Final Night Race A "Wild One" for Sauter

Richmond, VA (September 7, 2001) … The scene was set. The site – the .75-mile Richmond International Raceway. The crowd – over 100,000 avid race fans. The competitors – forty-three of the most determined drivers ever to strap into a racecar. The setting – a hot, humid early September Friday night. Combine all of these ingredients and you have the recipe for the final night race on the 2002 NASCAR Busch Series schedule.

The Autolite/Fram 250 traditionally draws the largest number of competitors trying to qualify for this event as any race during the season. This year was no different as fifty-two drivers made a qualifying attempt to earn a starting position in the 250-lap event. And, Jay Sauter and the Quality Farm Stores/Morton Salt Racing Team left no doubt that they were going to be a contender this weekend as the Wisconsin-driver posted practice speeds listed among the top ten on Thursday.

When qualifying began shortly after 3 p.m. ET on Thursday, Sauter knew that he had a strong racecar. But, just how strong was the question. Sauter toured the .75-mile Richmond track in 21.683 seconds (124.522 mph) to earn the fourth starting position. It was Sauter’s second best qualifying run of the 2001 season, ranking only behind his Bud Pole at the Kentucky Speedway in June. It also marked the fifth time this season that Sauter has qualified in the top ten. In "happy hour" on Thursday evening, Sauter once again showed his strength by posting the sixth fastest speed during the session.

The race was a competitive one right from the wave of the green flag on Friday evening. Sauter would battle during the first ten laps with Ryan Newman, Greg Biffle, and Kevin Harvick and find himself in fourth position on lap fifteen. Then, two laps later, the entire race quickly changed for Sauter.

As he raced through turns one and two on lap seventeen, Sauter was tapped from the rear by the fifth-place running Greg Biffle. The contact sent the Quality Farm Stores/Morton Salt Chevrolet spinning hard into the turn two retaining wall. The car was towed into the Busch Series garage area where the Gene Nead-led Quality Farm Stores team would evaluate the damage.

The damage was extensive, but the determined crew worked feverishly to repair the car so that Sauter could reenter the race and gain as many valuable Busch Series points as possible. The repairs included damage to the rear clip, left rear frame rail, drive shaft, oil lines, fuel cell area, rear bar, and spoiler area. The crew made certain that the rear end of the car was square and the "ride heights" met NASCAR regulations before reentering the race. With the car sufficiently repaired, Sauter reentered the Autolite/Fram 250 on lap 106 after spending eighty-nine laps in the garage area.

Once Sauter reentered the race, he was turning competitive caps. Even though he was many laps down, Sauter was able to run a very competitive pace over the next seventy-eight laps. Then, on lap 184, Sauter had his second major incident of the race.

While racing in a pack of both lead lap and laps down cars exiting turn four, Sauter’s car made contact with the car of Greg Biffle. The contact sent both cars hard into the frontstretch retaining wall and caused extensive damage to both machines. Both cars were finished for the evening, and Sauter would be credited with a 39th-place finish completing 95 of the 250 laps. After Biffle physically showed his displeasure with the accident on the track, both competitors were summoned to the office of Busch Series Director John Darby after the race.

"I really hate that the incident happened that way," Sauter explained after the race. "It was just good, hard short track racing. I had a good, competitive car at the start of the race, and I ran very competitive laps after repairs were made. Gene (Crew Chief Nead) and the Quality Farm Stores/Morton Salt team did a great job just getting this car repaired. I really hate that we tore up a good racecar tonight."

The 39th-place finish dropped Sauter to 16th in the overall NASCAR Busch Series point standings after twenty-six races. Sauter trails Jamie McMurray by only 61 points for 15th.

The competitors in the Busch Series will have next weekend off before they travel to Dover Downs for the MBNA 200 on Saturday, September 22nd. Qualifying is set for Friday, September 21st at 12:10 p.m. ET. The 200-lap, 200-mile event is set for a 1 p.m. start on the 22nd. TNT will provide live television coverage with MRN handling the radio broadcast.