Early career

After graduating high school in 1996, Sauter began competing in various amateur series throughout Wisconsin and the Midwest. By the end of 1997, Sauter had collected three wins in the Sportsman Division at Dells Raceway Park and a win in the Late Model Division at the La Crosse Fairgrounds Speedway. Sauter then joined the American Speed Association Series in 1998. By 2001, he was the ASA Series Champion.

NASCAR

2001-2005

In 2001, following Sauter's ASA Championship, Richard Childress Racing invited him to drive the #21 Rockwell Automation-sponsored Chevrolet in five Busch Series races. Sauter finished in the Top 15 in three of his five Busch starts, including a fifth-place finish in the AutoLite Fram 250 at Richmond, which was his first start in the series.

In 2002, Childress hired Sauter to run a full Busch Series schedule in the #2 AC Delco-sponsored Chevrolet. He notched five Top 10 finishes, including his first Busch Series win in the Tropicana Twister 300 at the Chicagoland Speedway, despite skipping one race. Sauter was involved in one of the biggest accidents in NASCAR history in the Aaron's 312 at Talladega, where 33 of 43 cars were involved, and 15 of them were taken out of the race. In 2003, Sauter drove for Childress Racing and the Curb Agajanian Performance Group in the Busch Series, piloting the #21 PayDay-sponsored Chevrolet and the #43 Channellock/Curb Records-sponsored Chevrolet. He captured fourteen top-10 finishes in 34 Busch Series starts, including a win at Richmond in the #43. Sauter finished the 2003 season 8th in the driver standings and, together with Kevin Harvick, led the #21 car to the owners' points championship.

During the 2003 season, Sauter also made his Winston Cup debut, driving the #4 Kodak Easy Share-sponsored Pontiac Grand Prix for five races with Morgan-McClure Motorsports. His best start in five races was a 23rd at Loudon, and he also missed a race at Kansas Speedway. He also ran three races in the Craftsman Truck Series for Fasscore Motorsports, and had a tenth-place run at Richmond. Childress hired Sauter to drive the #30 AOL-sponsored Chevrolet in Winston Cup full-time in 2004. After thirteen races, he was replaced by Dave Blaney, but later attempted two races in Childress' #33 car, but did not qualify for either of them. Towards the end of the season, he began running the #09 Miccosukee Gaming & Resorts-sponsored Dodge Intrepid for Phoenix Racing, and had a best finish of 29th. He also ran a full Busch schedule with Brewco Motorsports that season, driving the #27 Kleenex-sponsored Pontiac to an eighteenth-place points finish.

Sauter joined Phoenix full-time in 2005, with Yellow Transportation becoming the team's primary sponsor. He had eleven top-ten finishes and a win at his home track at Milwaukee, and improved his position in points to twelfth for the year. He and Phoenix also competed in ten Cup races, posting a ninth-place finish at Phoenix International Raceway.

2006-present

After the 2005 season, Sauter and Yellow moved to the #00 Haas CNC Racing Chevrolet for the next season. He had one pole and nine top-tens, and tied his best finish of eighth in series points. He made one Cup start that season that year at the Coca-Cola 600, and finished 24th. He moved up to a new Cup team for a new team for Haas, the #70, in 2007. Driving with sponsorships from Yellow, Best Buy, Haas Automation, and Radioactive Energy Drink, Sauter had two Top 10's but finished 30th in points. He competed in six Busch races that year with Jay Robinson Racing, but could not finish higher than 23rd.

