ASA: Sauter claims victory at Concord

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

May 21, 2001

Rookie Wins For a Second Time in Three Races

CONCORD, N.C. (May 20, 2001) – Rookie sensation Johnny Sauter of Wisconsin dominated in ASA ACDelco Series action by leading 219 laps, including the final 95 circuits, to capture the BFGoodrich Tires 300 at Concord Motorsport Park in North Carolina.

For the 23-year old Sauter, it was his second victory of the season, along with the April 28 Iowa 300, and matched him with Joey Clanton as two-time winners through seven of twenty events this season.

Starting on the outside of the front row, Sauter bolted to the lead over pole-sitter Robbie Pyle. Before the first lap was completed, an 11-car pile-up in turn one forced an eventual restart to the event. Sauter again took the lead position from Pyle and topped the field for the opening 124 laps.

“My car was awesome again today and really all weekend,” said Sauter. “At Iowa, I had to fight off Gary St. Amant, but here, after I got the lead back, (on lap 205) there was no way I was going to let down.”

Travis Kittleson of Florida held the point from lap 125 to 204 after Sauter pitted for the only time of the race. “My crew is great,” said Sauter. “Joe (Shear) and his crew got me out first among the pitted leaders and I can’t ask for anything more than that.”

Current ASA championship points leader Butch Miller finished second in the race, coming from a 13th starting position. Miller never threatened Sauter, but will retain points leadership and completed a sixth top-five finish in seven outings this season. W ayne Anderson of Florida finished third in only his second ASA start. Mike Garvey and Scott Hansen rounded out the top-five finishers.

Sauter claims $16,380 for the win and avoiding trouble on the tough .5-mile tri-oval layout. The event saw 15 cautions and the two lead changes involving Sauter and Kittleson.

The next event in the 2001 ASA ACDelco Series is the Luxaire 300 presented by Hecht’s Department Store June 1 and 2 at Nashville Speedway USA in Nashville (TN). The race will take the green flag at 8 p.m. (Central) and will be telecast Live on TNN Sports.

CONCORD, N.C. – The final results from Sunday’s $186,810 American Speed Association ACDelco Series BFGoodrich Tires 300 at the half-mile Concord Motorsports Park. Listed is finishing and starting position (in parenthesis) driver, make of car, laps complete d and reason out, if any.

1)(2) Johnny Sauter, Chevrolet, 300
2)(13) Butch Miller, Pontiac, 300
3)(22) Wayne Anderson, Chevrolet, 300
4)(8) Mike Garvey, Chevrolet, 300
5)(16) Scott Hansen, Ford, 300
6)(9) Joey Clanton, Chevrolet, 300
7)(11) Greg Stewart, Pontiac, 300
8)(23) Travis Kittleson, Chevrolet, 300
9)(34) Matt Sielsky, Chevrolet, 300
10)(20) Mike Eddy, Chevrolet, 299
11)(25) Ricky Bryant, Pontiac, 299
12)(10) Dean Clattenburg, Pontiac, 292
13)(31) Mike Cope, Chevrolet, 284
14)(15) J.C. Beattie Jr., Chevrolet, 281
15)(24) Larry Raines, Pontiac, 275, accident
16)(19) Mike Miller, Pontiac, 274, accident
17)(21) Bobby Gill, Ford, 269, accident
18)(5) Gary St. Amant, Chevrolet, 265
19)(1) Robbie Pyle, Chevrolet, 264
20)(32) Tim Taylor, Chevrolet, 264
21)(29) Doug Stevens Jr., Ford, 250, accident
22)(3) Rodney Childers, Chevrolet, 241, accident
23)(7) Russ Tuttle, Pontiac, 223, handling
24)(18) Scott Fraser, Chevrolet, 197, handling
25)(17) Tim Jedrzejek, Pontiac, 185, accident
26)(14) Brandon Sperling, Ford, 170, accident
27)(12) Chris Wimmer, Chevrolet, 156, handling
28)(26) Johnny Spaw, Chevrolet, 156
29)(28) Greg Williams, Chevrolet, 147, handing
30)(6) Davin Scites, Chevrolet, 133, accident
31)(33) John Silverthorne, Chevrolet, 116, accident
32)(30) Ken Alexander, Chevrolet, 102, clutch
33)(4) Kevin Cywinski, Chevrolet, 93, accident
34)(35) Dennis Lampman, Chevrolet, 57, accident
35)(27) David Elliott, Chevrolet, 0, accident

RACE STATISTICS:

Time of Race: 2 hours, 21 minutes, 31.001 seconds Average Speed: 63.597 mph Margin of Victory: 0.397 seconds Lead Changes: 2 among 2 drivers Cautions: 15 for 118 laps

Unofficial ASA ACDelco Series points after seven of 20 events: 1) B. Miller, 1,215; 2) Garvey, 1,143; 3) Clanton, 1,132; 4) St. Amant, 1,113; 5) M. Miller, 1,072; 6) Cywinski, 1,034; 7) Sauter, 1,032; 8) Hansen, 1,007; 9) Fraser, 915; 10) Wimmer, 889.

Text provided by Jeremy Troiano

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