A 2015 rewind and a 2016 preview for the top five finishers last season in the NASCAR XFINITY and Camping World Truck Series. Today: Johnny Sauter, the fourth-place finisher in the truck series standings.
Team: ThorSport Racing No. 98 Toyota (2015); GMS Racing Chevrolet (2016)
2015 wins: 0
Strides: Sauter showed signs of consistency in his final season with ThorSport by matching his career-best of 16 top-10 finishes, including setting a personal best of third place at New Hampshire.
Setbacks: Besides being shut out of the win column for the first time since 2008, Sauter & Co. struggled in qualifying with just four top-five starting positions in 23 races.
Quoteworthy: “I wouldn’t have [switched teams] if I didn’t think it was an opportunity to go win a championship, so I’m excited about it, obviously getting back with Chevrolet and my relationship with those people is great, so ECR power and assembling the right people, I don’t see any reason why we can’t go win races and win a championship.”
What’s next: After seven successful seasons with ThorSport, Sauter opens a new chapter with a new team (GMS), a new crew chief (Marcus Richmond) and a new manufacturer (Chevy) in hopes of ending a winless drought that dates to August 2014 (a stretch of 33 races).