2/25/2015
Aaron Reutzel
Reutzel's ASCS Title Pursuit Starts Strong at East Bay
Lonnie Wheatley, CLUTE, Texas (February 25, 2015) – The opening weekend of Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour action proved to be yet another good one for Aaron Reutzel and the Shark-powered BC Fundz/Basic One Services No. 87 Triple X Sprint Car team.
The Clute, TX, racer opened the weekend with a victory over the field of 67 competitors on Thursday night, established himself as top points earner with a fifth-place run on Friday and then took a strong runner-up finish in Saturday night’s $10,000-to-win Ronald Laney Memorial at Tampa’s East Bay Raceway Park.
“I loved that place, I wish we could go back,” Reutzel said after his first East Bay experience.
More importantly, it got Reutzel and the Wren Motorsports/Momentum Racing Suspensions team off to the strongest of starts in the $60,000 Luas Oil ASCS National championship chase sitting second overall and tops among expected points chasers entering this weekend’s doubleheader at Ocala’s Bubba Raceway Park.
“It’s a tough way to start with that many cars, just making the features with the ASCS format can be tough,” Reutzel explained.
Reutzel not only made the feature each night, but was in the mix for top honors throughout with all eyes on the Danny Sander Construction/ButlerBuilt machine.
And a little Wednesday night practice session preceding the weekend proved extremely beneficial.
“When we unloaded for hot laps, the first session we were okay,” Reutzel said. “Then we threw something at it for the next session and it was a lot better and we pretty much stuck with that all weekend.”
It worked extremely well, with Reutzel snaring his second win of the young season in Thursday night’s thrilling 25-lap preliminary feature.
“That was a fun race, you don’t see it often where someone comes out of the ‘B’ like (Terry) McCarl did and is racing you for the lead,” Reutzel said after an entertaining bout of slide job exchanges with Mark Smith. “I needed a few laps after the cautions to get some heat in my tires, then I got up on the wheel and traffic worked out for us.”
After winning his heat and the feature on Thursday, Reutzel and the Lone Star Hydro Maintenance/Wright Way Logistics entry looked to be in strong position after winning Friday’s heat from the front row.
“I figured a top ten would seal the top six in overall points for us and a top five would probably get us top points,” Reutzel explained.
He was on the mark, as a run from tenth to fifth on a tough Friday track landed him as top point earner for the two preliminary nights to lock into Saturday night’s redraw.
“You needed to be up front Friday night, we were fortunate to pass five cars early in the race,” Reutzel said.
Primed for Saturday night’s $10,000 Ronald Laney Memorial to conclude the “King of 360’s” Nationals finale, Reutzel started third row outside after redrawing the number six.
Reutzel wasted little time moving forward, working his way up to third within three laps and contending for the prestigious win.
“We were really good early, I was just kind of riding around for a while until (Brad) Loyet tried a big slider on a restart and I figured I better get out front,” Reutzel said.
Reutzel raced around Mark Smith for the lead on the 14th lap and led the next ten rounds of the 40-lapper before Smith returned the favor. Reutzel chased Smith through traffic the rest of the way before settling for second.
“As the race went on, I just couldn’t turn down the track well enough,” Reutzel explained. “I couldn’t work through traffic good enough, Mark just did a better job of finding lines through the traffic than I did, he was really the guy to beat all week.”
With a strong start to his Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour title chase in the books, it continues with this weekend’s Friday-Saturday double at Ocala’s Bubba Raceway Park where he opened the month with a runner-up finish in 410-ci All Star Circuit of Champions competition.
“I feel good knowing that we got some good laps there a couple of weeks ago, hopefully that will work to our advantage this weekend,” Reutzel concluded.
2015 Quick Stats: 10 races, two wins, five top-fives, five top-tens.
Up Next: Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour action at Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala, FL, this Friday and Saturday, February 27-28.
Keep Track: Keep track of Aaron Reutzel’s on-track action including schedule and results at http://www.aaronreutzelracing.com/, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Aaron-Reutzel-Racing/117666254913127 or on Twitter at @AaronReutzel. You can also e-mail Aaron at aaronreutzel@yahoo.com.
If you would like Aaron Reutzel Racing press releases e-mailed directly to you, send your e-mail address to Lonnie Wheatley at lonniewheatley@gmail.com.
Penning the recurring series of “The Wheatley Chronicles” articles on www.sprintcarmania.com, Lonnie Wheatley provides media, public relations and more for select tracks, drivers and events. For more information, Wheatley may be contacted at lonniewheatley@gmail.com.
Article Credit: Lonnie Wheatley
Submitted By: Lonnie Wheatley
