Homestead, FL - November 19, 2011
By: Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
Austin Dillon withstood a strong challenge from race winner Johnny Sauter to win the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship in Friday night’s Ford 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
NASCAR called the event with 15 laps left with Sauter in the lead and Dillon in 10th place, giving Dillon, 21, the youngest champion in series history, a six-point edge over Sauter in the final series standings.
Dillon is the first driver in series history to win the rookie of the year title in his first full season and the series championship the following year.
"I remember my first championship with Dale Earnhardt," said team owner Richard Childress, Dillon’s grandfather. "I had the same feeling tonight watching my grandson."
"You can’t go out of the truck series any better than this," said Dillon, who will graduate to the Nationwide Series with RCR next year.
Denny Hamlin finished second in the No. 18 Kyle Busch Motorsports truck, followed by Kevin Harvick, Nelson Piquet Jr. and Joey Coulter, who won the 2011 rookie of the year title. Coulter is a teammate of Dillon’s at Richard Childress Racing.
Early in the race, patience was a virtue for Dillon, who steered clear of potential complications and found a comfortable place to run at or near the back of the top 10.
As the race progressed, so did Dillon, who had worked his way into the second position behind Sauter before Ross Chastain’s spin on Lap 96 caused the fourth caution of the evening. The subsequent restart, however, brought more stress than Dillon ever could have expected.
Dillon fell back to 15th, fearing that he might have a problem with the right front fender on the No. 3 Chevrolet. Shortly thereafter, Sauter clinched most laps led, putting Dillon in danger of losing the championship if he lost more positions by the end of the race.
But Dillon drove back to the 10th position before rain halted the race on Lap 119 of 134 with Sauter in the lead.
"The fender got bent in—I don’t know how it happened," Dillon said. "I didn’t hit anybody on the track, but I think it happened on pit road. We got real tight once I got back there (in traffic). I think it was more on the conservative side when I was three-wide. We were three-wide in the middle, and to force a spot right there was not worth it."
Sauter, who won his second race of the season and the fourth of his career, wasn’t aware of how far behind Dillon had fallen on the restart.
"I had no clue," said Sauter, who won more than one event in a season in a top NASCAR touring series for the first time in his career. "Not one time tonight did they tell me where the 3 truck was. It didn’t really matter where he was running. We knew what we had to do, and that was lead the most laps and win the race.
"It’s a huge accomplishment, coming out here and doing what we needed to do. Six points is a bummer. You can think back on the season—dominating Kentucky, broke an axle, 20 to go, leading the race; ORP (Indianapolis), leading the race, flat tire; the lane violation at Texas, 22 points; six points at Pocono. You can go down the list—but everybody can. That’s just racing."
Notes: Greg Biffle and Travis Kvapil won rookie of the year honors and truck series championships, but not in consecutive years. Biffle accomplished the feat in 1998 (rookie) and 2000. Kvapil was rookie of the year in 2001 and champion in 2003. … Harvick had clinched the owners’ championship with his No. 2 truck before the series arrived at Homestead.
