Sunoco Pit Move: RIR

Johnny Sauter's car was so good Saturday at Richmond International Raceway, he wasn't about to let something as trivial as the car falling off the jack spoil his night.

Sauter rallied from a problem in the pits on Lap 132 to finish a season-best fifth in the Chevy Rock & Roll 400, his first top-five finish in Nextel Cup.

Even though his car performed well in practice, Sauter wound up 35th in qualifying. Still, he believed he could make a charge to the front when the green flag fell.

"We were fast right off the truck this weekend and fast in practice," Sauter said. "We qualified terrible, but I knew it was just a matter of time before I could make my way to the front, the car was that good."

Sauter was a man of his word. He picked up nine spots within the first 20 laps and broke into the top 20 by Lap 60. When Joe Nemechek hit the wall on Lap 130, Sauter had made it into the top 10.

However, what was supposed to be a routine pit stop ended up costing Sauter all the positions he had worked so hard to gain on the track. By the time he returned to the action, Sauter was deep in the field again.

"I made it up to the top 10, then we made a mistake that got us back to 31st or 32nd," Sauter said. "I tried to be patient and work my way back to the top 10."

That's exactly what he did. Sauter's No. 70 Chevy quickly made its way back into the top 20 before the race's midway point. But he didn't stop there. Avoiding some of the misfortune that sidelined many of the top contenders -- and getting flawless service from the No. 70 crew from that point on -- Sauter was up to seventh with 150 laps remaining.

He then battled and passed Kasey Kahne for sixth, moved up to fifth when Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s engine let go and was harassing Jeff Gordon for fourth place when the checkered flag dropped.

Sauter credited his team's Car of Tomorrow program for his solid performance.

"I think the COT has been instrumental in part for the growth of our team," Sauter said. "We have run good all year in the COT races and Loudon was one of our best runs of season."

Sauter finished 14th after starting fourth earlier this year at New Hampshire International Speedway, site of this week's race.

"It is the consistency we are lacking with both the cars and on pit road," Sauter added. "The potential is there, we just have to build on this momentum and keep having these good runs."