Sauter was dropped from the #70 after the season, and rejoined Phoenix Racing for the 2008 season, where he was released after five races. He has since spent time as a substitute driver for many teams, starting at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where he was unable to qualify the #21 McKee Foods-sponsored Ford. He soon returned to Haas to drive several races in their #70, with a best finish of 20th, as well as attempting several races for John Carter. After one-off starts for Fitz Motorsports and Bob Schact in the Nationwide Series, he drove for Curb Agajanian Performance Group and Derrike Cope Racing, but did not complete a race for either team. He also drove one Truck race at Martinsville for SS-Green Light Racing. Sauter returned to the trucks in 2009, replacing Shelby Howard in the #13 FunSand-sponsored truck for ThorSport Racing in association with Cary Agajanian. Sauter won his first ever Truck Series race at the Las Vegas, holding off teammate Matt Crafton for the win. Sauter beat Tayler Malsam in the NASCAR Rookie of the Year standings. For 2010, Sauter attempted the #35 Chevy for Tommy Baldwin Racing for 3 races and took over the #36 ride after Phoenix with little success. He also drove some late-season races for Prism Motorsports in the #66 Toyota. He picked up his second career truck win in 2010 at Kansas after a late race collision and save with Ron Hornaday, Jr..

Sauter grabbed his 3rd career victory at Martinsville in 2011, battling Kyle Busch on the last lap. Despite winning the season-finale at the Ford 200, he lost the championship to Austin Dillon by 6 points.

He would win the 2012 WinStar World Casino 400K with a ThorSport Racing 1-2 finish with Matt Crafton.

In 2013, Sauter started the season with his first win at Daytona International Speedway in the NextEra Energy Resources 250. It was also Toyota's 100th Camping World Truck Series win. On April 6, Sauter won the Kroger 250 at Martinsville Speedway. It was only the second time in Truck Series history that someone has won back-to-back season opening wins since Mark Martin did it in 2006.

While competing full-time in the Truck Series, Sauter raced several times in his home state of Wisconsin in 2015. He appeared at the Slinger Nationals at Slinger Super Speedway, won an ARCA Midwest Tour race at Madison International Speedway, the Larry Detjens Memorial Race at State Park Speedway, and set a new Super Late Model track record at an ARCA Midwest Tour race at Wisconsin International Raceway.

On October 15, 2015, Sauter announced that he would be joining GMS Racing for 2016. Sauter won in his debut with GMS at Daytona.