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Race Number 25
Unofficial Race Results for the 17Th Annual Ford 200 - Friday, November 18, 2011
Homestead-Miami Speedway - Homestead, FL - 1.5 Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 119 Laps - 178.5 Miles - Purse: $572,341
Fin Str Trk Driver Team Laps Pts Bns Driver Rating Winnings Status/Leader Tms Laps
1 5 13 Johnny Sauter SafeAuto/Curb Records Chevrolet 119 48 5 140.6 $45,475 Running 4 44
2 17 18 Denny Hamlin(i) Dollar General/DirecTV Toyota 119 0 114.4 $23,150 Running 1 1
3 8 2 Kevin Harvick(i) Hunt Brothers Pizza Chevrolet 119 0 120.2 $16,825 Running 1 16
4 3 8 Nelson Piquet Jr. # Piquet Realty Chevrolet 119 40 102.4 $18,800 Running
5 10 22 Joey Coulter # RCR Graphics Center Chevrolet 119 39 100.4 $16,525 Running
6 2 21 Ty Dillon Charter Chevrolet 119 38 96.3 $13,000 Running
7 7 24 Elliott Sadler(i) AM/FM Energy Chevrolet 119 0 119.3 $12,800 Running 2 32
8 21 17 Timothy Peters Tire Kingdom/Service Central Toyota 119 36 76.2 $17,250 Running
9 12 23 Jason White Gunbroker.com Chevrolet 119 35 84.1 $14,650 Running
10 4 3 Austin Dillon Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet 119 34 95.5 $15,775 Running
11 23 81 David Starr Zachry Toyota 119 33 71.3 $14,650 Running
12 1 31 James Buescher Exide Chevrolet 119 33 1 98.8 $14,175 Running 3 19
13 22 33 Ron Hornaday Jr. OneMain Financial Chevrolet 119 32 1 80.5 $16,150 Running 1 1
14 13 29 Parker Kligerman # Cooper Standard Dodge 119 30 76.7 $13,950 Running
15 16 15 Dusty Davis Red Top Auto Auction Toyota 119 29 78.5 $12,925 Running
16 15 5 Todd Bodine International Trucks/Monaco RVs Toyota 119 28 77.1 $14,725 Running
17 14 4 Ricky Carmichael Monster Energy Chevrolet 119 27 68.0 $13,625 Running
18 9 6 Justin Lofton CollegeComplete.com Chevrolet 119 26 63.1 $13,525 Running
19 11 88 Matt Crafton Menards/Tarkett Chevrolet 119 26 1 76.5 $13,425 Running 1 2
20 19 62 Brendan Gaughan Tire Kingdom/Service Central Toyota 119 25 1 64.8 $14,050 Running 1 3
21 24 9 Max Papis GEICO Toyota 119 23 55.7 $13,125 Running
22 6 60 Cole Whitt # Fuel Doctor/Red Bull Chevrolet 119 22 98.9 $12,875 Running
23 28 32 Blake Feese Red Hot Insurance Chevrolet 118 21 44.8 $12,750 Running
24 30 39 Ryan Sieg RSS Racing Chevrolet 118 20 49.0 $11,200 Running
25 20 98 Dakoda Armstrong Ferrellgas/EverFi.com Chevrolet 118 20 1 46.4 $10,150 Running 1 1
26 27 51 German Quiroga telcel Toyota 118 18 42.8 $9,800 Running
27 36 93 Ross Chastain National Watermelon Chevrolet 117 17 38.9 $10,950 Running
28 25 09 Bryan Silas(i) Rockingham Speedway Ford 117 0 36.6 $9,400 Running
29 34 57 Norm Benning G.L. Hubbard & Sons Inc. Chevrolet 114 15 32.8 $9,175 Running
30 35 68 Clay Greenfield Anave Weight Loss Dodge 104 14 32.9 $8,975 Handling
31 26 66 Max Gresham MattyBRaps.com/Gresham Motorsports Park Chevrolet 99 13 49.3 $8,425 Fuel Pump
32 18 7 Miguel Paludo # Duroline Toyota 30 12 50.4 $8,400 Engine
33 32 74 Mike Harmon(i) KOMA Unwind Chevrolet 14 0 34.7 $8,375 Overheating
34 29 38 Dennis Setzer(i) RSS Racing Chevrolet 4 0 32.6 $8,350 Ignition
35 31 10 Jennifer Jo Cobb(i) DrivenMale.com Ford 3 0 28.7 $8,325 Engine
36 33 07 Johnny Chapman(i) BOBBER.info Toyota 1 0 29.2 $8,239 Clutch
Race Comments: Before an estimated attendance of 22,000, Johnny Sauter won the Ford 200, his fourth NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory.
Prior to the green flag, the following cars dropped to the rear of the field for the reason indicated: #38, 93 (driver change).
