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NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES: NEXTERA ENERGY RESOURCES 250February 16, 2018Spencer GallagherJohnny SauterJoe Shear, Jr.Dayton Beach, Florida THE MODERATOR: We are joined by race winner Johnny Sauter, driver of the No.21 Allegiant Airlines Chevrolet for GMS Racing. We have crew chief Joe Shear Jr., and we have Spencer Gallagher with GMS Racing. Some things to note about tonight's race: This is the third victory and fifth top‑10 finish in 10 races at Daytona for Johnny Sauter, who now leads the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in wins at Daytona. This is the third consecutive win at Daytona for GMS Racing. Two of those wins belonging to Johnny Sauter, in 2016 and this year, and then last year's thrilling race with Kaz Grala. Now GMS Racing is tied with Bobby Hamilton Racing for the series' most wins here at Daytona International Speedway. Johnny, how does that all sound? JOHNNY SAUTER: I like it. I like it a lot. Man, what a truck tonight. That Allegiant Chevrolet was just‑‑ man, yesterday in practice, you obviously try to feel things out. You don't know what to expect coming down here with a new engine package, and unfortunately we only got in a pack of I think 10 or 12 trucks. You work the draft as best you can, but you know it's going to be a little different when you get 30 of us or 32 of us out there running. Man, we qualified well, tried to keep track position all night, came from 10th, I think, a couple different times to get to the front, and I just felt so calm today. I just had all the faith in the world in the truck. It was fast. Proud of my teammates, too. Justin Haley did a great job, especially there at the end. Couldn't be more proud of him. I felt like as an organization we executed perfectly tonight with all of our teammates, Friesen, Sargeant and Cody. That's fun. When you can do that, execute like that, everybody work together and ultimately end up first and second and winning the race, that's pretty awesome. Hats off to my guys, just the greatest group of guys I've ever been around, and to be in Victory Lane, just pumped up and got a long way to go to try to get another championship. THE MODERATOR: Joe, this team brings a lot of championship swagger to the racetrack week in and week out, but particularly here at Daytona International Speedway. What is really the secret to the success of this team over the past couple years here? JOE SHEAR JR.: Well, it's definitely people around us, people at home, people that build these trucks. GMS has got a formula for building superspeedway trucks, and I'm fortunate just to be working with them. You know, we worked hard over the winter. We did our usual deal. We come down here, executed, worked with all our teammates, and we had a game plan here to get a GMS truck in Victory Lane, and we executed and did that. THE MODERATOR: Spencer, how confident were you going into tonight that you were going to have a truck that was going to contend once again for a win? SPENCER GALLAGHER: You know, Daytona and Talladega are never words that you usually put in the same sentence as confidence, but I will say we had two things coming into this race: We had four incredible GMS trucks with four incredible drivers driving them, and we had ourselves a plan. We sat down during the off‑season and really started pouring through the history of these races and how they tend to play out, and we got ourselves a strategy of how we were going to approach it and attack it, and I think between the quality of the equipment we've brought here over the years, the quality of the drivers we've got going, and a good piece of planning and execution, it really all came together. I was confident coming in here, but anything can happen. It's Daytona. But man, I can't tell you how elated I was to see Johnny bringing it home again for GMS Racing and making himself the most all‑time truck wins at Daytona. Congratulations, Johnny. That was amazing. JOHNNY SAUTER: Thanks. Q. The pass you made on Gilliland with eight or nine laps to go, can you walk us through what you saw there and kind of your process? I think it was maybe on the backstretch. JOHNNY SAUTER: Well, if you ask Joe, I was complaining on the radio about where we were lining up on the restart. I didn't want to be on the bottom. I felt like the top groove was the preferred groove, and we restarted fifth. It's funny because I can honestly sit here and tell you that that stuff happened so fast that I can't even honestly remember how it all worked out. I remember getting to the top. I remember getting a big push. And at the time, you're switching lanes and doing all that kind of stuff. You're trying to be cognizant of where your teammates are. I looked in the mirror as I had that run towards the 4 truck, and I was like, that's not a teammate behind me, I'm going to pull down and try to go after it and just get to the bottom, even though I didn't want the bottom. But we were able to clear him, which the 4 truck I thought was pretty stout. And I couldn't believe that we were able to pull down along the bottom of him on the backstretch and clear him, and the rest is history. It was going to be an interesting last couple of laps before they started running each other into the fence. I was running both lanes trying to rob air from both lanes to try to keep myself up front, which we had really good success doing that earlier in the