Sauter won the spring race at Martinsville in 2011. He followed up with a fourth-place finish here later that year. But Sauter has finished 14th and 29th at this track since then.
"Like any race, a lot of things have to go right, pit strategy and taking care of the truck all day and staying out of trouble, so Martinsville is a tough one to win at," Sauter said. "We've done it before, and we typically run in the top-five every time we're there until something happens. I don't see any reason why we can't go there and pick up where we left off in prior races."
Kevin Harvick is the only Sprint Cup Series regular competing in this race. Harvick is driving the No. 24 Chevrolet for NTS Motorsports, which merged with Joe Denette Motorsports prior to the start of this season.
Harvick has won three of the last four spring races at Martinsville. He led all but two of the 250 laps in the event here one year ago.
"Martinsville is one of those racetracks I always look forward to getting behind the wheel at each year," Harvick said. "I've had a lot of success in the Truck Series at Martinsville, so hopefully that trend will continue this weekend with NTS Motorsports."
Forty teams are on the preliminary entry list for the Kroger 250.
Five drivers are making their Truck Series debut at Martinsville. They are: Chase Elliott, the 17-year-old son of 1988 Cup Series champion Bill Elliott, Jonathan Davenport, Grant Galloway, Devin Jones and Erik Jones.
Series: NASCAR Camping World. Date: Saturday, April 6. Race: Kroger 250. Site: Martinsville Speedway. Track: 0.526-mile oval. Start time: 1:30 p.m. ET. Laps: 250. Miles: 131.5. 2012 Winner: Kevin Harvick. Television: Speed. Radio: Motor Racing Network (MRN)/SIRIUS NASCAR Radio.
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