Failed to Qualify: (7) 45, 20, 14, 76, 27, 44, 70.
Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 25 Mins, 25 Secs. Average Speed: 125.385 MPH Margin of Victory: Caution
Caution Flags: 5 for 16 laps: Laps: 5-8 (Oil on the track [38]); 21-23 (Competition [57]); 31-34 (#51, 66 accident turn 4 [None]); 98-101 (#93 spin turn 2 [15]); 119-119 (Precipitation [60]).
Lead Changes: 14 among 9 drivers: J. Buescher 1-8; K. Harvick(i) 9-24; D. Hamlin(i) 25; J. Buescher 26-34; J. Sauter 35-36; E. Sadler(i) 37; J. Sauter 38; E. Sadler(i) 39-69; J. Sauter 70; J. Buescher 71-72; R. Hornaday Jr. 73; M. Crafton 74-75; B. Gaughan 76-78; D. Armstrong 79; J. Sauter 80-119.
Top 10 Driver Points: (1) A. Dillon 888;(2) J. Sauter 882;(3) J. Buescher 859;(4) R. Hornaday Jr. 838;(5) T. Peters 832;(6) T. Bodine 803;(7) J. Coulter # 796;(8) M. Crafton 785;(9) C. Whitt # 764;(10) N. Piquet Jr. # 752.
Exide Start Positive, Stay Positive Award : Johnny Sauter, #13
Featherlite Most Improved Driver : Ron Hornaday Jr, #33 21 Places
Keystone Light Pole Award : Not awarded, #
Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race : Earnhardt Childress Racing, #13
Mobil 1 Driver of the Race : Johnny Sauter, #13
O'Reilly Auto Parts Position Improvement Award : Timothy Peters, #17 13 places
Sunoco Rookie of the Race : Nelson Piquet Jr, #8
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
Next Race: Feb. 24, 2012 - Daytona International Speedway
NASCAR Integrated Marketing Communications @ P.O. Box 2875, Daytona Beach, FL 32120-2875
By: Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
Austin Dillon withstood a strong challenge from race winner Johnny Sauter to win the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship in Friday night’s Ford 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
NASCAR called the event with 15 laps left with Sauter in the lead and Dillon in 10th place, giving Dillon, 21, the youngest champion in series history, a six-point edge over Sauter in the final series standings.
Dillon is the first driver in series history to win the rookie of the year title in his first full season and the series championship the following year.
"I remember my first championship with Dale Earnhardt," said team owner Richard Childress, Dillon’s grandfather. "I had the same feeling tonight watching my grandson."
"You can’t go out of the truck series any better than this," said Dillon, who will graduate to the Nationwide Series with RCR next year.
Denny Hamlin finished second in the No. 18 Kyle Busch Motorsports truck, followed by Kevin Harvick, Nelson Piquet Jr. and Joey Coulter, who won the 2011 rookie of the year title. Coulter is a teammate of Dillon’s at Richard Childress Racing.
Early in the race, patience was a virtue for Dillon, who steered clear of potential complications and found a comfortable place to run at or near the back of the top 10.
As the race progressed, so did Dillon, who had worked his way into the second position behind Sauter before Ross Chastain’s spin on Lap 96 caused the fourth caution of the evening. The subsequent restart, however, brought more stress than Dillon ever could have expected.
Dillon fell back to 15th, fearing that he might have a problem with the right front fender on the No. 3 Chevrolet. Shortly thereafter, Sauter clinched most laps led, putting Dillon in danger of losing the championship if he lost more positions by the end of the race.
But Dillon drove back to the 10th position before rain halted the race on Lap 119 of 134 with Sauter in the lead.
"The fender got bent in—I don’t know how it happened," Dillon said. "I didn’t hit anybody on the track, but I think it happened on pit road. We got real tight once I got back there (in traffic). I think it was more on the conservative side when I was three-wide. We were three-wide in the middle, and to force a spot right there was not worth it."