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

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

Sprint Cup Series

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	NSCC	Pts
2003	Morgan-McClure Motorsports	4	Pontiac	DAY	CAR	LVS	ATL	DAR	BRI	TEX	TAL	MAR	CAL	RCH	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	SON	DAY	CHI	NHA	POC	IND	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	NHA	DOV	TAL	KAN	CLT	MAR	ATL	PHO	CAR	HOM	51st	356
2004	Richard Childress Racing	30	Chevy	DAY	CAR	LVS	ATL	DAR	BRI	TEX	MAR	TAL	CAL	RCH	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	SON	DAY	CHI	NHA	POC	IND	GLN	MCH	BRI	CAL												36th	1430
		33																											RCH	NHA	DOV	TAL	KAN
	Phoenix Racing	09	Chevy																															CLT	MAR	ATL	PHO	DAR	HOM
2005				DAY	CAL	LVS	ATL	BRI	MAR	TEX	PHO	TAL	DAR	RCH	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	SON	DAY	CHI	NHA	POC	IND	GLN	MCH	BRI	CAL	RCH	NHA	DOV	TAL	KAN	CLT	MAR	ATL	TEX	PHO	HOM	43rd	722
2006	Haas CNC Racing	70	Chevy	DAY	CAL	LVS	ATL	BRI	MAR	TEX	PHO	TAL	RCH	DAR	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	SON	DAY	CHI	NHA	POC	IND	GLN	MCH	BRI	CAL	RCH	NHA	DOV	KAN	TAL	CLT	MAR	ATL	TEX	PHO	HOM	77th	0
2007				DAY	CAL	LVS	ATL	BRI	MAR	TEX	PHO	TAL	RCH	DAR	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	SON	NHA	DAY	CHI	IND	POC	GLN	MCH	BRI	CAL	RCH	NHA	DOV	KAN	TAL	CLT	MAR	ATL	TEX	PHO	HOM	30th	2875
2008	Wood Brothers Racing	21	Ford	DAY	CAL	LVS	ATL	BRI	MAR	TEX																														53rd	387
	Haas CNC Racing	70	Chevy								PHO	TAL	RCH	DAR	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	SON	NHA	DAY								RCH	NHA								PHO	HOM
	John Carter Racing	08	Dodge																			CHI	IND	POC	GLN	MCH	BRI	CAL			DOV	KAN	TAL	CLT	MAR	ATL	TEX
2010	Tommy Baldwin Racing	35	Chevy	DAY	CAL	LVS	ATL	BRI	MAR	PHO																														60th	154
		36									TEX	TAL	RCH	DAR	DOV	CLT	POC	MCH	SON	NHA	DAY	CHI	IND	POC	GLN	MCH	BRI	ATL	RCH
	Prism Motorsports	66	Toyota																											NHA	DOV	KAN	CAL		MAR	TAL	TEX	PHO	HOM
	R3 Motorsports	23	Toyota																															CLT
2011	Robby Gordon Motorsports	7	Dodge	DAY	PHO	LVS	BRI	CAL	MAR	TEX	TAL	RCH	DAR	DOV	CLT	KAN	POC	MCH	SON	DAY	KEN	NHA	IND	POC	GLN	MCH	BRI	ATL	RCH	CHI	NHA	DOV	KAN	CLT	TAL	MAR	TEX	PHO	HOM	73rd	01
2013	Phil Parsons Racing	98	Ford	DAY	PHO	LVS	BRI	CAL	MAR	TEX	KAN	RCH	TAL	DAR	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	SON	KEN	DAY	NHA	IND	POC	GLN	MCH	BRI	ATL	RCH	CHI	NHA	DOV	KAN	CLT	TAL	MAR	TEX	PHO	HOM	77th	01
2014	BK Racing	93	Toyota	DAY	PHO	LVS	BRI	CAL	MAR	TEX	DAR	RCH	TAL	KAN	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	SON	KEN	DAY	NHA	IND	POC	GLN	MCH	BRI	ATL	RCH	CHI	NHA	DOV	KAN	CLT	TAL	MAR	TEX	PHO	HOM	73rd	01
2015		83		DAY	ATL	LVS	PHO	CAL	MAR	TEX	BRI	RCH	TAL	KAN	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	SON	DAY	KEN	NHA	IND	POC	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	CHI	NHA	DOV	CLT	KAN	TAL	MAR	TEX	PHO	HOM	61st	01

Daytona 500

Year	Team	Manufacturer	Start	Finish
2004	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	21	26
2005	Phoenix Racing	Chevrolet	DNQ
2007	Haas CNC Racing	Chevrolet	41	16
2015	BK Racing	Toyota	36	19