race. Just got a big push and had big momentum, and the rest is history. Q. You ran the Ilmor NT1 spec engine here by yourself last year, and then this year the majority of the field had that engine. A lot of drivers were saying that the short‑run speed kind of gave them an advantage. Do you feel that same way? JOHNNY SAUTER: I mean, I was really happy with it, obviously. You know, right off the truck yesterday, we had really good speed. A lot of the field did. I applaud NASCAR and the decision to go down that road. I really do think that was a great move to ultimately make the series stronger, especially in the long haul. Maybe not year one so much, but year two it's definitely going to save these folks over here a lot of money. I think it's a great move, and the thing ran awesome tonight. I learned a lot, and I actually felt like‑‑ let's be honest, when you have a Hendrick engine, last year, they got awesome stuff. So you feel like that was maybe part of your program that made it so strong, and then we get here, and I was like, geez, I think this thing is better with this thing. I felt like it made my truck better, and I was able to execute and make moves that maybe I couldn't have made in the past. Kudos, thumbs up. That thing ran great. Q. Joe, I'm so sorry for your loss. After what you've gone through and I'm sure still are going through, was there ever any question in your mind that you would want to get back on the road and come back and keep working this year? JOE SHEAR JR.: Yeah, exactly. Getting back on the road and actually going back to work was the biggest thing that kept me going. It's sad, and I think about her all the time. But working and racing is my passion. So I just got back to it and tried to do the best I could, but I had many friends and family that worked with me and that supported me and kept me sane. Thank you. Q. Joe, I think this will probably be the oldest podium, oldest average finish for a podium for the weekend, and everybody with talking about the youth movement, but would you trade Johnny and his experience and having a veteran behind the wheel for anything else? JOE SHEAR JR.: No. I mean, me and Johnny go back so much, and we know each other inside and out. And you know, the Shear family and the Sauter family have been friends for years, so this is where we always end up together. No, I would never do it. Q. Johnny, as the last five or six laps are winding down there, your teammate is in third, and you had a car that's not a teammate in second. In hindsight, was that actually a better development because the third‑place car could kind of dictate a little bit about the second‑place car was doing? JOHNNY SAUTER: Sure, and I alluded to it a little bit earlier, some of the stuff that I played around with yesterday in the draft was managing the guys behind me. I felt like if you let them get more than a truck length back, they were going to get a run or make a surge to you, but I definitely think Haley did an awesome job not helping the 20 truck get in a position where he could make a run on us. But I also knew yesterday that when I did get to the lead of the pack‑‑ I started in the back of the pack and drove to the front of the pack in like five laps, and I was like‑‑ and then when I did get to the lead, they were having a really hard time getting to me. Nobody could really get to my bumper, so I thought, I'm in a really good spot here. Number one, people are having a hard time getting to us; number two, I've got a teammate that's ultimately not going to help the 20, and I think if the 20 did peek out, the 24 was in a perfect position to fill the hole and ultimately finish second like he did. Yeah, I mean, it was a comforting feeling, there's no doubt. But everything just worked out tonight. Q. Last year you guys come here, you're coming off the high of a championship, you're kind of perked up. This year you're coming off a narrow defeat. Did it feel kind of important to bounce back like that, and what does that do for you and yourself‑esteem moving forward? JOHNNY SAUTER: Yeah, I mean, one point, one position last year. That close to a championship, and to win two of the last four races in the playoff deal and then go to Homestead and‑‑ that's a tough pill to swallow, honestly. Once you win a championship, you have that taste, and it's a taste that you want to keep. So yeah, I feel pumped up. I feel better than ever, especially with our program. I can speak for the 21 team especially. Exact same group of guys we had a year ago, and it's a good group of guys, a lot of experience. So having said that, I feel like this year we're going to continue to do what we've been doing, and we're winning races, and I would be disappointed if we're not in the finale at Homestead and making a run for the championship. But winning early, I think, helps you towards the middle stretch to ultimately solidify and work on packages that maybe you normally wouldn't work on that are going to help us at Homestead. At least that's what Beam told me today in the hauler. He said, just win this thing so we can start working on the Chase. Yeah, it's a shot in the arm for the whole organization, myself, Joe, obviously all the guys, and keeps everybody pumped up, and that's what you've got to do. THE MODERATOR: Gentlemen, congratulations on the triumph, and good luck next week in Atlanta. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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