Sauter, who won his second race of the season and the fourth of his career, wasn’t aware of how far behind Dillon had fallen on the restart.
"I had no clue," said Sauter, who won more than one event in a season in a top NASCAR touring series for the first time in his career. "Not one time tonight did they tell me where the 3 truck was. It didn’t really matter where he was running. We knew what we had to do, and that was lead the most laps and win the race.
"It’s a huge accomplishment, coming out here and doing what we needed to do. Six points is a bummer. You can think back on the season—dominating Kentucky, broke an axle, 20 to go, leading the race; ORP (Indianapolis), leading the race, flat tire; the lane violation at Texas, 22 points; six points at Pocono. You can go down the list—but everybody can. That’s just racing."
Notes: Greg Biffle and Travis Kvapil won rookie of the year honors and truck series championships, but not in consecutive years. Biffle accomplished the feat in 1998 (rookie) and 2000. Kvapil was rookie of the year in 2001 and champion in 2003. … Harvick had clinched the owners’ championship with his No. 2 truck before the series arrived at Homestead.
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Race Number 25
Unofficial Race Results for the 17Th Annual Ford 200 - Friday, November 18, 2011
Homestead-Miami Speedway - Homestead, FL - 1.5 Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 119 Laps - 178.5 Miles - Purse: $572,341
Fin Str Trk Driver Team Laps Pts Bns Driver Rating Winnings Status/Leader Tms Laps
1 5 13 Johnny Sauter SafeAuto/Curb Records Chevrolet 119 48 5 140.6 $45,475 Running 4 44
2 17 18 Denny Hamlin(i) Dollar General/DirecTV Toyota 119 0 114.4 $23,150 Running 1 1
3 8 2 Kevin Harvick(i) Hunt Brothers Pizza Chevrolet 119 0 120.2 $16,825 Running 1 16
4 3 8 Nelson Piquet Jr. # Piquet Realty Chevrolet 119 40 102.4 $18,800 Running
5 10 22 Joey Coulter # RCR Graphics Center Chevrolet 119 39 100.4 $16,525 Running
6 2 21 Ty Dillon Charter Chevrolet 119 38 96.3 $13,000 Running
7 7 24 Elliott Sadler(i) AM/FM Energy Chevrolet 119 0 119.3 $12,800 Running 2 32
8 21 17 Timothy Peters Tire Kingdom/Service Central Toyota 119 36 76.2 $17,250 Running
9 12 23 Jason White Gunbroker.com Chevrolet 119 35 84.1 $14,650 Running
10 4 3 Austin Dillon Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet 119 34 95.5 $15,775 Running
11 23 81 David Starr Zachry Toyota 119 33 71.3 $14,650 Running
12 1 31 James Buescher Exide Chevrolet 119 33 1 98.8 $14,175 Running 3 19
13 22 33 Ron Hornaday Jr. OneMain Financial Chevrolet 119 32 1 80.5 $16,150 Running 1 1
14 13 29 Parker Kligerman # Cooper Standard Dodge 119 30 76.7 $13,950 Running
15 16 15 Dusty Davis Red Top Auto Auction Toyota 119 29 78.5 $12,925 Running
16 15 5 Todd Bodine International Trucks/Monaco RVs Toyota 119 28 77.1 $14,725 Running
17 14 4 Ricky Carmichael Monster Energy Chevrolet 119 27 68.0 $13,625 Running
18 9 6 Justin Lofton CollegeComplete.com Chevrolet 119 26 63.1 $13,525 Running
19 11 88 Matt Crafton Menards/Tarkett Chevrolet 119 26 1 76.5 $13,425 Running 1 2
