Jim Sauter (June 1, 1943 – October 31, 2014) was an American

stock car Stock car racing is a form of automobile racing run on oval tracks and road courses measuring approximately . It originally used production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifically built for racing. It ori ...

racing driver from

Necedah, Wisconsin Necedah is a village in Juneau County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 916 at the 2010 census. The village is located within the Town of Necedah. Geography Necedah is located at (44.0262, −90.0737). According to the United S ...

. He formerly raced in all three of

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...

's national series, and is best known for having been a test driver for the

International Race of Champions International Race of Champions (IROC) was a North American auto racing competition, created by Les Richter, Roger Penske and Mike Phelps, promoted as an equivalent of an American motorsports All-Star Game. Despite its name, the IROC was primar ...

, as well as winning two championships in the Midwest-based

ARTGO The ARTGO Challenge Series was a late model short track racing series that ran in the Midwestern United States from 1975 until 1998. Many race car drivers have used the ARTGO series as a stepping stone to get into ASA, ARCA, and NASCAR. Art Fr ...

Challenge Series.

Racing career

Sauter started racing in 1964 in a modified at Raceway Park in

Savage, Minnesota Savage is a suburban city south-southwest of downtown Minneapolis in Scott County in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The city is on the south bank of the Minnesota River in a region commonly called ''South of the River,'' comprising the southern ...

. He moved up to

late model A late model car is a car which has been recently designed or manufactured, often the latest model. (An early model car or classic car is a car old enough to be of historical interest; there is no usual intermediate term.) The precise definition ...

s the following year. Sauter moved to

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. He won the first race at the LaCrosse Interstate Fairgrounds (now

LaCrosse Fairgrounds Speedway The La Crosse Fairgrounds Speedway is a semi-banked asphalt oval racetrack in West Salem, Wisconsin. The outer track is 5/8 mile and the inner track is a 1/4 mile. The speedway has progressive banking in the corners, from 5 degrees on the bottom t ...

) on July 14, 1970. His career took off after he won the North Star 500 at the

Minnesota State Fair The Minnesota State Fair is the state fair of the U.S. state of Minnesota. Also known by its slogan, "The Great Minnesota Get-Together", it is the largest state fair in the United States by average daily attendance and the second-largest state fa ...

in a

Dave Marcis David Alan Marcis (born March 1, 1941) is an American former professional stock car racing driver on the NASCAR Winston Cup circuit whose career spanned five decades. Marcis won five times over this tenure, twice at Richmond, including his final ...

Chevelle. Sauter said "The funny thing about that race was the fact that we had a barn full of various brands of tires that we wanted to use up and ended up with Goodyear on the outside and Firestone on the inside for no other reason than that. Everyone thought it must be the hot tip." Marcis called Sauter in 1978 and asked him to drive his racecar in the ARCA 200. Sauter battled Bruce Hill for the win on the last lap. They crashed, with Hill ending his race along the wall and Sauter won. Sauter raced part time in the NASCAR

Winston Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. ...

in the 1980s and 1990s, posting four top ten finishes in 76 starts. He said his biggest thrill was leading the

1982 Daytona 500 The 1982 Daytona 500, the 24th running of the event, was the first race of the 1982 NASCAR Winston Cup season. It was the first time that the Daytona 500 was the first race of the season. Bobby Allison would take the win in the #88 Gatorade-spon ...

. He was an independent (non-factory) driver with limited funds. To help pay the bills, Sauter did Goodyear tire tests along with Marcis. Sauter raced primarily in the ARTGO and ASA series. Sauter returned to Wisconsin to win the 1981 track championship at

Wisconsin International Raceway The Wisconsin International Raceway (abbreviated WIR) is an asphalt stock car racing oval and dragstrip in the Town of Buchanan, in Outagamie County, just outside Kaukauna, Wisconsin, USA. History Wisconsin International Raceway originally o ...

