Johnny Sauter Madison race report

Oregon, WI - Madison International Speedway was the site of the American Speed Association's 15th race of the 2001 season. The race, held Friday night, was filled with excitement from the drop of the green flag. In front of a hometown crowd, Johnny Sauter had plans for another win.

Sauter started the Wisconsin 300 in the 12th position. Working traffic patiently, he cracked the top ten by lap 25. A pit stop on lap 81 gained Johnny four spots and moved him into the 4th position. By lap 100, he had caught the top three cars.

"My crew did an awesome job getting me out of the pits," said Sauter. "The car felt great all day, we just had to work our way to the front."

Sauter moved into the top three and remained there until lap 212, when he was involved in an incident with Scott Hansen in turns three and four. Both cars spun, but Johnny was able to keep the car from being seriously damaged.

After making a pit stop to check over the A.P. Plasman Group Chevrolet, Johnny was in the 13th position and ready to make his charge back to the front.

The green flag came back out on lap 240, but the caution was waving once again a few laps later for rain. Time was running out for the A.P. team to get back in contention for the win.

"When the rain started coming down, I thought they'd have to call the race," Sauter explained. "Fortunately for us, we got a little more time to race and were able to get back up in the top 5."

On the last lap, Johnny was riding in sixth when contact between first place Gary St. Amant and 2nd place Mike Eddy left the heavily damaged car of St. Amant against the outside retaining wall in turn 3. Eventual race winner, Robbie Pyle, moved through the wreck, past Eddy and claimed the top spot.

Sauter's lead on Gary St. Amant has extended to 113 points in overall point standings. He has the opportunity to seal the rookie title next week at Jennerstown. Johnny is currently leading rookie Mike Cope by 523 points.

Tune in to TNN Sunday, August 26th for the Pennsylvania 300, live from Jennerstown Pennsylvania, with the green flag set to drop at 1:00 pm EST.

-APPR-