20 19 62 Brendan Gaughan Tire Kingdom/Service Central Toyota 119 25 1 64.8 $14,050 Running 1 3
21 24 9 Max Papis GEICO Toyota 119 23 55.7 $13,125 Running
22 6 60 Cole Whitt # Fuel Doctor/Red Bull Chevrolet 119 22 98.9 $12,875 Running
23 28 32 Blake Feese Red Hot Insurance Chevrolet 118 21 44.8 $12,750 Running
24 30 39 Ryan Sieg RSS Racing Chevrolet 118 20 49.0 $11,200 Running
25 20 98 Dakoda Armstrong Ferrellgas/EverFi.com Chevrolet 118 20 1 46.4 $10,150 Running 1 1
26 27 51 German Quiroga telcel Toyota 118 18 42.8 $9,800 Running
27 36 93 Ross Chastain National Watermelon Chevrolet 117 17 38.9 $10,950 Running
28 25 09 Bryan Silas(i) Rockingham Speedway Ford 117 0 36.6 $9,400 Running
29 34 57 Norm Benning G.L. Hubbard & Sons Inc. Chevrolet 114 15 32.8 $9,175 Running
30 35 68 Clay Greenfield Anave Weight Loss Dodge 104 14 32.9 $8,975 Handling
31 26 66 Max Gresham MattyBRaps.com/Gresham Motorsports Park Chevrolet 99 13 49.3 $8,425 Fuel Pump
32 18 7 Miguel Paludo # Duroline Toyota 30 12 50.4 $8,400 Engine
33 32 74 Mike Harmon(i) KOMA Unwind Chevrolet 14 0 34.7 $8,375 Overheating
34 29 38 Dennis Setzer(i) RSS Racing Chevrolet 4 0 32.6 $8,350 Ignition
35 31 10 Jennifer Jo Cobb(i) DrivenMale.com Ford 3 0 28.7 $8,325 Engine
36 33 07 Johnny Chapman(i) BOBBER.info Toyota 1 0 29.2 $8,239 Clutch
Race Comments: Before an estimated attendance of 22,000, Johnny Sauter won the Ford 200, his fourth NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory.
Prior to the green flag, the following cars dropped to the rear of the field for the reason indicated: #38, 93 (driver change).
Failed to Qualify: (7) 45, 20, 14, 76, 27, 44, 70.
Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 25 Mins, 25 Secs. Average Speed: 125.385 MPH Margin of Victory: Caution
Caution Flags: 5 for 16 laps: Laps: 5-8 (Oil on the track [38]); 21-23 (Competition [57]); 31-34 (#51, 66 accident turn 4 [None]); 98-101 (#93 spin turn 2 [15]); 119-119 (Precipitation [60]).
Lead Changes: 14 among 9 drivers: J. Buescher 1-8; K. Harvick(i) 9-24; D. Hamlin(i) 25; J. Buescher 26-34; J. Sauter 35-36; E. Sadler(i) 37; J. Sauter 38; E. Sadler(i) 39-69; J. Sauter 70; J. Buescher 71-72; R. Hornaday Jr. 73; M. Crafton 74-75; B. Gaughan 76-78; D. Armstrong 79; J. Sauter 80-119.
Top 10 Driver Points: (1) A. Dillon 888;(2) J. Sauter 882;(3) J. Buescher 859;(4) R. Hornaday Jr. 838;(5) T. Peters 832;(6) T. Bodine 803;(7) J. Coulter # 796;(8) M. Crafton 785;(9) C. Whitt # 764;(10) N. Piquet Jr. # 752.
Exide Start Positive, Stay Positive Award : Johnny Sauter, #13
Featherlite Most Improved Driver : Ron Hornaday Jr, #33 21 Places
Keystone Light Pole Award : Not awarded, #
Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race : Earnhardt Childress Racing, #13
Mobil 1 Driver of the Race : Johnny Sauter, #13
O'Reilly Auto Parts Position Improvement Award : Timothy Peters, #17 13 places
Sunoco Rookie of the Race : Nelson Piquet Jr, #8
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
Next Race: Feb. 24, 2012 - Daytona International Speedway
NASCAR Integrated Marketing Communications @ P.O. Box 2875, Daytona Beach, FL 32120-2875
