Johnny Sauter wins NASCAR Truck race at Charlotte

CONCORD, N.C. – Johnny Sauter raced to his third NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory of the season Friday night, winning for the first time in his career at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Sauter led a restart with 10 to go, quickly built a large lead and cruised to his 20th career victory. Brett Moffitt and Justin Haley were battling for second, but made contact that nearly sent Haley into the wall.

“We won at Charlotte!” Sauter said on the radio. “This is the biggest of my life.”

Sauter was the pole-setter based on owner points after the qualifying session was canceled due to rain. He led 71 of the 134 laps.

“This is a tough place,” Sauter said. “Everyone wants to win here. I never thought I’d win here. To win this race is just super special. I never thought 40 (years old) would be so good.

“This is the biggest race of my career, and I’ve won a lot of big races. We kept making adjustments on the truck all night and made it better and better.”

Sauter increased his series lead to 59 points over second-place Noah Gragson, who finished the race in eighth.

Cup Series star Kyle Busch, who was slowed by a couple of pit-road penalties, finished second, 1.340 seconds back. Kyle Busch Motorsports teammate Brandon Jones was third, getting passed with a lap remaining. Moffitt and Ben Rhodes rounded out the top five.

Moffitt picked up his first career stage win, and John Hunter Nemechek took the second stage.

Adds quotes, details. With AP Photos.

AP-WF-05-19-18 0345GMT