Nationwide Series

NASCAR Nationwide Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	NNSC	Pts
2001	Richard Childress Racing	21	Chevy	DAY	CAR	LVS	ATL	DAR	BRI	TEX	NSH	TAL	CAL	RCH	NHA	NZH	CLT	DOV	KEN	MLW	GLN	CHI	GTY	PPR	IRP	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	KAN	CLT	MEM	PHO	CAR	HOM			55th	545
2002		2		DAY	CAR	LVS	DAR	BRI	TEX	NSH	TAL	CAL	RCH	NHA	NZH	CLT	DOV	NSH	KEN	MLW	DAY	CHI	GTY	PPR	IRP	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	KAN	CLT	MEM	ATL	CAR	PHO	HOM		15th	3538
2003	Curb Racing	43	Chevy	DAY		LVS		BRI				CAL	RCH			CLT							NHA			MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV		CLT		ATL	PHO	CAR			8th	4098
			Dodge		CAR
	Richard Childress Racing	21	Chevy				DAR		TEX	TAL	NSH			GTY	NZH		DOV	NSH	KEN	MLW	DAY	CHI		PPR	IRP						KAN		MEM
		29																																			HOM
2004	Brewco Motorsports	27	Pontiac	DAY	CAR	LVS	DAR		TEX	NSH		CAL	GTY	RCH	NZH			NSH			DAY				IRP		BRI						MEM		PHO				18th	3411
			Chevy					BRI			TAL					CLT	DOV		KEN	MLW		CHI	NHA	PPR		MCH		CAL	RCH	DOV	KAN	CLT		ATL		DAR	HOM
2005	Phoenix Racing	1	Dodge	DAY	CAL		LVS	ATL	NSH	BRI	TEX	PHO	TAL	DAR	RCH	CLT	DOV	NSH	KEN	MLW	DAY	CHI	NHA	PPR	GTY	IRP	GLN	MCH	BRI	CAL	RCH	DOV	KAN	CLT	MEM	TEX	PHO	HOM	12th	3695
		28				MXC
2006	Haas CNC Racing	00	Chevy	DAY	CAL	MXC	LVS	ATL	BRI	TEX	NSH	PHO	TAL	RCH	DAR	CLT	DOV	NSH	KEN	MLW	DAY	CHI	NHA	MAR	GTY	IRP	GLN	MCH	BRI	CAL	RCH	DOV	KAN	CLT	MEM	TEX	PHO	HOM	8th	3794
2007	Jay Robinson Racing	28	Chevy	DAY	CAL	MXC	LVS	ATL	BRI		TEX	PHO	TAL	RCH	DAR	CLT	DOV	NSH	KEN	MLW	NHA	DAY	CHI	GTY	IRP	CGV	GLN	MCH		CAL	RCH	DOV	KAN	CLT	MEM	TEX	PHO	HOM	66th	587
	Brewco Motorsports	37	Ford							NSH
		27																											BRI
2008	Phoenix Racing	1	Chevy	DAY	CAL	LVS	ATL	BRI	NSH	TEX	PHO	MXC																											54th	752
	Bob Schacht Motorsports	75	Chevy										TAL
	Fitz Motorsports	22	Dodge											RCH	DAR	CLT	DOV	NSH	KEN	MLW	NHA	DAY	CHI	GTY	IRP	CGV	GLN
	Curb-Agajanian Performance Group	98	Chevy																									MCH	BRI
	Derrike Cope Racing	78	Dodge																											CAL	RCH	DOV	KAN	CLT	MEM	TEX	PHO	HOM
2009	Joe Gibbs Racing	18	Toyota	DAY	CAL	LVS	BRI	TEX	NSH	PHO	TAL	RCH	DAR	CLT	DOV	NSH	KEN	MLW	NHA	DAY	CHI	GTY	IRP	IOW	GLN	MCH	BRI	CGV	ATL	RCH	DOV	KAN	CAL	CLT	MEM	TEX	PHO	HOM	NA	-
2010	Blanton Motorsports	48	Chevy	DAY	CAL	LVS	BRI																																75th	419
	Curb Racing	27	Ford					NSH															IRP	IOW	GLN	MCH	BRI	CGV	ATL	RCH	DOV	KAN	CAL	CLT	GTY	TEX	PHO	HOM
	R3 Motorsports	23	Chevy						PHO	TEX	TAL	RCH	DAR	DOV	CLT	NSH	KEN	ROA	NHA	DAY	CHI
	Front Row Motorsports	36	Chevy																			GTY
2012	NEMCO Motorsports	97	Toyota	DAY	PHO	LVS	BRI	CAL	TEX	RCH	TAL	DAR	IOW	CLT	DOV	MCH	ROA	KEN	DAY	NHA	CHI	IND	IOW	GLN	CGV	BRI	ATL	RCH	CHI	KEN	DOV	CLT	KAN	TEX	PHO	HOM			143rd	01
2014	Hattori Racing Enterprises	80	Toyota	DAY	PHO	LVS	BRI	CAL	TEX	DAR	RCH	TAL	IOW	CLT	DOV	MCH	ROA	KEN	DAY	NHA	CHI	IND	IOW	GLN	MOH	BRI	ATL	RCH	CHI	KEN	DOV	KAN	CLT	TEX	PHO	HOM			102nd	01

