Tim Sauter and the Green Light Racing team will head to the fast two-mile oval at the Michigan International Raceway to participate in the Michigan 200 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race. Growing up in a family of racers makes racing on Father’s Day weekend special for Tim whose father Jim raced in the first ever NCTS event at Michigan back in 1999. Jim Sauter started 9th and finished 10th in the goracing.com 200. The patriarch of the Sauter family raced a total of 15 times at MIS during his driving career. Now, Tim is hopeful that he can duplicate his father’s finish from eight years ago.
It has already been an eventful week for Tim, after getting his first top-15 of the season in the NCTS last weekend at Texas, Tim flew home to Wisconsin where he raced against his son Travis for the first time at the Dells Raceway Park in an ASA Midwest Tour race on Tuesday evening. Travis came out on top by posting fast time and finishing a very impressive 3rd. Unfortunately Tim finished suffered mechanical issues and retired early while brother Johnny finished second, right ahead of Travis placing two Sauter’s on the podium. Jim Sauter was the grand marshal of the event. Tim’s second son Tyler finished 5th in the Big-8 Series feature a limited late-model event on Tuesday night.
“This has been a great week for our family.” Sauter said. “I’ve waited a long to time to race against my son and to do it with my father and hundreds of family and friends watching was really special. I’m proud of the whole Sauter family it was a very special night. Now it’s time to turn my attention to the trucks and give the Lester Buildings #07 a strong run at Michigan.
“We’ve been fighting a loose condition the last few races on the intermediate tracks. Doug and the guys are going to try some stuff to get the trucks to feel more stable getting into the corner this weekend. These trucks have such a different feel than the Busch cars. They really seem to plant the nose, but we’re trying to get some more feel in the rear so I can get into the corner better. Our goal has been and remains to get this Lester Buildings Chevy into the top-10,” explained Sauter. “We’re running the same truck we ran the last two races, the guys back in the Green Light shop have done a good job of getting the truck ready in just a few days each week.”
Race fans are encouraged to enter the Lester Buildings “Race Fan Building Sweepstakes” for a chance to win a Lester “Town & Country” building with an MSRP of approximately $30,000 by mailing the coupon from Tim’s autograph card or by completing an online form found at JAYSKI.com, including the site’s expanded Craftsman Truck news pages.
The Michigan 200 will be Tim’s 13th start in the NCTS and 126th career NASCAR start.
This will be the second time Tim has competed at Michigan International Speedway in a NASCAR event.
Tim’s best finish at the Michigan International Speedway was 20th on April 6th, 2002 in the NBS.
Tim is currently 19th in NCTS driver points.
This will be the sixth season Green Light Racing has competed at MIS in the NCTS. Best finish; 18th on June 17th, 2006 with Chad McCumbee driving the #08.
Tim’s thoughts on the Michigan International Speedway: “I’ve only run at Michigan once back in 2002, we tried to run the Busch race in 2005, we were in the top-15 in practice but qualifying was rained out and missed the show based on points. I think the trucks will be a lot of fun to drive on this track, it’s wide and there are several grooves you can run.”
There are 37 entries for the Michigan 200 will be televised live on SPEED TV at 2:30 eastern on June 16th and also broadcast on MRN radio. Johnny Benson is the defending race winner.
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