Johnny Sauter Wins Truck Series Season-Opener

Johnny Sauter celebrates at Daytona

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Johnny Sauter won Friday night's season-opening NextEra 250 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Daytona International Speedway for his third Daytona truck series win, becoming the all-time winningest truck series driver at Daytona.

Sauter got past race leader David Gilliland with an inside power move with nine laps to go and then held off Justin Haley over the final eight laps to take the checkered flag.

Joe Nemechek came home third for his best finish since 2014. Ben Rhodes and Scott Lagasse, Jr. rounded out the top five.

Sauter's victory was an emotional moment for Sauter team and his crew chief, Joe Shear, Jr., who lost his wife Chandra in December.

"This is big. This is for Joe (Shear), obviously, losing Chandra about a month and a half ago. I couldn't be more proud of him, to overcome something like that," said Sauter. "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. Just proud of everybody, this was a team effort. All I did was hold the steering wheel."

Sauter and Gilliland had been the trucks to beat for much of Friday night's race, with the two combining to lead 69 of the 100-lap distance.

Gilliland led from the pole behind the wheel of the No. 4 Kyle Busch-owned Toyota Tundra in place of his son, Todd Gilliland, who was not eligible to run Daytona since he's still underage.

David Gilliland led from the opening laps after winning the pole

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Gilliland and Sauter traded the lead between them five times in the opening 20 laps, with Gilliland winning the opening stage and Sauter taking the green-checkered flag in the second stage.

The race had run uncharacteristically trouble free until lap 56, when Grant Enfinger got loose and came back up the racetrack, touching off a seven-truck crash.

Another multi-truck crash on lap 74 brought collected another six trucks including Matt Crafton and John Hunter Nemechek and brought out a four-minute red flag.

Back under green, Haley and Gilliland battled side-by-side for the lead before Halley was finally able to take the spot, but on lap 91 Gilliland was able to fight his way back on the outside with a push from Spencer Davis. Haley tried to come up to block but got shuffled out of position as Gilliland raced past on the outside to regain the lead.

Just one lap later, Sauter picked his way from fourth on the inside and slid up into the outside line in front of Davis, getting a good draft push to the front. Sauter powered his way past Gilliland on the inside coming off the backstretch and then up in front of Gilliland for the lead. Gilliland would try to hang on running just behind Sauter before he smacked the outside wall of the front bumper of Davis with seven laps to go.

Johnny Sauter (21) led a race-high 39 laps in Friday night's race

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Sauter led the rest of the way as the Haley and Lagasse were never able to step out of line to mount a challenge on Sauter.

Haley's runner-up finish was his career-best, and gave GMS Racing a 1-2 finish and the top two spots in the NCWTS standings.

"The outside actually happened to have a good run, and the opportunity wasn't there," said Haley. "Scott Lagasse tried to go up and block it, and I side drafted him, took the opportunity of that, and I thought maybe we were going to have Johnny there towards the end. I'm glad Johnny won with GMS and we could take home the win."

Joe Nemechek scored his second top-five Daytona finish in a row and his best finish since coming home third at Texas back in 2014, but was disappointed to see his son John Hunter Nemechek get taken out in a crash earlier in the race after cutting down a right-rear tire.

"I've been doing this a long time, and I've seen a lot of this stuff happen. Again, just trying to put myself in a position where I'm going to be there for the last two laps and not be wrecked out of the race," said Nemechek. "It's just unfortunate that quarterpanel got rolled up on (John Hunter's) right rear tire. I saw it right next to me at the time, and I was like, man, this isn't a good thing, and he just didn't get to pit road when he should have. But it's just part of it."

Sauter's victory marked the third-straight Daytona victory for GMS Racing following Sauter's win in 2016 and Kaz Grala's victory last season. It was also the second Daytona victory atop the pit box for Joe Shear, Jr., who said coming back to the racetrack and getting back to work had helped keep him going after his wife's sudden passing in the offseason.

"Getting back on the road and actually going back to work was the biggest thing that kept me going," said Shear, Jr. "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."

Grant Enfinger finished sixth, followed by Davis, Dalton Sargeant, Jordan Anderson and Justin Fontaine

RACE RESULTS

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