Dillon Wins Truck Title As Sauter Scores Race Victory

Austin Dillon celebrates his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship with his Richard Childress Racing team at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Photo by Jerry Markland, Getty Images for NASCAR

Austin Dillon withstood a strong challenge from race winner Johnny Sauter to win the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship in Friday night’s Ford 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

NASCAR called the event with 15 laps left with Sauter in the lead and Dillon in 10th place, giving Dillon, 21, the youngest champion in series history, a six-point edge over Sauter in the final series standings.

Dillon is the first driver in series history to win the rookie of the year title in his first full season and the series championship the following year.

“I remember my first championship with Dale Earnhardt,” said team owner Richard Childress, Dillon’s grandfather. “I had the same feeling tonight watching my grandson.”

“You can’t go out of the truck series any better than this,” said Dillon, who will graduate to the Nationwide Series with RCR next year.

Denny Hamlin finished second in the No. 18 Kyle Busch Motorsports truck, followed by Kevin Harvick, Nelson Piquet Jr. and Joey Coulter, who won the 2011 rookie of the year title. Coulter is a teammate of Dillon’s at Richard Childress Racing.

Early in the race, patience was a virtue for Dillon, who steered clear of potential complications and found a comfortable place to run at or near the back of the top 10.

As the race progressed, so did Dillon, who had worked his way into the second position behind Sauter before Ross Chastain’s spin on lap 96 caused the fourth caution of the evening. The subsequent restart, however, brought more stress than Dillon ever could have expected.

Dillon fell back to 15th, fearing that he might have a problem with the right front fender on the No. 3 Chevrolet. Shortly thereafter, Sauter clinched most laps led, putting Dillon in danger of losing the championship if he lost more positions by the end of the race.

But Dillon drove back to the 10th position before rain halted the race on lap 119 of 134 with Sauter in the lead.

“The fender got bent in—I don’t know how it happened,” Dillon said. “I didn’t hit anybody on the track, but I think it happened on pit road. We got real tight once I got back there (in traffic). I think it was more on the conservative side when I was three-wide. We were three-wide in the middle, and to force a spot right there was not worth it.”

Sauter, who won his second race of the season and the fourth of his career, wasn’t aware of how far behind Dillon had fallen on the restart.

“I had no clue,” said Sauter, who won more than one event in a season in a top NASCAR touring series for the first time in his career. “Not one time tonight did they tell me where the 3 truck was. It didn’t really matter where he was running. We knew what we had to do, and that was lead the most laps and win the race.

“It’s a huge accomplishment, coming out here and doing what we needed to do. Six points is a bummer. You can think back on the season—dominating Kentucky, broke an axle, 20 to go, leading the race; ORP (Indianapolis), leading the race, flat tire; the lane violation at Texas, 22 points; six points at Pocono. You can go down the list—but everybody can. That’s just racing.”

Story by Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Homestead-Miami Speedway – Homestead, FL
Ford 200 Unofficial Results – Nov. 18, 2011

Fin Start No. Driver Points Car Laps Completed Status Earnings
1 5 13 Johnny Sauter 48 Chevrolet 119 Running $45,475
2 17 18 Denny Hamlin 0 Toyota 119 Running $23,150
3 8 2 Kevin Harvick 0 Chevrolet 119 Running $16,825
4 3 8 Nelson Piquet Jr. 40 Chevrolet 119 Running $18,800
5 10 22 Joey Coulter 39 Chevrolet 119 Running $16,525
6 2 21 Ty Dillon 38 Chevrolet 119 Running $13,000
7 7 24 Elliott Sadler 0 Chevrolet 119 Running $12,800
8 21 17 Timothy Peters 36 Toyota 119 Running $17,250
9 12 23 Jason White 35 Chevrolet 119 Running $14,650
10 4 3 Austin Dillon 34 Chevrolet 119 Running $15,775
11 23 81 David Starr 33 Toyota 119 Running $14,650
12 1 31 James Buescher 33 Chevrolet 119 Running $14,175
13 22 33 Ron Hornaday Jr. 32 Chevrolet 119 Running $16,150
14 13 29 Parker Kligerman 30 Dodge 119 Running $13,950
15 16 15 Dusty Davis 29 Toyota 119 Running $12,925
16 15 5 Todd Bodine 28 Toyota 119 Running $14,725
17 14 4 Ricky Carmichael 27 Chevrolet 119 Running $13,625
18 9 6 Justin Lofton 26 Toyota 119 Running $13,525
19 11 88 Matt Crafton 26 Chevrolet 119 Running $13,425
20 19 62 Brendan Gaughan 25 Toyota 119 Running $14,050
21 24 9 Max Papis 23 Toyota 119 Running $13,125
22 6 60 Cole Whitt 22 Chevrolet 119 Running $12,875
23 28 32 Blake Feese 21 Chevrolet 118 Running $12,750
24 30 39 Ryan Sieg 20 Chevrolet 118 Running $11,200
25 20 98 Dakoda Armstrong 20 Chevrolet 118 Running $10,150
26 27 51 German Quiroga 18 Toyota 118 Running $9,800
27 0 20 Ross Chastain 17 Chevrolet 117 Running $10,950
28 25 09 Bryan Silas 0 Ford 117 Running $9,400
29 34 57 Norm Benning 15 Chevrolet 114 Running $9,175
30 35 68 Clay Greenfield 14 Dodge 104 Handling $8,975
31 26 66 Max Gresham 13 Chevrolet 99 Fuel Pump $8,425
32 18 7 Miguel Paludo 12 Toyota 30 Engine $8,400
33 32 74 Mike Harmon 0 Chevrolet 14 Overheating $8,375
34 29 38 Dennis Setzer 0 Chevrolet 4 Ignition $8,350
35 31 10 Jennifer Jo Cobb 0 Ford 3 Engine $8,325
36 33 07 Johnny Chapman 0 Toyota 1 Clutch $8,239

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