Johnny Sauter passed Christopher Bell for the lead on Lap 123 of 150 and drove away to win Friday Night’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) TheHouse.com at Chicagoland Speedway.
This was Sauter’s first win at Chicagoland, the second this season and the 15th career NCWTS win.
“This truck was unbelievable. We had a great truck yesterday (in practice). I was worried with the Cup guys and the XFINITY guys here the track might change a little bit. This is what we needed. This is the momentum, the shot in the arm. This thing was on rails the last run.” said Sauter.
Chase Briscoe finished second, Christopher Bell third, Ryan Truex fourth and Grant Enfinger finished fifth.
Bell clinched the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series 2017 Regular Season Championship.
There were six caution flags for 28 laps with 12 lead changes among six drivers.
Ryan Truex earned his first-career NCWTS pole, led two times for 29 laps and won the first stage event, but he missed the Playoffs by a tie-breaker (Rhodes’ best finish of the season being a second-place result at Pocono vs Truex’s best result of third-place at Pocono).
“I felt like I had to be really, really aggressive on the restarts and I was and I was able to get those spots, but deeper in the run they passed me back and I couldn’t hold them. It sucks. Half the guys in the playoff field run 12th to eighth every week and we run top-five and miss it. That’s racing.” Truex said.
The eight-driver field for the seven-race playoff:
1. Christopher Bell, No. 4 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota: 2,040 points
2. Johnny Sauter, No. 21 GMS Racing Chevrolet: 2,025 points
3. John Hunter Nemechek, No. 8 NEMCO Motorsports Chevrolet: 2,014 points
4. Matt Crafton, No. 88 ThorSport Racing Toyota: 2,014 points
5. Chase Briscoe, No. 29 Brad Keselowski Racing Ford: 2,009 points
6. Austin Cindric, No. 19 Brad Keselowski Racing Ford: 2,007 points
7. Ben Rhodes, No. 27 ThorSport Racing Toyota: 2,007 points
8. Kaz Grala, No. 33 GMS Racing Chevrolet: 2,005 points
Race Results
Chicagoland Speedway, Joliet, Illinois
Friday, September 15, 2017
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1. (4) Johnny Sauter, Chevrolet, 150.
2. (2) Chase Briscoe #, Ford, 150.
3. (3) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 150.
4. (1) Ryan Truex, Toyota, 150.
5. (8) Grant Enfinger #, Toyota, 150.
6. (13) Ben Rhodes, Toyota, 150.
7. (12) John H. Nemechek, Chevrolet, 150.
8. (6) Noah Gragson #, Toyota, 150.
9. (14) Kaz Grala #, Chevrolet, 150.
10. (10) Myatt Snider, Toyota, 150.
11. (11) Cody Coughlin #, Toyota, 150.
12. (16) Regan Smith, Ford, 149.
13. (15) Tyler Young, Chevrolet, 149.
14. (9) Justin Haley #, Chevrolet, 149.
15. (7) Austin Cindric #, Ford, 148.
16. (5) Matt Crafton, Toyota, 148.
17. (17) Justin Fontaine, Toyota, 148.
18. (23) Wendell Chavous #, Chevrolet, 144.
19. (25) Josh Reaume, Chevrolet, 143.
20. (18) Austin Wayne Self, Chevrolet, 143.
21. (21) Jordan Anderson, Chevrolet, Clutch, 133.
22. (22) Camden Murphy, Chevrolet, Suspension, 102.
23. (30) Norm Benning, Chevrolet, Transmission, 101.
24. (31) Jennifer Jo Cobb, Chevrolet, Suspension, 27.
25. (19) Gray Gaulding(i), Chevrolet, Fuel Pump, 25.
26. (27) Ted Minor, Chevrolet, Engine, 23.
27. (28) Mike Harmon(i), Chevrolet, Transmission, 12.
28. (29) Tommy Regan(i), Chevrolet, Engine, 11.
29. (24) Kevin Donahue, Chevrolet, Accident, 10.
30. (26) BJ McLeod(i), Chevrolet, Electrical, 10.
31. (20) Joe Nemechek, Chevrolet, Vibration, 7.
32. (32) Mike Senica, Chevrolet, Rear Gear, 0.
