JOLIET, Ill. -- Too much, too soon.

Those were the kinds of words Johnny Sauter was beginning to hear in recent weeks as his struggles on the Busch Series continued.

	Johnny Sauter (2) passes Stacy Compton (59) on his way to victory in the Tropicana Twister 300.

Despite the success he enjoyed in his career prior to this season, maybe Sauter just wasn't ready for the more competitive level of racing, or so the critics said.

Once considered the odds-on favorite to win Rookie of the Year honors, Sauter and his No. 2 Chevrolet team began a fall that threatened to end with an abrupt crash before even completing the whole season.

Rumors abounded that team owner Richard Childress might close up shop, or cut back to a part-time operation, as Sauter was turning in un-Sauter-like results as the first half of the season waned on.

This is the same driver who blitzed through the American Speed Association last season, capturing 10 wins, five poles and the championship. So, it's not like the Neenah, Wis., native didn't have the potential to make it on the Busch series. It was just that bad luck hindered his progress.

But Sauter put all of that behind him Saturday, rallying to win the Tropicana Twister 300 at Chicagoland Speedway.

Not only was it Sauter's first win in 23 Busch starts (including 18 this season), it also likely was a lifeline to what he hopes is a reversal of fortune for the second half of the season.

"I definitely knew there was speculation and I heard talk, but all you can do is the best job you can do, and if it isn't good enough, it isn't good enough," Sauter said. "This season, we started off with a bang, were running pretty good, led the rookie (of the year) deal for awhile, and then all of a sudden, it took a whole different twist.

"I compare the beginning of the season to selling used cars. There's peaks and valleys. You're on top one month and the next month you're not.

"All in all, I think I appreciate it and deserve stuff more when you struggle a little bit. It just makes it that much more special. I just have to thank all the guys and Richard Childress for sticking with me and giving me this opportunity."

Sauter led the final 21 laps in Saturday's race. But the most crucial blasts around the 1.½-mile oval were the final three laps. When Kasey Kahne crashed on lap 196, it necessitated a red-flag on lap 197, setting up a three-lap shootout to the finish. The stoppage, followed by the restart, allayed any fears that either Sauter or crew chief Rick Viers had that their car wouldn't be able to finish the race with the small amount of fuel left in its tank.

"I felt pretty calm inside the car," Sauter said. "All you can do in those situations is wait until they drop the green and make sure you get a good restart, be as smooth as you can, run your line and pretend you're the only car on the racetrack.

"The car was awesome today. After Happy Hour yesterday, even though we didn't qualify as well as we thought we would, I knew that the car was going to race awesome today. Right off the drop of the green, we moved up to eighth, then got into the top-five.

"We stuck to our guns as far as pit stops and how many laps we could go. I really don't feel it was a fuel mileage win; I felt we had one of the best cars and heads off to the guys in the pits, they did an awesome job in the pits."

Another key part of Saturday's win was a pep talk Sauter received from Jeff Burton on Friday.

"I look at Jeff for advice," Sauter said. "He's just a real low-key guy and someone you really appreciate getting feedback from. Yesterday, just before qualifying, he came over to me and said, 'You know, this isn't easy. If it was, everybody could do it.'

"He just basically told me that sometimes people catch on right away, while others take a little longer. He said there's no doubt in his mind or anybody else's mind that I can drive a race car and that it just takes time."

Sauter's win caps off a recent string that saw him finish 12th at Milwaukee two weeks ago in front of his home-state fans, followed by a sixth-place showing at Daytona last week, and Saturday's win. That Sauter has come back so quickly in a season that began to look quite dire only a few weeks earlier merely increases his optimism for the rest of the season.

"I guess if you believe in numbers, we went from 12th to sixth to first," Sauter said. "This whole racing business is about momentum, and the more momentum you can build. It's going to be like a steamroller coming into the second half of the year."

Jerry Bonkowski covers NASCAR for ESPN.com.