Camping World Truck Series

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	NCWTC	Pts
2003	Fasscore Motorsports	9	Ford	DAY	DAR	MMR	MAR	CLT	DOV	TEX	MEM	MLW	KAN	KEN	GTW	MCH	IRP	NSH	BRI	RCH	NHA	CAL	LVS	SBO	TEX	MAR	PHO	HOM	69th	286
2004	Curb-Agajanian Performance Group	43	Chevy	DAY	ATL	MAR	MFD	CLT	DOV	TEX	MEM	MLW	KAN	KEN	GTW	MCH	IRP	NSH	BRI	RCH	NHA	LVS	CAL	TEX	MAR	PHO	DAR	HOM	54th	310
2005	Billy Ballew Motorsports	15	Chevy	DAY	CAL	ATL	MAR	GTY	MFD	CLT	DOV	TEX	MCH	MLW	KAN	KEN	MEM												59th	288
	Curb Racing	43	Chevy															IRP	NSH	BRI	RCH	NHA	LVS	MAR	ATL	TEX	PHO
	ThorSport Racing	13	Chevy																									HOM
2006	Sutton Motorsports	02	Chevy	DAY	CAL	ATL	MAR	GTY	CLT	MFD	DOV	TEX	MCH																57th	224
	Billy Ballew Motorsports	51	Chevy											MLW	KAN	KEN	MEM	IRP	NSH	BRI	NHA	LVS	TAL	MAR	ATL	TEX	PHO	HOM
2008	SS-Green Light Racing	07	Chevy	DAY	CAL	ATL	MAR	KAN	CLT	MFD	DOV	TEX	MCH	MLW	MEM	KEN	IRP	NSH	BRI	GTW	NHA	LVS	TAL	MAR	ATL	TEX	PHO	HOM	87th	94
2009	ThorSport Racing	13	Chevy	DAY	CAL	ATL	MAR	KAN	CLT	DOV	TEX	MCH	MLW	MEM	KEN	IRP	NSH	BRI	CHI	IOW	GTW	NHA	LVS	MAR	TAL	TEX	PHO	HOM	6th	3331
2010				DAY	ATL	MAR	NSH	KAN	DOV	CLT	TEX	MCH	IOW	GTY	IRP	POC	NSH	DAR	BRI	CHI	KEN	NHA	LVS	MAR	TAL	TEX	PHO	HOM	3rd	3676
2011				DAY	PHO	DAR	MAR	NSH	DOV	CLT	KAN	TEX	KEN	IOW	NSH	IRP	POC	MCH	BRI	ATL	CHI	NHA	KEN	LVS	TAL	MAR	TEX	HOM	2nd	882
2012			Toyota	DAY	MAR	CAR	KAN	CLT	DOV	TEX	KEN	IOW	CHI	POC	MCH	BRI	ATL	IOW	KEN	LVS	TAL	MAR	TEX	PHO	HOM				9th	678
2013		98		DAY	MAR	CAR	KAN	CLT	DOV	TEX	KEN	IOW	ELD	POC	MCH	BRI	MSP	IOW	CHI	LVS	TAL	MAR	TEX	PHO	HOM				4th	732
2014				DAY	MAR	KAN	CLT	DOV	TEX	GTW	KEN	IOW	ELD	POC	MCH	BRI	MSP	CHI	NHA	LVS	TAL	MAR	TEX	PHO	HOM				4th	773
2015				DAY	ATL	MAR	KAN	CLT	DOV	TEX	GTW	IOW	KEN	ELD	POC	MCH	BRI	MSP	CHI	NHA	LVS	TAL	MAR	TEX	PHO	HOM			4th	809
2016	GMS Racing	21	Chevy	DAY	ATL	MAR	KAN	DOV	CLT	TEX	IOW	GTW	KEN	ELD	POC	BRI	MCH	MSP	CHI	NHA	LVS	TAL	MAR	TEX	PHO	HOM			-*	-*

* Season still in progress
1 Ineligible for series points

[ Source: Wikipedia ]