BUSCH: St. Louis: Johnny Sauter preview

EVENT INFORMATION - Event: NASCAR Busch Series Charter Pipeline 250; Time and Date: 2:30 p.m. ET, Saturday, May 10; Site: Gateway International Raceway, St. Louis, Mo.; Live Coverage: FX (television) and MRN (radio) at 2:30 p.m. ET. Qualifying: 5:35 p.m. EST, Friday, May 9; Happy Hour: Friday, May 9, following qualifying.

TOTALLY NUTS ABOUT RACING - The PayDay peanut caramel bar enters its first season as the primary sponsor of the No. 21 PayDay Chevrolet. The No. 21 PayDay Chevy comes out of the Richard Childress Racing stable. Three other Hershey brands will accompany PayDay throughout the season: Zero, Whoppers and Whatchamacallit. PayDay Racing driver Kevin Harvick will compete in 15 of the 34 Busch Series events this season, including the three events staged so far. Fellow RCR driver Johnny Sauter will drive the No. 21 PayDay Chevy in the 19 other events on the schedule.

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HARVICK EARNS SECOND WIN OF THE SEASON AT RICHMOND - Kevin Harvick has been nothing short of dominant in his six Busch Series events this season. Harvick has two wins, one pole, five top-five and six top-10 finishes. Harvick's average starting position is sixth and his average finish is third.

NO. 21 SEASON TO DATE - After 10 events, the No. 21 PayDay Chevrolet leads the owner's points standings by 122 points over the second-place team, which is paced by Jamie McMurray and David Stremme in the No. 1 car. With two wins by Harvick and two top-fives by Sauter, the PayDay team now has an average start of ninth and an average finish of ninth.

DID YOU KNOW - The No. 21 has finished outside of the top-10 only twice this season. Johnny Sauter finished 37th at Texas due to engine failure, and Sauter finished 26th at Talladega due to a cut tire.

SAUTER HAS BEEN IMPRESSIVE - Johnny Sauter is currently eighth in the Busch Series driver standings, 150 points out of the top spot. Sauter has led laps in three events and missed his first win of the season by a half lap in Nashville, where he finished second. Since he splits time with Kevin Harvick in the No. 21 PayDay Chevrolet, Sauter drives the No. 43 Chevrolet when he is not in the PayDay Chevrolet. In six races as driver of the No. 43, Sauter has an average start of 18th, an average finish of 14th and 734 points. As driver of the PayDay Chevrolet in four races, Sauter has an average start of 12th, an average finish of 17th and 482 points.

HYLTON IS A PROVEN CHAMPION - The early success the PayDay team has enjoyed isn't that surprising, not only because of Kevin Harvick and Johnny Sauter, but because of the pit boss. Veteran crew chief Butch Hylton is no stranger to winning and championships. In 2000, Hylton was the car chief on Bobby Labonte's Winston Cup Championship team. Hylton has also worked with numerous winning drivers such as Mark Martin, Tony Stewart, Ward Burton, Elliott Sadler, Jeff Green and now Harvick and Sauter.

SECOND BUSCH ONLY WEEKEND OF THE YEAR - This weekend's event is the second of nine stand alone events this year for the Busch Series, which means the Winston Cup drivers are idle or competing at another venue. Sauter will attempt to become only the second full-time Busch Series driver to win an event this year. Winston Cup drivers have won nine out of the 10 events.

JOHNNY SAUTER ON ST. LOUIS - "It's a cool track. The best part will be that it's a stand-alone event, and there'll be some great racing for the lead. The points will shake up again, and we'll really start to figure out who will be tough down the stretch."

ON CONSISTENCY - "Each week we unload the car with the intent to win. Obviously, that's what we want to do, but we also want to put together good solid top-five and top-10 finishes each week, and I believe I can do that."

ON THE STANDINGS - "We're in a real unique situation this year. We're attempting to accomplish two rare feats. First, we're trying to win an owner's championship with two different drivers in the No. 21 PayDay car. That's never been done before, and we want to be the first to do it. Then, I'm trying to make a run at the driver championship while driving for two different teams. That hasn't been done in a long time. So, it's really exciting each week, and I've just got to stay focused."

BUTCH HYLTON ON SAUTER - "Johnny does a real good job for us each time he gets into the car. He's a great young talent, and we know that he'll run well for us each week."

ON THE CONSISTENCY - "To win championships, you've got to be consistent. Everyone knows that, we stress that. We've been fortunate enough to start off on the right foot this season. There are a lot of guys who really work hard for us, and it shows up in our performances on the track."

-rcr-