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NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES MEDIA CONFERENCE

November 16, 2017

Johnny Sauter

Q. How has this playoffs been different from last year to this year?
JOHNNY SAUTER: Well, honestly in a lot of ways, it's pretty similar to what it was a year ago for us. I think obviously we got off to a shaky start there at New Hampshire with getting caught up in a wreck, and then obviously going to Vegas and getting caught up in a wreck. We were kind of in survival mode the first two rounds of this playoffs, but the finale looks really similar to what it did last year with the drivers in the game. I don't know, you've got to put your best effort forth every week, and obviously we do that, and tomorrow night will be no different.

Q. Who do you feel like is your biggest threat tomorrow?
JOHNNY SAUTER: I mean, honestly I think you've got to look at everybody. You think you're in control a lot of times in this sport of your own destiny, but you're not. Anything can happen. Somebody can have trouble, cut a tire, get caught up in a wreck. Yeah, I'm looking at everybody the same. Obviously the 4 has had a lot of speed all year, Crafton, you never count him out, and the 19 truck has gotten a lot faster over the last month and a half or so, so I'm looking at everybody.

Q. Are you set for next year yet?
JOHNNY SAUTER: Pretty close, yeah. Real close.

Q. Could it be pretty dicey as far as a lot of tension between some drivers in the playoffs? Could it ultimately hurt somebody like you if things get too crazy?
JOHNNY SAUTER: Honestly I think a lot of times talk is pretty cheap. There's too much on the line for people to do things in my opinion that are ridiculous at this point. I just don't see people trying to create problems for one another. I just don't see that happening. And if they do and we're an innocent bystander, then that's problematic, I guess, but for the most part, you've had a week now, everybody has cooled off a little bit, and I don't think that will be a problem.

Q. There's been some chatter that fans want to see the winners in a rundown, like the three races in the playoffs, that if you win all three races maybe you should get an extra five or ten points towards your accumulation of points. Would you like to see that happen? You won two of the three in the round. Would you like to see that?
JOHNNY SAUTER: You know, I guess I don't deal in the world of hypotheticals very well, so I don't have a clue. Whatever it is, it is. I just know what we need to do, and that's run good, and if we don't, we won't win the championship. Bonus points would be great, but we kind of do that all year, right? I mean, you can make a case for anything. But I think at some point you've got to quit tweaking things.

Q. Do you feel more pressure or less pressure since you won the title last year?
JOHNNY SAUTER: I mean, I feel pressure, more for my guys and my team and everybody. Of course we want to win the championship, and if anybody is sitting here telling you they don't feel any pressure, I call baloney. And it's just because you want to perform, and you want to get the job done. Yeah, I mean, I feel a little bit, but at the end of the day, all you can do is give 100 percent, and it's either going to work out or it's not. That's really how I feel about it, but yeah, I'm motivated. I'm feeling a little pressure, but we want to go and do what we set out to do at the beginning of the year, and that's win the championship.

Q. Does having that carrot hanging out there of being a back‑to‑back champion mean anything to you?
JOHNNY SAUTER: Oh, yeah, sure, you'd better believe it. Winning championships is cool. Obviously last year was the first time I had ever done that, so I really got a taste of what it feels like. Winning races is always something that I thought was the ultimate, but after you've gotten a championship, you realize how important it really is. Absolutely, that's a huge motivating factor for us, for me. To be a back‑to‑back champion would be awesome.

Q. Does it kind of validate the first one in a way? I've heard drivers say where one is cool but a second one they feel kind of this‑‑ it cements a legacy or something. A guy like Brad Keselowski talks a lot about, yeah, I have one championship, but until I win two, I don't think people will care.
JOHNNY SAUTER: I don't know. I'm not really interested in what everybody else thinks. I think winning the championship was big, and I think winning a second would be the ultimate, especially if you could do it back‑to‑back. Knowing how hard it is to win one and how things have to go right, there's just so many things that happen out of your control. Winning a second championship would be just the ultimate. But I'm not really worried about validation from anybody but the guys that work on my truck and myself. I think a second championship would just be really cool, but if we don't get it, we don't get it.

