Notebook: Sauter makes name known in Challenge

CONCORD, N.C. -- On a night that is made for creating heroes, Johnny Sauter certainly fit the bill.

After a late-race banzai run to second place in the Nextel Open, Sauter kept right on coming when the $1 million Nextel All-Star Challenge began in earnest. After starting 20th in the 21-car field, Sauter finished 11th in the first segment, seventh in the second and slipped two spots to ninth after the third segment, setting up a shot at the leaders with the big money on the line.

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He ended up sixth, 3.275 seconds behind winner Kevin Harvick.

"It was awesome," a dripping-wet Sauter said with a smile. "It's kind of funny how things go in life, because this car here, at the test, I didn't feel it was very good. We decided to bring it here just in case we got in trouble.

"This was the best turning car I've had on a mile-and-a-half in a couple of years."

Sauter said he didn't make a single adjustment all night long, other than a set of tires between the Open and the All-Star Challenge.

"Sometimes when I tell them to make adjustments, I end up screwing it up," Sauter laughed. "I just wish I had a couple more laps at the end of the Open so I could have caught Truex.

"No changes all night, man. Just tires ... and the car stayed fast."

A true education

The Nextel Open was a test session of sorts for most of the teams, and there were some surprises when it was over. The cool temperatures made even loose setups very tight.

So what did some of the drivers learn?

"We learned not to bring this car back," Jamie McMurray cracked after the race.

Carl Edwards, who led most of the Nextel Open before his handling went away, had a solution to his problems. "It was just extremely, extremely tight," he said. "If I could make an adjustment, I'd raise the track bar about 10 rounds."

Even Nextel Open winner Martin Truex Jr. was tight. "I thought at any time I could hit the wall or blow a right front tire," he said. "I just kept turning the wheel and every time it would push, I'd just mat it and hope it would turn." (Continued)