Following the race, NASCAR officials confiscated the fuel cell from the No. 98 ThorSport Racing truck.

The officials found that the team  violated Sections 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing); 12-4K (if in the judgment of NASCAR Officials, race equipment that has been previously verified or previously approved and/or sealed by NASCAR for use in an event, pursuant to sub-section 8-6 and/or 8-12, has been altered, modified, repaired, or changed in any manner); 20B-16 (once a fuel cell or fuel cell components have been certified, modifications of any kind will not be permitted to the fuel cell or fuel cell components); and 20B-16.1B (standard black, safety foam with minimum free-standing height of eight (8) inches, acceptable to NASCAR Officials, and used as provided by an approved fuel cell manufacturer, must be used: Fuel cell safety foam modification.) of the 2013 rule book.

Crew chief Joel Shear has been fined $10,000 and suspended from NASCAR competition for the next four Trucks Series races. He has also been put on probation to the end of the calendar year.

Johnny Sauter was penalized with the loss of 25 championship driver’s points. And, owner Mike Curb has been penalized with the loss of 25 owner’s points.

The penalty cost Sauter the points lead. He is now tied with Jeb Burton, 13 points behind new leader Matt Crafton.

Sauter won the season opener at Daytona, and after a break of 43 days, won the second race of the season at the .526-mile short track. Sauter won for the eighth time in the Truck series and posted his first back-to-back victories. It was only the second time in series history that a driver has opened the season with back-to-back wins; the first was 2006 by Mark Martin.

Sauter’s ThorSport Racing teammate, Matt Crafton, passed Burton for the second spot with four laps left. Burton held third, but his top-five finish was clouded by an accident on Lap 103, when he turned Ron Hornaday Jr. into the Turn 3 wall while battling for the lead.

Timothy Peters and Darrell Wallace Jr. completed the top five.

Though Sauter and Burton were on equal tires at the finish–in terms of the timing of their last pit stops, at least–Burton had put more stress on his right rear as he worked his way through the field.

“We all knew today was going to be about tire management, just from the tire wear we saw (Friday in practice), moreso than ever before that I can ever remember here at Martinsville,” said Sauter, a perennial hard charger. “The first part of the race, we ran 80 percent, just trying to maintain and not lose too much track position, but still try to run as fast as we could.

“That’s really hard to do, because you’ve got to keep the people behind you behind you, and you don’t want to use too much of your equipment up. … With about 45 or 50 to go, I put the hammer down and was picking them off. I still can’t believe we did it.”

With two straight wins, Sauter holds a 12-point lead over Burton in the series standings.

“I really wanted to win,” Burton said. “We have ‘em covered half the race. We were really good at the beginning, and we adjusted to the track half way (through the race). Everything was good, and we still had ‘em covered, I thought, and then I used the right rear tire a little bit too early when I had to get back through there.

“That was my fault. I thought there was 40 (laps) to go, and there was actually was 60 to go, and I went a little harder than I needed to.”

About the contact with Hornaday, Burton’s explanation was short and simple.

“I ran in a little too hard and got into him, and there’s not much else to say about it,” Burton said.

In a battered No. 9 Chevrolet, Hornaday rallied to finish 10th, making use of two free passes under caution as the highest scored lapped car.

Divergent pit strategies put Kevin Harvick in the lead for a restart on Lap 151 of a scheduled 250, but Harvick, who had stayed out on old tires, gave up the top spot to Nelson Piquet Jr. one lap later and began a freefall back through the field.

Three circuits after a Lap 162 restart following the eighth caution, Wallace snagged the lead from Piquet and opened an advantage of more than three seconds, but both Wallace and Piquet opted to come to pit road for fresh rubber on Lap 198, under the ninth caution for Max Gresham’s spin in Turn 2.

That gave the lead back to Burton, who brought the field to green on Lap 203, with Wallace, Piquet and Harvick deep in the field on new tires. John Wes Townley’s hard crash in Turn 4 caused the 10th caution on Lap 206 and bunched the field for a restart on Lap 218.

Wallace restarted seventh on fresh tires and had worked his way up to third by the time Harvick tapped and spun Todd Bodine in Turn 3 on Lap 229 to bring out the 11th caution. By then, Sauter, who last came to pit road with Burton on Lap 146, had fought his way into second place and was challenging Burton for the lead when the yellow flag flew.

Sauter led the final 17 laps of the NextEra Energy Resources 250, and was leading when the a caution for a last-lap wreck came out, ending the race.

Defending Truck Series champion James Buescher spun Jeff Agnew on the final lap, which caused the caution that prevented Sprint Cup Series regular Kyle Busch from making a move for the victory. Buescher finished 13th.

Sauter said, “I was having flashbacks of last year,” when he was turned by race-winner John King. They always say you want to be second going into the last lap. It just didn’t work out that way. … I’m not going to lie, I was happy to see that caution come out at the end. Just a wild race. Speedway racing is just crazy. … I’m just ecstatic to be in Victory Lane.”

Busch finished in the runner-up position for the third time. Ron Hornaday, Justin Lofton, Jeb Burton, and Ty Dillon rounded out the top 5.

The race was pretty uneventful until the caution came when Scott Riggs lost an engine.

The next caution came when Brendan Gaughan attempted to squeeze between pole-sitter Brennan Newberry and German Quiroga in Turn 3. The trucks made contact and hit the outside wall, causing an accident that collected 13 trucks. Burton, Tim George Jr., John Wes Townley, Ryan Truex, and Jason White were among those involved.

Piquet also made two Nationwide starts last season, winning the Sargento 200 at Road America from the pole. He finished in the top 10 in both of his starts.

No word on who will replace Piquet in the team’s No. 30 Camping World Truck Series Chevy. But, Jeb Burton has signed with the team. And, James Buescher will return to the CWTS to defend his title.

In related news, Justin Allgaier will also return to TSM for 2013, continuing his relationship with the newly renamed team, and his sponsor, Brandt.

Allgaier piloted the No. 31 TSM Chevy to two wins, 12 Top 5s, and 36 Top 10s. He also earned one win with Penske Racing.

It has also been rumored that Danica Patrick will drive 10 races for the team in the Nationwide Series in 2013.

Related Stories

• Patrick Expected To Run For Turner Motorsports In N’Wide
• Buescher Could Move To Nationwide Series In 2013
• Burton Signs With Turner Motorsports

Burton has five starts in the CWTS with one top 10 finish.

Team owner Steve Turner said:

I’m really excited that we will have Jeb under the Turner Motorsports umbrella. Everyone at Turner Motorsports feels he has the skills to be successful in NASCAR and we are eager to welcome him to our team.

Jeb Burton will make his CWTS debut in the Kroger 250 at Martinsville Speedway at the end of March.

Trip Bruce, who worked with Burton during his days driving the No. 22 Bill Davis Racing Sprint Cup car, will serve as crew chief for the No. 27. Burton has won five career Sprint Cup races including the 2002 Daytona 500, and four Nationwide Series wins.