Heeding Bootie's Call Pays Off for Sauter

Johnny Sauter didn't have a lot of faith in his racecar heading into Saturday's Nextel Open--he brought it in case they wrecked 'cause he didn't want to ruin his car for the Coca-Cola 600.

His crew chief, Bootie Barker, felt differently.

Sauter:

I didn't think we could really do this. The car was very, very loose all weekend and we tested this car and it was very loose. Bootie told me it was going to be okay. Yeah, and I condemned it.

Bootie's setup--without a single adjustment--earned them a 2nd place finish and a spot in the Nextel All-Star Challenge in which he drove to a 6th place finish amongst NASCAR's elite.

I'm not a fan of Sauter. I fit into the category they mentioned during the broadcast that finds him to be too aggressive a driver--without the skills to back it up.

I am, however, a huge fan of the man in the wheelchair--so this little showing pleases me.

Eleven weeks into the season with a new crew chief, Sauter sits in the 33rd position, having recorded one top 10 and one DNQ.

Not exactly lighting up the scoring pylon ... but look for this team to do bigger things as the confidence between driver and crew chief grows.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

5-20-2007 @ 3:57PM

jim said...

I'm also a big "Bootie" fan. I wish that we could see more of Bootie,he is one of the best crewchiefs in the sport. He hasn't let the wheelchair slow him down at all. We hear a lot of talk about heroes, Bootie Barker is a real hero.

5-20-2007 @ 5:14PM

Sandie said...

You go "BOOTIE". Teach this driver some patience and you guys will be winning. I was happy to see your team do so well. Keep up the good work.

5-21-2007 @ 6:40AM

MeMe said...

I am also a big fan of Booty's and I was disappointed to not see hom when Sauter's team was introduced at the All Star intros. Does anyone know if the stage was wheelchair accessable or not? If it wasn't, the shame on NASCAR big time!

5-21-2007 @ 9:16AM

Heather said...

I'm with you - I'm not a fan of Sauterkraut, but I cheered like crazy for him to get in the Challenge because of Bootie. Heck, Bootie MADE the crew chief race! (He definitely needs to be on the short list of people to get an announcing job when he retires from crew chiefing.)

5-21-2007 @ 11:24PM

Sarah said...

Well I fit the too aggressive without skills mind set also. Bootie definitely had a great set up on that car. It was so good in the middle of turn 3 & 4. He was picking up so much ground on Truex. Glad Martin won, but he's lucky the race wasn't 2 laps longer. Sauter would have won the thing.

5-22-2007 @ 1:07PM

Kelly said...

WAY TO GO BOOTIE! I've been a Bootie fan since he was the crew chief of Scott Wimmer's Busch car. Glad to see he's doing so well, keep up the good work. Bootie belongs on a championship winning team.