For the first time since the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series’ season opener at Daytona International Speedway, Johnny Sauter will return to competition behind the wheel of Niece Motorsports’ No. 45.
Sauter, along with Kaden Honeycutt, Connor Mosack and Ross Chastain, were announced as the drivers of the No. 45 for 2024, though none of their individual schedules have ever been announced. So far, Sauter, Mosack and Chastain have only been in the truck once apiece, while Honeycutt has run three races. That will change on Friday (April 12) when Sauter returns to the track at Texas Motor Speedway.
Over the last three seasons, Sauter has taken on part-time schedules with various teams. In 2023, Sauter ran three races with Roper Racing (coincidentally, Honeycutt opened the 2023 season with the team). 2022 saw him jump between three teams, running Daytona with G2G Racing, before running four races with his long-time former team ThorSport Racing. He then finished out his six-race season in Young’s Motorsports’ flagship No. 02 in the season finale at Phoenix Raceway.
Sauter has dialed the racing back significantly, and now he has joined Niece, a team that can contend with teams like ThorSport for wins and great finishes after spending most of the last two seasons with severely underfunded teams.
At Daytona, Sauter led 24 laps (second only behind race winner Nick Sanchez) and won the first stage. He was in contention the whole race until a late crash ended his night.
So could 2024 be Sauter’s last season?
It’s hard to say with the longevity of racing careers, especially given Sauter is only running part-time on top of that. Sauter has run at least one NASCAR Cup Series, Xfinity Series and/or Truck Series race every season since 2001. He is the last Sauter remaining in NASCAR competition. HIs father Jim, brothers Jay and Tim, and nephew Travis have all contested races in NASCAR. Johnny is the only Sauter remaining, and has been for at least a decade.
Sauter’s home has been in the Truck Series where he’s found his most success. He has 24 wins in the series as well as his crowning achievement, a Truck Series championship. He gained the honor in 2016, back when he was with the now-defunct GMS Racing.
His Cup Series career didn’t pan out, and his Xfinity Series career didn’t do much better (though he nabbed three wins as consolation). He hasn’t had…
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