NASCAR Truck Series: Johnny Sauter to drive for ThorSport Racing in 2019
By Asher Fair
After losing his ride with GMS Racing, Johnny Sauter is set to drive full-time for ThorSport Racing in the 2019 NASCAR Truck Series season.
Last month, it was revealed that 2016 NASCAR Truck Series champion Johnny Sauter would not be returning to GMS Racing for what would have been his fourth consecutive season driving for the team in the 2019 season.
Brett Moffitt, who won the 2018 Truck Series championship driving for Hattori Racing Enterprises, was then announced as his replacement behind the wheel of the #21 Chevrolet.
However, Sauter is still set to compete full-time in the 2019 Truck Series season, and he is set to do so for a familiar team. He is set to return to ThorSport Racing, the team for which he drove full-time in his first seven seasons as a full-time Truck Series driver from 2009 to 2015.
Sauter is set to drive the #13 Ford throughout the 23-race 2019 season. Myatt Snider drove the #13 Ford on a full-time basis last season. The 2018 Sunoco Rookie of the Year Award winner is set to drive the #27 ThorSport Racing Ford on a part-time basis this season.
Here is what the 40-year-old Necedah, Wisconsin native had to say about the opportunity to drive for ThorSport Racing in the 2019 season, according to Motorsport.com.
"“2019 has me returning home to ThorSport (Racing). Duke and Rhonda (Thorson) have been great not only to me but to the (Gander Outdoors) Truck Series for 23 years at a high level. I couldn’t be more proud to be going back there racing for wins and a championship.”"
Sauter has competed in 244 races over the course of his 15-year Truck Series career. He has competed full-time in the series in each of the last 10 seasons, and he has made 233 of his 244 career starts in these 10 seasons.
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Sauter has earned 23 victories, 102 top five finishes, 157 top 10 finishes and seven pole positions in these 244 starts. He has led 2,447 laps of the 36,324 laps that he has completed, and he has recorded an average starting position of 9.8 and an average finishing position of 9.6.
In nine of his 10 seasons as a full-time driver, including six of his seven seasons as a full-time driver for ThorSport Racing, Sauter has earned at least one victory. He earned 10 victories, 62 top five finishes, 100 top 10 finishes and five pole positions throughout his first seven seasons driving for the team on a full-time basis.
Sauter is coming off of a 2018 season during which he recorded a career-high six victories and tied his career-high with 14 top five finishes. He led a career-high 585 laps as well en route to finishing in fourth place in the championship standings, giving him six consecutive top four finishes in the standings going back to the 2013 season.
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The 2019 NASCAR Truck Series is scheduled to get underway this Friday, February 15 with the NextEra Energy 250 at Daytona International Speedway. How will Johnny Sauter perform in this race and in his first season driving for ThorSport Racing since the 2015 season as a whole? The live broadcast of the season opener is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1.