{"id":12634,"date":"2017-09-15T23:00:59","date_gmt":"2017-09-16T04:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=12634"},"modified":"2017-09-16T19:22:47","modified_gmt":"2017-09-17T00:22:47","slug":"johnny-sauter-wins-in-chicago-in-final-regular-season-camping-world-truck-series-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2017\/09\/15\/johnny-sauter-wins-in-chicago-in-final-regular-season-camping-world-truck-series-race\/","title":{"rendered":"Johnny Sauter wins in Chicago in final regular-season Camping World Truck Series race"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

Johnny Sauter, driver of the #21 ISMConnect Chevrolet, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series TheHouse.com 225 at Chicagoland Speedway on September 15, 2017 in Joliet, Illinois. (Photo by Sean Gardner\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service<\/em><\/p>\n

JOLIET, Ill. \u2013 Johnny Sauter<\/strong> served notice that he\u2019s ready to make a spirited defense of his 2016 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series<\/a> championship.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Johnny Sauter, driver of the #21 ISMConnect Chevrolet, takes the checkered flag to win ahead of the lapped truck of Josh Reaume, driver of the #50 WCIparts.com Chevrolet, during the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series TheHouse.com 225 at Chicagoland Speedway on September 15, 2017 in Joliet, Illinois. (Photo by Jeff Zelevansky\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Ben Rhodes was happy just to squeak into the final NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Playoff berth \u2014 by the skin of his teeth.<\/p>\n

Sauter passed regular-season champion Christopher Bell for the lead on Lap 123 of 150 and drove away to win Friday night\u2019s TheHouse.com 225 by 2.005 seconds over Chase Briscoe, who passed Bell for second on Lap 136.<\/p>\n

The race within a race between Rhodes and polesitter Ryan Truex was much closer. Fighting for the final position in the playoffs, Truex won the first 35-lap stage and finished fourth behind Bell at the checkered flag. Rhodes came home sixth and snagged the last Playoff berth on a tiebreaker.<\/p>\n

With the Playoff spot decided by best regular-season finish, Rhodes won on the strength of his second-place run at Pocono Raceway, where he beat Truex to the finish line by a quarter of a second.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Ryan Truex drives the #16 ADVICS\/AISIN Toyota during the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series TheHouse.com 225 at Chicagoland Speedway on September 15, 2017 in Joliet, Illinois. (Photo by Sean Gardner\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Sauter won for the first time at Chicagoland Speedway, the second time this season and the 15th time in 214 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis truck was unbelievable,\u201d said Sauter, who stayed on the track during a caution late in the first stage and had to battle back through the field. \u201cWe had a great truck yesterday (in practice). I was worried with the Cup guys and the XFINITY guys here the track might change a little bit.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe elected to try to win that first stage there, and we lost a lot of track position, had to fight to get it back. And then I had a horrible restart and lost a lot of track position again. This is what we needed. This is the momentum, the shot in the arm. \u2026 This thing was on rails the last run.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"

Christopher Bell, driver of the #4 SiriusXM Toyota, poses for a photo opportunity on pit road with the regular season champion’s trophy following the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series TheHouse.com 225 at Chicagoland Speedway on September 15, 2017 in Joliet, Illinois. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Rhodes edged into the Playoffs despite a performance he considered sub-par. A violation for an uncontrolled tire during a pit stop under caution on Lap 38 sent him to the rear. Later in the race, Rhodes\u2019 No. 27 Toyota developed a left rear tire rub after contact with the No. 88 Tundra of Matt Crafton.<\/p>\n

But Rhodes persevered.<\/p>\n

\u201cMan, I still can\u2019t believe it,\u201d Rhodes said. \u201cThey gave me the hat (for playoff qualifiers), and I\u2019m like, \u2018Are you sure this is ours?\u2019 We were tied, and we have the tiebreaker. I can\u2019t believe it. The truck \u2026 all night we struggled ever since we unloaded.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis has definitely our worst performance overall, and it couldn\u2019t have come at a worse week to do it. But I\u2019m glad we\u2019re in, and overall, everything worked out for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"

Austin Cindric, driver of the #19 Draw-Tite\/Reese Brands Ford, Chase Briscoe, driver of the #29 Cooper Standard Ford, Christopher Bell, driver of the #4 SiriusXM Toyota, Kaz Grala, driver of the #33 Stealth Chevrolet, Johnny Sauter, driver of the #21 ISMConnect Chevrolet, Matt Crafton, driver of the #88 Black Label Bacon\/Menards Toyota, John H. Nemechek, driver of the #8 Fire Alarm Services\/Nickelodeon Chevrolet, and Ben Rhodes, driver of the #27 Safelite Auto Glass Toyota, pose with the championship trophy following the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series TheHouse.com 225 at Chicagoland Speedway on September 15, 2017 in Joliet, Illinois. (Photo by Sean Gardner\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Truex expected a close battle for the last Playoff spot and was understandably disappointed to be on the short end of it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s tough, but it\u2019s racing,\u201d Truex said. \u201cWe did everything we could do aside from win. We just didn\u2019t have the speed for the 29 (Briscoe) and the 21 (Sauter). I was good on restarts. I felt like that was my best shot, so I was really, really aggressive on restarts \u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a feeling it would come down to this. It\u2019s been so close this whole year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Grant Enfinger, whose only path to the Playoff was a victory, came home fifth. Rhodes, John Hunter Nemechek, Noah Gragson,<\/p>\n

Kaz Grala and Myatt Snider completed the top 10.<\/p>\n

Briscoe, Nemechek, Grala, Crafton and Austin Cindric join Sauter, Bell and Rhodes on the Playoff grid.<\/p>\n

For race results, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Media Center Interviews:<\/h3>\n

Race winner Johnny Sauter –<\/p>\nhttp:\/\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/CLS_NCWTS_Sauter_091517.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

 <\/p>\n

Chase Briscoe – <\/p>\nhttp:\/\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/CS_NCWTS_Second_Place_091517.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

 <\/p>\n

Christopher Bell – <\/p>\nhttp:\/\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/CS_NCWTS_Regular_Season_Champ_091517.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service JOLIET, Ill. \u2013 Johnny Sauter served notice that he\u2019s ready to make a spirited defense of his 2016 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship. Ben Rhodes was happy just to squeak into the final NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Playoff berth \u2014 by the skin of his teeth. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12644,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[11],"tags":[370,16,160,268],"class_list":["post-12634","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nascar","tag-johnny-sauter","tag-nascar","tag-nascar-camping-world-truck-series","tag-ncwts"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/NCWTS_SauterVL_091517-e1505607501723.jpg?fit=640%2C427","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-3hM","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12634","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12634"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12634\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12647,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12634\/revisions\/12647"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12644"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12634"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12634"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12634"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}