Johnny Sauter is back at Cordele Motor Speedway for a weekend doubleheader, but he is already thinking about the World Crown 300 in October and the bonuses up for grabs.
Sauter, who is a former ASA and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion, finished second in last year’s World Crown 300. This weekend, he is teamed up with Richie Wauters and is excited to be back at Cordele.
“I raced here when I lived in North Carolina, probably 2013 or so,” Sauter told Short Track Scene. “For whatever reason, I just came down here for Speed Fest one year and ran really strong, so I had fast time or whatever, so I always kind of liked this racetrack. Richie obviously had an opening and he’s like, ‘hey, you want to go race’ and I was like ‘hell yeah, let’s go.’ So that’s kind of how this went.
“I get to fill in when there’s an opportunity, so it’s fun.”
Along with the up to $1,750 up for grabs on Friday and Saturday, Sauter is one of the drivers who would become eligible to race for $50,000-to-win in the World Crown 300 on October 29.
READ MORE » Reminder that running Cordele Superfest races increase World Crown 300 payouts
“I think that’s maybe one of the reasons we’re here,” Sauter said. “Last year, we ran the World Crown and ran real strong, ended up second, so obviously, different tire, but that’s kind of what this is, to see where we rank at this point. I’m hoping that’s what we’re doing.”
Last year’s World Crown 300 was sanctioned by UARA and run on American Racer tires. This year, the October highlight, sanctioned in part by the ASA Southern Super Series, will run on Hoosier tires.
So, how will that affect Sauter?
“You know, variety is good,” Sauter remarked. “I mean, at the end of the day, we’re gonna race, no matter what tire we’re on, in my humble opinion. I hear a lot of scuffle about this tire, that tire, whatever, whatever, but at the end of the day, it’s the same for everybody. So just make sure we got places to race and got tires on the cars and people will race.”
Sauter also had praise for the Noland family and the upgrades made to the track during the offseason and earlier this year.
“I think they’ve done a wonderful job with everything,” Sauter explained. “Just looking up in the grandstands, I think they built some suites up there, and then I look at this fence they built around here, that’s really nice. I think it’s a great place. It’s just a fun racetrack and it’s kind of racy. It’s two grooves. I just enjoy coming here.”
Friday and Saturday’s Super Fest races can be seen on RacingAmerica.TV.
Short Track Scene’s Daniel Vining contributed to this report.
