By Lonnie Wheatley
CLUTE, Texas (March 15, 2017) – Aaron Reutzel has kept himself plenty busy in the early portion of the 2017 season.
Now, the focus turns to capturing a second Lucas Oil ASCS National championship aboard the Dissolvalloy Downhole Revolution/BC Fundz No. 87 Triple-X Sprint Car beginning with this weekend’s Devil’s Bowl Speedway Spring Nationals in Mesquite, TX, on Friday and Saturday.
While victory lane at the storied half-mile has eluded the Clute, TX, native thus far, Reutzel has been knocking on the door with a handful of top-five finishes over the past three years including a runner-up finish in last October’s Winter Nationals preliminary main event.
“We have had good speed at Devil’s Bowl, it’s just a matter of everything falling into place at the right time,” Reutzel says.
The 2015 Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour champion comes off yet another weekend of World of Outlaws competition aboard the Wren Motorsports/Momentum Racing Suspensions entry at The Dirt Track at Las Vegas.
Reutzel raced into his fourth WoO feature of the year on Thursday night before missing the cut on Friday after a qualifying miscue.
“It wasn’t too bad of a weekend, we had pretty good speed each time out,” Reutzel said of the Vegas weekend that featured a field of heavy-hitters. “Those guys are good, you have to have everything just right every time out.”
Clocking in 16th-quick among Thursday’s 42-car field, Reutzel landed a feature position with a fourth-place heat race run.
After starting 13th in the 25-lapper, Reutzel battled for position much of the way before being forced pitside in the late going.
“We were okay in the ‘A’, we bounced back and forth between 13th and 15th,” Reutzel recalls. “The steering picked up a lot of slack as the race went on so we went ahead and pulled in.”
Friday’s effort was in jeopardy right away. “I made a mistake at the end of the first lap and it killed both laps,” Reutzel says. “That pretty much did the night in.”
Reutzel still made a strong rally in the “B” Main aboard the Nattress Construction/Wings Unlimited entry.
“Everyone was running the top and sliding each other back and forth,” Reutzel said of the early laps. “We were up to fifth on a restart, and I had noticed Jacob Allen was making the bottom work. I tried it on the restart but missed it in one and two and lost three or four positions, so we were pretty well done.”
With a busy early-season slate of action that has included all of the 410-ci World of Outlaws and All Star Circuit of Champions events thus far, Reutzel and the Wright Way Logistics/Walker Performance Filtration team shift back to 360-ci action this weekend at Devil’s Bowl. It marks his first 360-ci competition since East Bay Raceway Park’s “King of 360s” Nationals near Tampa last month.
While Reutzel goes after a second Lucas Oil ASCS National title, he will still fill in the off dates with a healthy dose of 410-ci action over the course of the 2017 season.
2017 Quick Stats: 16 races, 2 top-tens
Up Next: Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour at the Devil’s Bowl Spring Nationals in Mesquite, TX, on Friday and 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.