Johnny Sauter was hoping to cash in with a victory in front of the hometown fans by competing in both the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race and the NASCAR Busch Series race this past weekend at The Milwaukee Mile. His run at the double began Friday night in the No. 51 Bowen Family Homes Chevrolet for Billy Ballew Motorsports and resulted in a 12th place finish. Not the result Sauter or the team were looking for, but after flat-spotting their tires and having to pit early, it was all they could muster up at the end of the 200-lap event.

Sauter, from nearby Necedah, Wis., returned to his home track as the defending winner of the NASCAR Busch Series race and had high hopes entering the NCTS event. The trucks that come out of the Billy Ballew Motorsports stable are always of high-quality and working with Crew Chief Richie Wauters again had Sauter optimistic about his chances. They all worked together last year at Texas Motor Speedway when Sauter piloted the No. 15 to an 11th place finish. Sauter and Wauters, who hails from Green Bay, Wis., also go way back to short track days.

Sauter qualified the No. 51 Bowen Family Homes in the third position and was able to use the high line to his advantage when the green flag waved as he quickly took over second position. When the first caution waved on lap four, Sauter radioed in that the truck was good in turns one and two. Sauter maintained second position until the second caution on lap 37. Wauters called for two rounds down in the right rear. They had trouble exiting the pit, being blocked in by another truck, and wound up restarting in eighth position.

Around lap 60, Sauter radioed into Wauters that he had no forward bite and needed some help. When caution number three came on lap 77 for the spinning No. 18, which Sauter narrowly avoided, he brought the No. 51 Silverado down pit road. His Yellow Transportation pit crew from the Busch team went to work changing four tires and lowering the trackbar four rounds after Sauter complained of being loose. The team performed a perfect stop, getting the No. 51 back on track in eighth position.

On the restart, Sauter locked up the tires going into turn one and got up in the high groove, losing several positions in the process. Thinking he may have flat-spotted the tires or picked up something getting in the marbles, Sauter elected to pit for tires. “I’d rather be safe than sorry,” Sauter radioed into Wauters about having to pit for tires again.

Now Sauter’s complaint was of being too loose so just a couple laps later, under the fifth caution, Sauter came in for a trackbar adjustment and fuel. He restarted in 23rd position. Their last pit stop came on lap 115 during the seventh caution. They changed four tires, their last set, and filled the truck up with fuel. The No. 51 Bowen Family Homes Chevy restarted in 21st place on lap 119, determined to make its way back up to the front. By lap 140, Sauter had moved up to 13th position. During the ninth caution, Sauter radioed in saying the truck was now tight again, but would drive as hard as he could to the finish. He managed to crack the top-10, but faded in the closing laps on his older tires to finish 12th.

“Obviously we wanted to put on a great show for the hometown crowd, but we lost track position when we flat-spotted our tires,” said Sauter after the race. “It took the rest of the race to get back up to where we did. I ended up wearing my tires down to the cords. Clean air is definitely the way to go. The shock went away at the end and it was picking the right front up off the track, transferring the load to the right rear. I’m just thankful for the opportunity to be able to run at home with Billy Ballew Motorsports and Richie Wauters. It’s always a lot of fun with these guys and I hope I can do it again.”