Johnny Sauter was looking for his second win of the year and it looked liked it might come in Iowa.
After qualifying fourth, Sauter was working his way up quietly. When Stage 1 ended, Sauter wound up in the third position.
The turning point in the race came during Stage 2. When a caution came out on Lap 108 for a spin on the backstretch, there were varying pit strategies. Eventual race winner, Bell, stayed out, while the rest of the field, including Sauter, pitted.
After a restart on Lap 113, Bell, on old tires, slipped back, and this saw Sauter take the lead on Lap 116. A caution came out late in the stage, thus ending the race under yellow conditions, which gave Sauter the Stage 2 win.
In Stage 3, another caution flew with 15 laps to go. It was a carbon-copy of what happened in Stage 1. Sauter was the only driver that stayed out during the final round of pit stops. With the late race restart that came with seven laps to go, Sauter tried holding off the field on old tires. He did so for one lap, then held on to finish in the second position.
“Yeah, you know, obviously, tires prevail here, but we made the call,” Sauter said. “Chase (Briscoe) actually took me to school there. That kid is a hell of a wheelman.”
“Great day for GMS and our Allegiant Travel Chevy,” Sauter said. “We probably should’ve had tires there and I should’ve been communicating better with my spotter. All in all, a great day. We just had a good truck, just not good enough.”
Sauter continues to lead the championship point standings forty-two points over Christopher Bell.
