By Caleb Whisler, Staff Writer
After three races in 2019, Johnny Sauter has transitioned well back under the ThorSport Racing banner in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series.
From 2009 to 2015, Sauter competed with ThorSport Racing before transitioning over to GMS Racing for three years. After being outed of his ride at GMS Racing by defending champion Brett Moffitt, Sauter landed back on his feet with Duke and Rhonda Thorson.
After three races in 2019, the 40-year-old Wisconsin native returned to what he deemed as a “well-oiled machine” behind-the-scenes.
“I look at what happens behind the scenes as far as the organization is concerned,” Sauter said. “Bringing Tracey Hines has been good. The guys hanging the bodies in the basement in-house to being able to prepare chassis damage in Ohio, it is a well-oiled machine in a lot of ways from what I remember. It expedites things with quality control.
“The people have always been great. Duke and Rhonda have been great to me. There are a lot of familiar faces in the shop that it is good to be around again. All the things come back to you. It’s been awesome. I feel lucky with what I got.”
Luckily, Sauter was able to bring Joe Shear Jr. over to ThorSport. With a small sample sizes of races, the veteran driver is happy with how well his new team has meshed.
“I couldn’t be happier,” he said. “I mean that sincerely. We had great speed at Atlanta. We had great speed at Vegas until we broke a little bit, but we still had a decent day. It’s been a blast. I get along with everyone really well. Duke and Rhonda are really great people, and they deserve to win races.”
When Sauter left ThorSport, the organization was running Chevrolet’s. In 2019, the organization is under the Ford Performance banner. Despite having to learn a different style of truck, Sauter has noticed a few little things but is impressed with how it runs.
“There are little things that stick out,” he said. “Honestly, I am impressed with Ford in traffic and those types of things. It does things a little bit better. I am pleasantly surprised about that, but we have good speed. That is what I look at with what kind of speed you have by yourself. I look for us to continue to get better with that. It’s been good.”
For Sauter, his plan is to finish out his career with the Thorson’s with no interest at going anywhere else.
“I have zero interest of going anywhere else,” Sauter said. “When Duke tells me I’m done, I will gladly pack it up and head back to Wisconsin to take back up fishing or whatever. When they’re done with me, I’ll be done. I have no interest in going anywhere else no matter what the circumstances are. I am good.
“They presented me with the opportunity to race and opportunities to win. There are very few programs that can offer that. I know we can win here. If things shake out and I can continue to do this, great because I am all in. If they don’t, I’ll be done.”
For Sauter, this is the last hoorah, but he has an “all-in” mentality until the time to step away comes.