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NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES MEDIA CONFERENCE

November 15, 2018

Johnny Sauter

Q. You're the only one of the Championship 4 to have won one of these big trophies before. Does that make you the favorite to win another one?
JOHNNY SAUTER: I don't know if it makes you a favorite, honestly. You know, people say all the time, does experience matter. I think it does a little bit, but anymore with technology and all the things that these kids have at their disposal as far as simulators and all that, I don't know, I don't consider myself a favorite at all. I think you've got to go in there and run as best you can and see where it shakes out at the end of the night.

Q. This has been the best season of your career. Would not winning the championship Friday night constitute a disappointment?
JOHNNY SAUTER: Yeah, for sure. No, I think you come this far and you have the season that we've had, and to not be able to cap it off with a championship is definitely a disappointment, and I think I speak for GMS and everybody when I say that, that the goal is to win the championship. Whether or not we get it is a different story. But that's the goal.

Q. You say you're not the favorite. Who do you think is your biggest threat Friday?
JOHNNY SAUTER: I think all of them. Anything can happen. I've been racing long enough to know that you never count anybody out. Having said that, anybody can get it right. It's one race. If somebody gets the setup just right, that's the way it goes, you know.
Having said that, I look at everybody as a threat because anything can happen. I've been racing too long.

Q. How has the engine issue affected the series as a whole?
JOHNNY SAUTER: Well, I think it's been good. You know, I speak for the owners and all that. I think it's been A+, and they've ran good all year and been very reliable. I think they did a great job. They did their homework, and I think moving forward, it's going to save the team owners a lot of money.

Q. Was Zipadelli trying to get in your head, and how hard was it not to get suckered in, the back and forth with the engine stuff?
JOHNNY SAUTER: I don't‑‑

Q. There were some things said last week and he had said some things back.
JOHNNY SAUTER: Oh, I don't have a clue. I don't Twitter or none of that. Is that where he was saying it?

Q. No, in the press conference after you guys got‑‑
JOHNNY SAUTER: Oh, I don't have a clue.

Q. That's the best way not to get sucked in.
JOHNNY SAUTER: Yeah, I don't ever watch any of that stuff, so I don't know what he was saying, so you caught me off guard.

Q. But is there solace knowing that all four championship guys are going to be using kind of an even playing field?
JOHNNY SAUTER: Yeah, and I don't know that the built motor was an advantage except for on a restart, in a late‑race restart, you know, at certain racetracks. I'm not saying that's why they've been fast or anything like that. They've obviously done a great job. But yeah, I mean, everybody has the same engine here, so that's good. You know, just put our best effort forth and see what happens.

Q. Pit road can be so pivotal in these races obviously, much more than in a regular season race. Do you give yourself an extra tolerance coming down pit road? How do you treat that?
JOHNNY SAUTER: Well, I think in a big race like this, whatever they tell you pit road speed is, you moderate it yourself as a driver and err on the side of caution, at least that's what I'm going to do.

Q. More so than a usual race?
JOHNNY SAUTER: Yeah, maybe a little bit more. You'd hate to have your whole season go up in smoke because you did something foolish. Obviously a green flag pit stop you don't want to do that. Under caution, it's a little easier to get away with that stuff. But in the event that there's a green flag pit stop, you're still going to have to give it everything you've got.

Q. There's a very elite group that's won multiple championships in any NASCAR series but this one in particular. You've got one; where do you feel like that would put you if you could get a second one?
JOHNNY SAUTER: I don't know. I mean, I don't really worry about where it puts me. I just want to win the championship. You know, at the end of the day, that's what this is all about is trying to win races and win a championship at the end of the year. Where that ranks us or puts us, I have no clue. Honestly, it doesn't really matter to me. I just know that if we can pull it off, we have two championships, and that's pretty awesome.

Q. Would it be more special than the first?
JOHNNY SAUTER: Well, I don't know if it would be more special because the first one is always pretty awesome. But I do think that there's an opportunity there to enjoy it a little bit more, just because the first one you're caught up in everything that's going on around you, and I feel like if you can get a second one, you'd say, I'm going to take a little bit more time with this and enjoy it myself.
Not that I didn't enjoy the first one, but I feel like there's a little more time to soak it in.

Q. You've been there before, you were here last year and you did it. How does that help you, do you think, this year?
JOHNNY SAUTER: Well, I don't know. I mean, every year it's different because technology changes. I look at it from the complete probably a different perspective than a lot of people. I look at it as setups and tires and how that stuff evolves and how that changes your race or how you race. You know, having said that, I was in Charlotte this week going over notes and tracks that I felt like we were strong that compare to this place, and experience I don't even really give that too much credit because I feel like with simulators and all that other stuff nowadays and people can watch anything they want to watch on their phones, it speeds up the curve of maybe an inexperienced guy quite a bit. It's nice to have experience, don't get me wrong, but I look at it from a completely different standpoint.

Q. And we saw it last year; the winner of the championship didn't necessarily win the race. Are you thinking that as a driver just where are the other three drivers, or do you solely focus on what's in front of you?
JOHNNY SAUTER: Well, it depends if they're in front of you. You know, because obviously you can see them or it changes your perspective a little bit. You know, yeah, I mean, you kind of pay attention to who's doing what, but a couple years ago when we won this year, I just ran my race. We qualified 19th and just picked them off methodically. At the end of the day, you're going to do the best you can and try to get as much ground as you can. It's going to work out or it's not.

Q. Can championships be won and lost during practice, or for the most part do you unload what you've got and it's a matter of validation?
JOHNNY SAUTER: No, I think you can definitely‑‑ if you get going down the wrong road in practice as far as adjustments and working on your chassis, you can lose a championship doing that. A lot of times when you unload, very rarely is it perfect, so there's always things you're changing, shocks, springs, whatever. Yeah, I think you've got to execute all day long.

Q. In your time with GMS, you guys have historically‑‑ your track record the last few races of the season has been excellent. Is there something to that in terms of how you guys respond to the pressure? Is some of it the tracks, or is it just rising to the occasion in terms of knowing that this is your time to shine?
JOHNNY SAUTER: I think it's luck. Honestly, I think that‑‑ I do think there's a certain element of pushing a little harder, but I also know that an organization like GMS with the people we have in place, we tend to save our best pieces for last, so to speak. Having said that, you wouldn't know that over the last two races because we've been awful, but in the years prior to this, we've been really, really strong. You know, it's a great organization, and you know, they just keep working hard and building new stuff. Like I was talking about before with technology and all that, you kind of constantly keep evolving and trying to get that leg up on the competition, and I think that's where GMS has done a great job.

Q. Do you like some of the pressure of that type of situation? Do you personally like getting into this kind of a format and having everything on the line? Do you kind of thrive on that?
JOHNNY SAUTER: No, I've liked it, obviously. I feel like you race hard, and that's what you always do. You know, it is a pressure situation for sure, and it depends, if you're leading the points like we are, you kind of wish it was the old system. But it's the same for everybody, so we've just got to go there and do our best, and whatever is going to happen is going to happen.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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