Sauter excited to be back and competitive in N'wide

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Johnny Sauter has two top-10 championship finishes in the last four seasons he raced the full schedule in what will be called the Nationwide Series in 2008.

So odds are; it's pretty likely Sauter would be a threat to do the same thing this season, when he returns to NASCAR's No. 2 series.

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Sauter's returning to the Nationwide Series after racing a full schedule in Cup last season. He proved how gritty a racer he is by taking a team that was outside the top 35 in owner points at the beginning of the season, racing into the top 35 after five races and never falling out, before finishing 30th in the driver championship and 33rd in owner points.

Despite that, he wasn't retained for 2008 -- but he doesn't consider that a loss.

"Last year was a good year -- we did what we set out to do and accomplished the goals we wanted to accomplish," Sauter said. "But I'm a firm believer you can't get ahead looking back, so why do it?"

How much a racer Sauter is, to many observers, was borne out at Homestead-Miami Speedway last fall when, half an hour after crashing his Haas CNC Racing Chevrolet out of the Ford 400, Sauter was still at the transporter with the destroyed car and his crew.

Sauter never fit the mold of the prima donna Cup driver -- who probably would have been out of the garage within minutes of leaving the infield care center.

So he fits perfectly driving for renegade car owner James Finch, who owns Phoenix Racing. And despite his disappointment at Homestead, Sauter still managed a smile a little more than two months ago when he anticipated his 2008 program.

"I'm pretty excited about it, because I had a good time when I drove for [James] Finch the last time," Sauter said in November. "For him to think enough of me to want to have me come back, means a lot to me, so I'm looking forward to going back there and running a full schedule.

"Any time you can go to a series and be competitive, that's all you can ask for -- and I'm looking forward to it."

When the first session of Nationwide Series Preseason Thunder testing opened on Friday, Sauter was even more enthused. His primary No. 1 Chevrolet was the fastest of 20 teams in the single-car opening session; then Sauter backed it up with the fifth-best run in Friday afternoon's drafting practice.

"It's good to be back," Sauter said Sunday, after running the eighth-best single-car speed among a field that included 17 additional teams. "James Finch is committed to trying to turn his program back around and getting it running up front week-in and week-out. I think, so far so good. We unloaded off the truck and we've been pretty quick, here."

He paused to praise his owner, again.

"If you're going to go drive for a racer, there's not a lot of people like James Finch in the garage," Sauter said. "So for me it's a good opportunity to go back and just worry about racing. There's not a lot of pressure as far as sponsors -- we've got the Miccosukee Casino people on the car -- they're great people and they just love to race, too.

"So I'm excited to be back. When I was with Finch in '05, we were able to win a race and had a lot of good runs towards the end of the year. We've got Hendrick motors this year and have got some new people since I was there the last time, including a new crew chief, Jon Wolfe; so I'm looking forward to it."

The last time Sauter raced full-time in this series, he finished eighth in the championship in 2006, racing for Haas CNC. The last time he raced for Finch, in 2005, the car owner fielded Dodges and Sauter won from the pole at his home-state track, The Milwaukee Mile, for this third career series win.

Sauter has been around long enough to know that Daytona's Camping World 300 -- while the season opener and critically important for positive momentum -- is also an anomaly.

It's why he's looking forward to testing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway at the end of the month, in preparation for the intermediate track races to come at Las Vegas, California and Atlanta Motor Speedway.

"They've been working really hard on our downforce stuff," Sauter said. "I think we've got a pretty good recipe to have some success this year. Hopefully we can make a run at the championship and finish in the top five in points.

"That would be great."

And it would satisfy Sauter's ultimate urge, and that's simply to have a chance when his team unloads.

"I wanna run good -- I don't care what series I'm in, I just wanna run good," Sauter said. "I hate to say this, but if you go to the racetrack and you don't feel like you can win -- I don't even want to go.

"So if you're going to go to the Cup Series and you really don't think you can win, why the hell do it, you know what I mean? So that's where I'm at -- I'm happy to be back, I feel like I can win some races this year, and that's what it's all about, for me."