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Johnny Sauter has nine top-10s and leads the rookie of the year standings.Sauter opening eyes in his first season driving a truck
Rookie sitting seventh in points, close to first CWTS win
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It's hard to call Johnny Sauter a rookie. The 31-year-old, who has seen extensive time in the Cup and Nationwide series, even laughs when he thinks about it. But the fact is, this is Sauter's first full year in a truck and he is making the most of it.
Sauter has been nothing but impressive in 19 Truck Series races this season, and this weekend he heads to Las Vegas Motor Speedway for Saturday's running of the Las Vegas 350 (9 p.m. ET, SPEED) looking for his first Truck victory.
Currently, Sauter leads the rookie of the year standings by 24 points on Tayler Malsam and is sitting seventh in the overall point standings thanks to five top-fives and nine top-10s, including his current stretch of four consecutive top-five finishes.
Sauter has some experience on the 1.5-mile track just off The Strip in Las Vegas and even though the results have been mixed, the knowledge could give him a leg up on most of the competition. He has two Cup starts at LVMS with finishes of 24th and 39th. In the Nationwide Series he has six starts with an average finish of 18.2 and a best finish of third in 2002.
If Sauter can maintain his top-10 spot in the points, he will be the first rookie since Carl Edwards in 2003 to finish the Truck Series season in the top 10.
0Las Vegas is one of 10 tracks on the Truck Series schedule Ron Hornaday has yet to visit Victory Lane (Iowa, Fontana, Talladega, Richmond, Chicagoland, Martinsville, Michigan, Nashville and Daytona).
2On two different occasions Ron Hornaday has clinched the Truck Series title at Las Vegas. LVMS used to be the season finale in the Truck Series and in 1996 and 1998, Hornaday won his first two titles.
2Only two drivers have won at Las Vegas on more than one occasion: Jack Sprague (1996, 1998) and Mike Skinner (2006, 2008).
3Three drivers entered in Saturday's race average a top-10 finish at Las Vegas: Ron Hornaday (7.9), Aric Almirola (10.0) and Mike Skinner (10.0).
4.8Average starting position of the winners in 12 Truck races at Las Vegas. Five races have been won from the pole and all but one has been won from a top-10 starting position. Shane Hmiel's win in 2004 came from the 21st position.
6Matt Crafton has finished in the top 10 in the past six Truck races, tops among all drivers.
18Eighteen of the 19 races this season have been won by either a Toyota or a Chevrolet. Colin Braun's win at Michigan is the only victory for Ford and Dodge is winless this season.
18.1Average finish for Matt Crafton at Las Vegas, his worst track in regards to average finish. Despite the horrible average, Crafton can lean on last year's race at LVMS when he finished third.
49Mike Skinner currently has 49 career poles in the Truck Series -- one more and he will have 50. Seven drivers have 50 or more poles in the Cup Series, led by Richard Petty with 123. In the Nationwide Series, no driver has 50 poles.
58Number of points Dodge has scored in the manufacturers' standings. They have finished fourth among the manufacturers in all but one race this season. To be fair, Dodge averages 2.84 Trucks entered in a race.
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Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Truck winners at the track
| Driver | Starts | Wins | Top-fives | Top-10s |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mike Skinner | 7 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| Jack Sprague | 11 | 2 | 7 | 7 |
| Shane Hmiel | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Joe Ruttman | 5 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Ted Musgrave | 8 | 1 | 3 | 6 |
| Greg Biffle | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Brendan Gaughan | 10 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| David Starr | 9 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
| Travis Kvapil | 5 | 1 | 4 | 4 |
| Todd Bodine | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
Camping World Truck Series
Standings
| Pos. | +/- | Driver | Points | Behind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | -- | Ron Hornaday | 3,055 | -- |
| 2. | -- | Matt Crafton | 2,838 | -217 |
| 3. | -- | Mike Skinner | 2,809 | -246 |
| 4. | -- | Brian Scott | 2,608 | -447 |
| 5. | +1 | Colin Braun | 2,515 | -540 |
| 6. | -1 | Todd Bodine | 2,480 | -575 |
| 7. | +3 | Johnny Sauter | 2,452 | -603 |
| 8. | +1 | Rick Crawford | 2,441 | -614 |
| 9. | -2 | David Starr | 2,434 | -621 |
| 10. | +2 | Stacy Compton | 2,423 | -632 |
Truck Series News
- Truck Series sets mark for ratings at .81 on SPEED
- Milwaukee win propelled Hornaday to fourth title
- Balance what keeps No. 33 at championship form
- Harvick wins the race, celebrates owners' title
- Almirola hoping to shine at Homestead-Miami finale
- Hornaday clinches fourth title; Harvick claims the win
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