. Sauter won the 1981 and 1982 ARTGO championships with 16 of 20 career victories in those years (seven in 1981 and nine in 1982). Sauter won several major regional races including the 1980 National Short Track Championship at

Rockford Speedway Rockford Speedway is a 1/4 mile short track high banked asphalt oval located in Loves Park, Illinois on Illinois Route 173. Rockford Speedway, Chicagoland Speedway, and World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway are the only racetracks running unde ...

and the 1983 All American 400 at

Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway is a motorsport racetrack located at the Nashville Fairgrounds near downtown Nashville, Tennessee. The track is the second-oldest continually operating track in the United States. The track held NASCAR Grand Natio ...

. He also competed at the

Slinger Nationals The Slinger Speedway (also known as Slinger Super Speedway) is a quarter mile paved oval automobile race track with 33-degree banked corners located in Slinger, Wisconsin. The track is billed as the "World's Fastest Quarter Mile Oval." The curre ...

Snowball Derby The Snowball Derby presented by Bayou Fox Hooters is a 300-lap super late model stock car race held annually at the Five Flags Speedway, a half-mile paved oval track in Pensacola, Florida, United States. The race has been contested every year s ...

Winchester 400 The Winchester 400 is a 400-lap short-track super late model stock car race held each fall at the Winchester Speedway, a half-mile long paved oval motor racetrack in Winchester, Indiana, United States. Held annually since 1970, the Winchester 400 ...

and the World Crown.

Head of racing family

His sons Tim,

Jay A jay is a member of a number of species of medium-sized, usually colorful and noisy, passerine birds in the Crow family, Corvidae. The evolutionary relationships between the jays and the magpies are rather complex. For example, the Eurasian m ...

, and

Johnny Johnny is an English language personal name. It is usually an affectionate diminutive of the masculine given name John, but from the 16th century it has sometimes been a given name in its own right for males and, less commonly, females. Varian ...

have followed his footsteps by racing on the

circuit. His other son Jim, Jr. has raced on regional events along with his grandson

Travis Sauter Travis Sauter (born August 1, 1982) is an American professional stock car racing driver. A regular competitor in several midwestern racing series, he is second on the all-time win list with four Oktoberfest wins at the LaCrosse Fairgrounds Speedwa ...

. Sauter raced in his final NASCAR

Nationwide Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a support race on the day prior to a ...

at the

Milwaukee Mile The Milwaukee Mile is a oval race track in the central United States, located on the grounds of the Wisconsin State Fair Park in West Allis, Wisconsin, a suburb west of Milwaukee. Its grandstand and bleachers seats approximately 37,000 spectato ...

racing against Tim, Jay and Johnny. None of Sauter's seven daughters nor his son Joe are involved in racing. Sauter and rival

Joe Shear Joe Shear, Sr. (May 8, 1943 – March 6, 1998) was an American stock car racing driver from Clinton, Wisconsin. He won an estimated 350 races in his career, including four of his last five races. Fred Nielsen, Shear's car owner from 1975 to ...

are connected in another way; Shear's eponymous son became son Johnny's crew chief in the

NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is a pickup truck racing series owned and operated by the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, and is the only series in NASCAR to race production pickup truck based stock cars. The series is one of t ...

, winning Daytona and the series championship.

IROC involvement

Sauter was also well known for preparing the setups and testing

(IROC) cars with

Dick Trickle Richard Leroy Trickle (October 27, 1941 – May 16, 2013) was an American race car driver. He raced for decades around the short tracks of Wisconsin, winning many championships along the way. Trickle competed in the ASA, ARTGO, ARCA, All ...

and

Death

Sauter died following a brief illness on October 31, 2014. He was 71 years old.

Motorsports career results

Racing record

NASCAR

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. ''Italics'' – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Winston Cup Series

=Daytona 500

Busch Series

Craftsman Truck Series

ARCA Hooters SuperCar Series

(

) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. ''Italics'' – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

References

External links

*
Ultimate Racing History Profile

The Third Turn Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sauter, Jim 2014 deaths People from Necedah, Wisconsin 1943 births Racing drivers from Wisconsin NASCAR drivers American Speed Association drivers International Race of Champions drivers Richard Childress Racing drivers