By Tyler Altmeyer
BEDFORD, Pa. (September 5, 2019) – Aaron Reutzel’s march toward a second consecutive Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 title has been rocky at times, but the Clute, Texas-native gave open wheel fans all the reason to leave their doubts behind on Thursday night at Bedford Speedway, eventually ending his evening by leading all 30 circuits around the Bedford Fairgrounds half-mile, securing a Series-leading 11th victory in the process.
The win, accompanied by a $5,000 payday, also allowed Reutzel to snip away at Dale Blaney’s All Star championship point lead, this time narrowing the six-time champ’s command to just 16 markers with two events remaining on the weekend.
Three-time Knoxville Raceway track champion, Brian Brown, chased Reutzel to the final checkers, followed by Kasey Kahne Racing’s James McFadden, Dale Blaney, and a hard-charging Danny Dietrich, who rallied eight positions to find the top five.
“Hell of a run for this team,” Aaron Reutzel explained, driver of the Baughman-Reutzel Motorsports/Folkens Brothers Trucking/Fischer Body Shop/Hollywood Blasting & Coating/No. 87 sprint car. “We were great all night; unloaded with a fast hot rod. We’ve had a lot of heartbreak this year, but we always bounce back and get wins. That just goes to show what kind of a team effort we have here.”
Although a surefire favorite, as well as dominate, Reutzel’s campaign from the pole position did encounter some pressure from Grain Valley, Missouri’s Brian Brown, but not until after the midpoint of the 30-lap program. In fact, Reutzel’s lead was just over three seconds by the time the leaders received the crossed flags; it was down to less than three-quarters of second by lap 23.
A caution on lap 25 for a slowing Trey Starks, who was battling in the fourth position at the time, created a momentum shift for Reutzel and served as the break that Brown needed. Unfortunately for Brown, a clear track and clean air created the perfect recipe for Reutzel, immediately blasting away to a comfortable lead.
The main event’s second and final caution occurred on the white flag lap, this time setting up a green-white-checkered finish. Despite Brown’s attempt to capitalize, Reutzel did exactly what he did during the prior restart and quickly escaped to a comfortable advantage.
“I was happy to see that yellow, for sure,” Aaron Reutzel continued. “It got to the point where I couldn’t pass the lapped cars. But I was hoping since I couldn’t pass them, I couldn’t get passed.”
“Aaron (Reutzel) was probably better than me overall,” Brian Brown said, who will spend the next few weeks racing in Pennsylvania. “I found the rubber in one and two a little bit sooner than he did which allowed us to make up some ground. I could see he was having a little bit of trouble with the lapped cars, and I was having some trouble, too, which kinda slowed my pace down. The caution was an opportunity I needed.”
Tony Stewart’s All Star Circuit of Champions will continue their weekend venture through the Keystone State with a doubleheader at Port Royal Speedway in Port Royal, Pennsylvania, on Friday and Saturday, September 6 & 7. The 52nd running of the prestigious Tuscarora 50 will headline action at the ‘Speed Palace,’ kicking-off, officially, Friday evening with the $5,000-to-win Night Before The 50 preliminary program. The two-day showstopper will conclude with the 50-lap, $52,000-to-win Tuscarora 50; the largest paying program on the All Star Circuit of Champions campaign trail.
MAVTV Motorsports Network, the official television home of the All Star Circuit of Champions in 2019, will be on hand to capture action from both nights of Port Royal Speedway’s Tuscarora 50. The Night Before The 50, as well as the 50-lap Tuscarora 50 finale, will be aired on MAVTV Motorsports Network via tape-delay broadcast beginning November 3.