Q. You've been with championship teams in the past; are you surprised the evolution of Gallagher as quickly as they've become a contender on an annual basis?
JOHNNY SAUTER: I'm not surprised. I mean, when Mike Beam first called me about coming over there, I took the tour of the shop and saw just exactly what they were building over there, and then I got to meet Mr.Gallagher and the family, and they were serious, and they said all the right things, and they had a realistic expectation of where they wanted to be and how they were going to get there. But still, when I tour the shop, I walk around sometimes and go, this is really unbelievable, just the way they're going about it, building their own chassis, hanging their own bodies and all that. They're all in, but on the flipside of that, they expect results. But I think they've got a really good plan for where they're headed.

Q. Has it helped to have Joe Shear, somebody that you've known for years, be the guy there that guides you along with wins and championships?
JOHNNY SAUTER: Yeah, it's big for me, obviously. You know, there's a certain comfort level there obviously with Joe just because of our past history together from growing up as kids to whatever, our dads racing against each other. Huge comfort level there; when he tells me something, I usually believe it. And Joe has been good. He's been a good fit. The way GMS is ran as a company is pretty strong, from the top down. I think it's just a good environment for both of us to thrive in.

Q. Do you have any aspirations of wanting to do XFINITY or Cup again, even if it's a limited role?
JOHNNY SAUTER: You know, I think about this a loss. I wish I was mentally as smart as I am today 20 years ago or 15 years ago when I first came along. I really don't. I mean, obviously if it's a great deal, of course. But I think about it, and I still think I could do it, but truck racing is fun, and you're competitive week in and week out. You have an opportunity to win races, and I don't think there's a lot of guys in the Cup field that can say that towards the back of the field. I did my time doing that, riding around and‑‑ it's just not a lot of fun. But it is a way to make a living, and that's the way you've got to look at it.
But I enjoy having time with my kids and my wife, obviously, and the Truck Series schedule is a good fit.

Q. Does this season remind you of last season a little bit, the way that you've come on strong late in the year? Are you a believer in the concept of momentum and how that can carry over?
JOHNNY SAUTER: I do feel like we've been strong all year. I mean, if I look at the way we started off the season, finishing second, third, second, third, getting really close to winning, I feel like we're a more competitive team than we were last year. We've led three times as many laps this year as we did last year. I feel like we've shot ourselves‑‑ I've shot ourselves in a foot once or twice, and there's a couple races where we didn't execute, so I feel legitimately we should be sitting here with six, seven, maybe eight wins right now. I feel like we were a year ago, but I also know that the rest of the season is history, and it's all about tomorrow night. We just have to run well tomorrow night. Win, lose or draw, you have to put your best effort forth because it comes down to one race. We've had a great year, and hopefully we can continue that tomorrow.

Q. You've done testing with the spec motor. How do you feel like that'll perform next year, and do you think that's an option for 2018?
JOHNNY SAUTER: Yeah, I think it's a great option. I think at the end of the day, I applaud NASCAR and Ilmor and everybody that's worked on this thing, and I'm not blowing smoke here, but they've done a good job. We've done a lot of testing with it at mile‑and‑a‑half to superspeedways to short tracks now, and at the end of the day, it's going to save people money, and that's what the series needs is a cheaper way to be able to go to the racetrack. I feel good about what they've built and how they're going to go about it.

Q. What are some ways you think NASCAR could also help reduce costs besides the spec engine?
JOHNNY SAUTER: Well, that's tough. I've talked to many people, and Phil Parsons says it best. If you gave me a clean sheet of paper and said, go work on some ways to save money, it's just not that easy. There's a lot of different ways to go about it. You know, and ultimately people say, well, get away from pit crews and pit stops. Well, it is a feeder system and you're developing crew guys, as well, to try to move up the ladder. It's not just about what I think or what everybody else thinks. Short track racing, everybody says that's the way to go and that's going to save people money, but it's just not as easy as everybody thinks it is, well, just do this or just do that. Things are complicated, so for me to sit here and tell you how to save money, that would be pretty hard.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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