Nashville race report

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (May 21, 2000) – In a race marred by a fiery crash on the second lap, 1999 ASA National Champion Tim Sauter collected his first win of the season in the BFGoodrich Tires 300 at Nashville Speedway USA. The win, allowed Sauter to join his f ather Jim as an ASA race winner at Nashville Speedway.

The second lap accident, which involved 17 cars, started with contact between Ricky Johnson and Butch Miller. The ensuing collisions resulted in a dramatic fire that engulfed both Miller and Dave Sensiba’s.

Sauter took the lead from younger-brother Johnny on lap 296 following the 13th caution of the afternoon. Johnny Sauter, who ran in the top-10 the entire day, was then collected in the final incident, dropping him to an eventual 7th place finish.

“I was putting pressure on my brother,” said Tim Sauter. “I don’t know if he thought I was trying to snooker him on the restart by faking on the inside. I was able to make a hard run on the outside to make the pass.”

Gary St. Amant of Ohio, who remains the leader in the 2000 ASA National Points chase, recorded his third runner-up finish of the season. St. Amant never led in the event, but remained in the top-10 throughout the race. LaFavre Racing Teams driver Kevin Cy winski finished in third, his second podium of the year.

Sauter only led 23 laps en route to collecting $20,800 of the $200,550 purse, including the coveted Gibson Guitar, awarded to major event race winners at the Music City facility. Georgia’s Joey Clanton and Indiana’s Mark Dismore rounded out the top-five re spectively. The race saw 11 different drivers swap the lead on 14 occasions.

St. Amant continues to hold a 108-point lead over Cywinski heading into the June 10 event at Louisville Motor Speedway. The ACDelco Service Specialist 300 will take the green at 8 p.m. (Eastern) and will be telecast Sunday, June 11 on TNN Sports.