By Caleb Whisler, Staff Writer
For the first time since 2014, Johnny Sauter made laps in a NASCAR Xfinity Series vehicle for GMS Racing, following a hectic week.
For the veteran driver, he felt like that he had a decent pace during the two practice sessions of the weekend on Friday but wasn’t firing off. When it came down to the race, Sauter realized that he was firing off too hard.
“It was good. I felt like I had decent pace yesterday. I didn’t have fire off speed. Today, I learned that I was firing off too hard, trying to make time and not letting the car do the work,” Sauter said.
With his primary job driving a truck in the Camping World Truck Series, Sauter had to adjust his mindset in the corner. For Sauter, he can drive the truck all the way into the center of the corner, flip the throttle and get right back to it. With a Xfinity car, Sauter learned that he had to be disciplined.
“With these things, you have to lift early and carry part throttle through the middle of the corner,” Sauter continued.
“At least that is what I found that was working best for me. Just being smart with it. For the lack of a better way to put it, you have to drive these things easy to be disciplined to lift early and let the car roll through the center.”
As the veteran driver, Sauter had the opportunity to provide feedback for GMS Racing’s Xfinity program in their sophomore season. With drivers wanting to feel different things in the car, Sauter hopes the team can take the feedback he gave throughout the weekend and apply it later on.
Sauter finished 6th at Dover International Speedway.