13, Cody Coughlin #, No. 13 Ride TV/JEGS Toyota, 150, , , , , , 34, Running
4) 8, Chase Briscoe #, No. 29 Brad Keselowski's CFF/Fisher House Fdn Ford, 150, , , , , , 33, Running
5) 15, Kaz Grala #, No. 33 NETTS Chevrolet, 150, , , , , , 32, Running
6) 12, Stewart Friesen #, No. 52 Halmar International Chevrolet, 150, , , , , 10, 32, Running
7) 5, Todd Gilliland, No. 51 Pedigree Toyota, 150, 8, , , , 8, 36, Running
8) 1, Christopher Bell (P), No. 4 Toyota Toyota, 150, 1, 4, 90, , 1, 49, Running
9) 7, Austin Cindric # (P), No. 19 Draw-Tite/Reese Brands Ford, 150, 7, , , , 5, 38, Running
10) 21, Bayley Currey, No. 83 Preferred Industrial Contr./Baja Alliance Chevrolet, 150, , , , , , 27, Running
11) 23, Jason Hathaway, No. 15 Kubota/Choko Autherntics Chevrolet, 147, , , , , , 26, Running
12) 20, Robby Lyons(i), No. 49 Sunwest Construction Chevrolet, 145, , , , , , 0, Running
13) 26, Jordan Anderson, No. 1 Lucas Oil/Bommarito.com Chevrolet, 144, , , , , , 24, Running
14) 16, Justin Haley #, No. 24 Fraternal Order of Eagles Chevrolet, 143, , , , , , 23, Accident
15) 2, Noah Gragson #, No. 18 Switch Toyota, 142, 2, 4, 55, , 2, 40, Accident
16) 25, Josh Reaume, No. 50 Motorsports Safety Group Chevrolet, 141, , , , , , 21, Running
17) 14, Dalton Sargeant, No. 99 Performance Plus Motor Oil Chevrolet, 134, , , , , , 20, Accident
18) 24, Jesse Little, No. 97 JJL Motorsports Toyota, 134, , , , , , 19, Accident
19) 11, Ryan Truex, No. 16 Kobe Toyopet Toyota, 134, 10, , , , 9, 21, Accident
20) 3, Ben Rhodes (P), No. 27 Safelite Auto Glass Toyota, 129, 4, , , , 4, 31, Accident
21) 4, Matt Crafton (P), No. 88 Ideal Door/Menards Toyota, 129, 3, , , , 3, 32, Accident
22) 28, Norm Benning, No. 6 H&H Transportation Chevrolet, 106, , , , , , 15, Accident
23) 17, Austin Hill, No. 02 United Rentals Ford, 104, , , , , , 14, Brakes
24) 9, Grant Enfinger #, No. 98 Jive Toyota, 75, 9, , , , , 15, Accident
25) 22, Austin Wayne Self, No. 44 B&D Industries/Don't Mess With Texas Chevrolet, 55, , , , , , 12, Engine
26) 30, Ray Ciccarelli, No. 0 Star Sales/Posi-Grip Chevrolet, 21, , , , , , 11, Electrical
27) 29, Jennifer Jo Cobb, No. 10 Driven2Honor.org/ThinkRealty.com Chevrolet, 20, , , , , , 10, Engine
28) 27, Mike Harmon(i), No. 74 Beaver Stripes & Custom Graphics Chevrolet, 19, , , , , , 0, Brakes
29) 19, Joe Nemechek, No. 87 Fire Alarm Services Inc. Chevrolet, 12, , , , , , 8, Electrical
30) 18, TJ Bell, No. 45 Niece Equipment Chevrolet, 10, , , , , , 7, Electrical
31) 31, Ted Minor, No. 63 Shawn Magee Designs Chevrolet, 6, , , , , , 6, Electrical
32) 32, Mike Senica, No. 57  Chevrolet, 3, , , , , , 5, Electrical
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie, (P) Playoffs driver

Time of Race: 01 Hrs,
Average Speed: 89.050 MPH
Margin of Victory: 0.668 Seconds
Race Comments: Johnny Sauter won the Lucas Oil 150 at Phoenix Raceway, his 17th NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory. Prior to the green flag, the following truck(s) dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reason indicated: Nos. 44, 74 and 97 (unapproved adjustments).
 Caution Flags: 6 for 38 laps: Laps: 42-48 (Stage 1 Conclusion [24]); 78-87 (No. 98 Incident Turn 1 / Stage 2 Conclusion [02]); 123-129 (No. 50 Stopped On Track [13]); 131-134 (No. 19, 27, 88, 02, 06 Incident Frontstretch [Red Flag 17:07] [83]); 136-140 (No. 16, 97, 99, 51, 52 Incident Turn 3 [Red Flag 14:12] [83]); 144-148 (No. 4, 24, 18 Incident Turn 4 [Red Flag 6:04] [83]).
 Lead Changes: 9 among 3 drivers: C. Bell (P) 0; N. Gragson No.  1-9; C. Bell (P) 10-87; N. Gragson No.  88-128; C. Bell (P) 129; N. Gragson No.  130-133; C. Bell (P) 134-140; N. Gragson No.  141; C. Bell (P) 142-145; J. Sauter (P) 146-150.
Duralast GT Brakes ?Brake in the Race Award? - Stage 1:  Christopher Bell, No. 4 Stage 1
Duralast GT Brakes ?Brake in the Race Award? - Stage 2:  Christopher Bell, No. 4 Stage 2
Keystone Light Pole Award:  Christopher Bell, No. 4 137.012 mph
Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race:  Toyota Racing Development (TRD), No. 4
Mobil 1 Driver of the Race:  Johnny Sauter, No. 21
Sunoco Rookie of the Race:  Cody Coughlin, No. 13