Sauter Wins Dover Truck Race for Two in a Row

Robert Laberge/Getty Images

DOVER, DE – RIS – Johnny Sauter faced long odds, but a dustup with Noah Gragson was the difference maker in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series JEGS 200 race at Dover, Del. On Friday night.  The victory was his second of the season and 19th of his career.

Sauter, who led 137 of the 210 laps, held off Matt Crafton on an overtime restart to win. That came after a spirited duel with Noah Gragson.

Gragson crashed two laps from the scheduled distance after bumping Sauter as they battled side by side for the lead entering Turn 3. The contact turned Gragson and he backed into the SAFER barrier. Gragson was seeking his second career series win.

“Extremely disappointed in myself,” Gragson said before going to Victory Lane to congratulate Sauter. “It was just a racing deal. Not the way I try to race people. I take full responsibility in that. It was 100 percent my fault. Just unacceptable on my part. All I could think about was the mistake I made. I’m just devastated.”

The Gragson tangle with Sauter set up overtime with Sauter holding off Crafton for the win.

“Well you just never give up,” Sauter said. “We had to work for this one today. I had a good run on him (Gragson) there and he ran me up. I was like okay, you just gave me the green light to be aggressive, but that was just racing right there.”

Gragson won Stage 1 and Sauter won Stage 2.  Final standings are listed below.

Dover International Speedway - Dover, DE - 1 Mile Concrete
Total Race Length - 210 Laps - 210 Miles

Fin Str Trk Driver Team Laps Stage 1 Pos Stage 2 Pos Pts Status Tms Laps Playoff Pts
1 2 21 Johnny Sauter Allegiant Airlines Chevrolet 210 4 1 57 Running 4 137 6
2 10 88 Matt Crafton Chi-Chi's/Menards Ford 210 7 3 47 Running
3 4 24 Justin Haley Fraternal Order of Eagles Chevrolet 210 3 2 51 Running
4 9 54 David Gilliland Frontline Enterprises/Crosley Brands Toyota 210 8 9 38 Running
5 17 51 Harrison Burton DEX Imaging Toyota 210 7 36 Running
6 18 2 Cody Coughlin Jeg's.com Chevrolet 210 31 Running
7 16 8 Joe Nemechek ACME Grocery Store Chevrolet 210 9 32 Running
8 8 41 Ben Rhodes Alpha Energy Solutions Ford 210 6 6 39 Running
9 5 97 Jesse Little PFC Brakes/Penske Racing Shocks Ford 210 5 5 40 Running 1 2
10 3 4 Todd Gilliland # Pedigree Toyota 209 2 8 39 Running
11 15 13 Myatt Snider # Louisiana Hot Sauce Ford 209 10 27 Running
12 12 16 Brett Moffitt AISIN Group Toyota 209 25 Running
13 11 25 Dalton Sargeant # Performance Plus Motor Oil Chevrolet 209 24 Running
14 13 98 Grant Enfinger Champion Power Equipment/Curb Records Ford 208 23 Running
15 21 22 Austin Wayne Self Don't Mess With Texas/AM Technical Solutions Chevrolet 208 22 Running
16 20 20 Tanner Thorson Go Share Chevrolet 207 21 Running
17 24 49 Wendell Chavous SobrietyNation.org Chevrolet 206 20 Running
18 19 3 Jordan Anderson Bommarito.com/Lucas Oil Chevrolet 206 19 Running
19 22 45 Justin Fontaine # ProMATIC Automatic/Superior Essex Chevrolet 204 18 Running
20 1 18 Noah Gragson Safelite Toyota 198 1 4 34 Accident 3 60 1
21 23 7 Korbin Forrister Toyota 197 16 Running
22 30 10 Jennifer Jo Cobb Driven2Honor.org Chevrolet 194 15 Running
23 7 52 Stewart Friesen We Build America Chevrolet 153 10 15 Accident
24 28 74 Mike Harmon(i) Horizon Transport/Chill Chevrolet 129 0 Suspension
25 27 33 Josh Reaume JC Racing Toyota 124 12 Parked
26 25 83 Bayley Currey Fr8Auctions.com Chevrolet 122 11 Suspension
27 31 6 Norm Benning Zomongo Chevrolet 120 10 Parked
28 6 75 Parker Kligerman Food Country USA Chevrolet 86 9 Oil Cooler 1 11
29 29 63 Camden Murphy MB Motorsports Chevrolet 58 8 Vibration
30 26 15 Reed Sorenson(i) Chevrolet 15 0 Vibration
31 14 02 Austin Hill United Rentals Chevrolet 13 6 Accident
32 32 50 Todd Peck Fluidyne Chevrolet 7 5 Rear End
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 08 Mins, 04 Secs. Average Speed: 98.386 MPH Margin of Victory: 0.533 Seconds