By Lonnie Wheatley
CLUTE, Texas (July 22, 2015) – The weekend sweep, it was oh so close for Aaron Reutzel.
The Clute, TX, racer fell just one position short of sweeping the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour weekend of competition in Montana aboard the Shark-powered BC Fundz/Basic One Services No. 87 Triple X Sprint Car with a win at Great Falls’ Electric City Speedway on Friday night and then a runner-up finish at Billings Motorsports Park on Saturday.
It was another stellar weekend that kept Reutzel and the Wren Motorsports/Momentum Racing Suspensions team atop the $60,000 ASCS National Tour title chase.
Reutzel will try to build upon that lead with another pair of events this week beginning Wednesday night at Wyoming’s Gillette Thunder Speedway and then Friday at Black Hills Speedway in Rapid City, SD, before making a return engagement aboard the Roth Motorsports No. 83sr for Saturday’s King of the West 410-ci Sprint Car Series “Peter Murphy Classic” at Tulare’s Thunderbowl Raceway.
This past weekend started out with a bit of luck.
“We drew a good heat and we were lucky that we did because the car was way too tight,” Reutzel said. “Had we been in a different heat, I don’t know that we could have gone forward.”
Reutzel took advantage, advancing from sixth to second to make the redraw. And then he and crew member Don Grable learned from that heat race.
“We got it loosened up,” Reutzel says. “Then it started raining a little, so we loosened it up some more.”
It proved to be the right move for the Dissolvealloy Frac Ball Revolution team.
“It seemed like we were about the only ones that were good in the feature, everyone else was all balled up,” Reutzel said.
After starting fourth, Reutzel quickly made his way to second before ultimately chasing down Phil Dietz in traffic to capture his eighth overall win of the year aboard the Danny Sander Construction/ButlerBuilt machine.
“With the rain it was a little narrow, we were just able to go through traffic a little better than Phil did,” Reutzel said.
Reutzel carried that momentum over to Saturday night’s event at Billings Motorsports Park, where he very nearly completed the weekend sweep aboard the Lone Star Hydro Maintenance/Wright Way Logistics Sprint Car.
“We were close to it, we just got to racing with Wayne (Johnson) for second and Johnny (Herrera) got away,” Reutzel explains.
After winning his heat race, Reutzel started fifth in the feature.
By the time he worked his way to second, Herrera was checked out. “At one point, I couldn’t even see Johnny, he was a half track ahead of us,” Reutzel says.
But Reutzel pressed on and nearly stole the win.
“We tracked him down, I had one shot to try to slide him but I hit the cushion and went through it and he got back by,” Reutzel explains.
The battle with Wayne Johnson was the big topic of discussion after the second place finish.
“I thought it was good racing, we put on a good show,” Reutzel says. “He ran through my nose once, then I slid him, I just raced him the way he raced me.”
“With about anyone else out here, Seth or Johnny or whoever, it would have just been good, hard racing,” Reutzel concludes.
With a successful tour of Big Sky country in the books, it’s time for three races in four days beginning Wednesday night at Gillette Thunder Speedway where Reutzel led all the way last year until a spindle broke with just four laps to go. Then it’s on to Black Hills Speedway on Friday, a track at which Reutzel posted a podium finish last season.
Reutzel will then jet to the west coast to rejoin forces with the Roth Motorsports team for some 410-ci King of the West action at the always entertaining Thunderbowl Raceway.
2015 Quick Stats: 40 races, 8 wins, 22 top-fives, 29 top-tens.
Up Next: Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour action at Wyoming’s Gillette Thunder Speedway on Wednesday night at Black Hill Speedway in Rapid City, SD, on Friday night before King of the West action aboard the Roth No. 83sr at Tulare’s Thunderbowl Raceway on Saturday.
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.