Lonnie Wheatley
, CLUTE, Texas (May 6, 2014) – Another big win highlighted yet another strong weekend for Aaron Reutzel as he and the Bob and Christie Miller’s Car Parts Machine/Wren’s Motorsports No. 87 team kicked off a critical month of May with the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour.
The Clute, TX, racer opened the weekend with a victory in his first visit to Outlaw Motorsports Park near Muskogee, OK, on Friday and then posted another top ten finish in Saturday’s Rock ‘N Roll 50 at Riverside International Speedway in West Memphis, AR.
Reutzel has finished among the top ten in 11 of his last 12 starts and among the top five on nine occasions. The driver of the Stafford Performance-powered Triple X chassis has now climbed to sixth in ASCS National points, just 57 points off the lead pace as action is scheduled to resume Thursday night at Kansas City’s Lakeside Speedway before shifting to Oregon for a handful of events over the next two weekends in a month that includes ten scheduled ASCS National events.
Reutzel had never laid eyes upon Outlaw Motorsports Park prior to Friday night’s event. He liked what he saw right off the bat. “This looks like our kind of place,” Reutzel quipped before hot laps.
He was on the mark, making a crucial late move around Tony Bruce, Jr., to take second in heat race action after starting sixth to make the redraw which put him inside row two of the 25-lap feature event behind reigning champion Jason Johnson and Jeff Swindell.
Reutzel raced by Swindell in the opening corner and was immediately in chase mode aboard the Momentum Racing Suspensions/Danny Sander Construction/ButlerBuilt machine.
“I knew I had to either get him at the start or it would have to be in traffic,” Reutzel explained.
The leaders reached traffic in short order on the 3/8-mile oval with Reutzel sizing up ‘The Ragin’ Cajun’ for the point. And with traffic in play, Reutzel slid past Johnson a pair of times before finally taking command on the 16th round.
“When we got to traffic, he made some mistakes that I was able to take advantage of,” Reutzel said.
Reutzel held Johnson off the rest of the way in the non-stop affair to become the first repeat winner of 2014 in ASCS National action.
“We were both so good that I couldn’t catch him (Johnson) and he couldn’t catch me,” Reutzel explained. “It was all about momentum, if you came off the corner wrong you penalized yourself because the straightaways were so slick.”
And running second over the early portion of the race actually worked to the advantage of the Lone Star Hydro Maintenance/BC Fundz/Wright Way Logistics machine. “Running second helped, I saw some of the mistakes Jason made and knew what not to do.”
“It seemed like it took forever to get that first National win, and now to get two in a row is just unbelievable,” an enthused Reutzel explained after the victory. “It feel great, I couldn’t be happier with our car and our team.”
With victory number three of the season in the books, Reutzel and crew member Ryan Beechler made the trek to West Memphis, AR, for the Rock ‘N Roll 50 on Saturday night atop the always challenging Riverside International Speedway.
It proved to be a challenge, with Reutzel explaining that, “We were completely off what we needed to be all night long.”
“We were a little loose in hot laps but after watching the track left the car alone,” Reutzel explained. “Meanwhile all the locals tightened theirs up, we went out and were way too loose.”
“So we tightened it up for the feature and the locals all loosened up, we were off again,” Reutzel explained. “I’d go a few laps and get some confidence in the car, then drive it into the turn hard and climb the fence and nearly wreck.”
Despite missing the setup, Reutzel still salvaged a solid ninth-place finish after starting 12th.
“We passed three cars right at the beginning then pretty much rode in ninth the rest of the way.”
“It’s a different place, it’s unpredictable,” Reutzel commented of the storied Ditch. “No complaints with the track though, Tony (Bruce, Jr.) did a great job with it, we were just a little off.”
“We were okay with it though,” Reutzel explained of his Riverside run. “We left in one piece with a top ten finish and moved up to sixth in points, we’re going the right direction.”
Next up is a Thursday night stop at the ½-mile Lakeside Speedway on the Kansas side of Kansas City. It’s a track Reutzel has raced on once before. “We were there in 2012 with Bruce (Griffith) and had a good run going until we had a flat right rear.”
“It’s another place I look forward too; a big, fast momentum track a lot like Outlaw, it’s one we should do well at,” Reutzel says.
2014 Quick Stats: 19 races, 3 wins, 9 top-fives, 14 top-tens, 2 heat race wins, 2 “B” Main wins.
Up Next: ASCS National Tour action at Lakeside Speedway in Kansas City, KS, on Thursday and then Iowa’s Knoxville Raceway on Saturday.
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.