Lonnie Wheatley
, CLUTE, Texas (April 22, 2014) – Fresh off his first ASCS National win the previous weekend, Aaron Reutzel continued his winning ways by topping the Nolan Wren Classic for the third consecutive year on Saturday night at the Gator Motorplex in Willis, TX.
Saturday’s triumph for the Clute, TX, racer followed a charge from 18th to third on Friday night at Waco’s Heart O’ Texas Speedway and marked the fifth consecutive finish among the top four for the Stafford Performance-powered Bob and Christie Miller’s Car Parts Machine/Wren’s Motorsports No. 87 Triple-X team.
“I’m really happy with our program right now, we’re fast right out of the trailer wherever we go,” Reutzel commented after the ASCS Gulf South weekend. “I’m excited to get back on the National Tour.”
Another strong weekend got off to an ominous start when an engine detonated in Friday’s heat race action at Waco. “It was one of our older engines fortunately, it’s done though.”
After a quick engine change by Reutzel and crew member Ryan Beechler, Reutzel gridded the Momentum Racing Suspensions/Danny Sander Construction/ButlerBuilt machine outside row nine in the feature event.
“We were rocket fast, I still felt like we had a good chance to win from 18th,” Reutzel explained. “The track was rough and heavy, the harder you drove it in the better you were.”
Reutzel worked his way into the top ten in short order then was fifth when the final caution flew with eight laps to go.
Reutzel made quick work of Justin Melton and Kevin Ramey to move up to third and was with the lead duo as the white flag flew.
“Blake (Hahn) slid (Brandon) Berryman for the lead then I drag raced Berryman off the final corner for second,” Reutzel explains. “I thought I had him, but the transponders said different.”
“I made a couple of mistakes early in the race that cost me a couple of positions, without those I could have got up there quicker and probably got the win.”
Reutzel and the Lone Star Hydro Maintenance/BC Fundz/Wright Way Logistics team moved on to the Gator Motorplex in Willis, TX, on Saturday night for the Nolan Wren Classic, a race that Reutzel had won each of the previous two years.
And he was intent on making it three in a row.
After winning his heat race from the pole position, Reutzel remembered his lucky charm for the redraw just in time. “Last year Nora Wren, Nolan’s wife, redrew the pole for me,” Reutzel comments. “I stopped the redraw to find her and she drew me a two.”
But with the track on the verge of taking rubber, the outside may not have been the place to be.
“They reworked it and there was just a little moisture up top,” Reutzel explains. “I packed that in before we got started so I’d hopefully have something to work with it.”
It worked out perfectly.
“I got just enough of a run to get an edge about halfway down the straightaway then chopped them off getting to the corner to get down low,” Reutzel says.
“The rubber came after that in about seven laps, I just sat on the bottom the rest of the way,” Reutzel explains. “When I got to traffic I just waited for a mistake, otherwise I wasn’t going to press the issue.”
Picking up his second win in as many Saturday nights, Reutzel explains that, “I put more pressure on myself to win that race since we’ve know the Wrens for so long. It feel great to win that race three years in a row.”
Reutzel will enjoy some family time this weekend before a pivotal month of May that includes ten nights of ASCS National Tour competition.
2014 Quick Stats: 17 races, 2 win, 8 top-fives, 12 top-tens, 2 heat race wins, 2 “B” Main wins.
Up Next: ASCS National Tour action at Outlaw Motorsports Park in Wainwright, OK, on Friday, May 2, and Riverside International Speedway in West Memphis, AR, on Saturday, May 3.
Keep Track: Keep track of Aaron Reutzel’s on track-action including schedule and results at http://www.aaronreutzelracing.
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 racinboys.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.