Contingency Awards/Results: Bedford Speedway – September 5, 2019:
Event: Roy Morral Tribute
Entries: 30
C&R Racing All Star Warm-Ups: Dale Blaney – 16.571seconds
Lincoln Electric Fast Qualifier: Trey Starks – 15.891 seconds
Ford Performance Heat #1: Aaron Reutzel
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #2: Kerry Madsen
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #3: James McFadden
JE Pistons presented by Fatheadz Eyewear Dash: Aaron Reutzel
Classic Ink USA Screenprinting B-Main Winner: Gerard McIntyre
Ollie’s Bargain Outlet A-Main Winner: Aaron Reutzel
MSD Performance Hard Charger Award: Danny Dietrich (+8)
Cometic Gasket Most A-Main Laps Led: Aaron Reutzel (1-30)
Rayce Rudeen Foundation First Non-Transfer: Brandon Matus
(Lincoln Electric, MSD Performance, Fatheadz Eyewear, Rayce Rudeen Foundation, Cometic Gasket: Need decal to qualify for contingency award)
9/5/2019 at Bedford Speedway
410 Sprints – Winged | All Star Circuit of Champions
A Feature (30 Laps): 1. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 21:45.261[1]; 2. 21-Brian Brown, 21:46.937[2]; 3. 9-James McFadden, 21:48.051[5]; 4. 11-Dale Blaney, 21:49.521[3]; 5. 48-Danny Dietrich, 21:50.240[13]; 6. 26-Cory Eliason, 21:50.923[11]; 7. 70-Brock Zearfoss, 21:51.058[7]; 8. 17-Josh Baughman, 21:51.674[10]; 9. 2M-Kerry Madsen, 21:51.852[6]; 10. 24-Lucas Wolfe, 21:52.514[16]; 11. 13-Paul McMahan, 21:53.425[9]; 12. K4-Chad Kemenah, 21:53.578[17]; 13. 07-Gerard McIntyre Jr, 21:54.505[19]; 14. 99-Skylar Gee, 21:54.245[22]; 15. 55-Logan Wagner, 21:54.526[21]; 16. 7K-Dan Shetler, 21:54.815[20]; 17. 42-Sye Lynch, 21:55.214[8]; 18. 91-Anthony Fiore, 21:55.952[15]; 19. W20-Greg Wilson, 19:10.801[12]; 20. (DNF) 44-Trey Starks, 14:49.028[4]; 21. (DNF) 70X-Justin Peck, 15:02.431[14]; 22. (DNF) 13M-Brandon Matus, 12:57.715[23]; 23. (DNF) 98H-Dave Blaney, 09:49.185[24]; 24. (DNF) 5-Justin Barger, 09:08.831[18]
B Feature (10 Laps): 1. 07-Gerard McIntyre Jr, 07:24.387[2]; 2. 7K-Dan Shetler, 07:26.522[1]; 3. 55-Logan Wagner, 07:27.955[3]; 4. 99-Skylar Gee, 07:29.858[8]; 5. 13M-Brandon Matus, 07:29.937[4]; 6. 98H-Dave Blaney, 07:32.449[5]; 7. 11B-Carl Bowser, 07:35.780[7]; 8. 18J-R.J. Jacobs, 07:36.353[10]; 9. J4-John Garvin, 07:37.179[9]; 10. 40-George Hobaugh Jr., 07:41.653[11]; 11. I07-Mark Coldren, 07:25.975[6]; 12. (DNF) 33-Brent Matus, 05:27.397[12]
Dash (6 Laps): 1. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 03:32.670[2]; 2. 21-Brian Brown, 03:35.316[1]; 3. 11-Dale Blaney, 03:37.173[3]; 4. 44-Trey Starks, 03:38.641[6]; 5. 9-James McFadden, 03:40.033[4]; 6. 2M-Kerry Madsen, 03:40.896[7]; 7. 70-Brock Zearfoss, 03:41.610[8]; 8. 42-Sye Lynch, 03:45.242[5]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 05:00.003[2]; 2. 44-Trey Starks, 05:01.629[4]; 3. 17-Josh Baughman, 05:04.606[1]; 4. 26-Cory Eliason, 05:06.396[3]; 5. 70X-Justin Peck, 05:07.781[5]; 6. 24-Lucas Wolfe, 05:09.958[6]; 7. 13M-Brandon Matus, 05:11.819[8]; 8. 7K-Dan Shetler, 05:13.216[7]; 9. 99-Skylar Gee, 05:13.945[9]; 10. 40-George Hobaugh Jr., 05:16.841[10]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 2M-Kerry Madsen, [3]; 2. 42-Sye Lynch, [1]; 3. 13-Paul McMahan, [2]; 4. 21-Brian Brown, [4]; 5. 48-Danny Dietrich, [5]; 6. K4-Chad Kemenah, [6]; 7. 55-Logan Wagner, [7]; 8. 98H-Dave Blaney, [8]; 9. 11B-Carl Bowser, [9]; 10. 18J-R.J. Jacobs, [10]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 9-James McFadden, [2]; 2. 70-Brock Zearfoss, [4]; 3. 11-Dale Blaney, [3]; 4. W20-Greg Wilson, [6]; 5. 91-Anthony Fiore, [5]; 6. 5-Justin Barger, [7]; 7. 07-Gerard McIntyre Jr, [1]; 8. I07-Mark Coldren, [8]; 9. J4-John Garvin, [9]; 10. (DNF) 33-Brent Matus, [10]
Qualifying: 1. 44-Trey Starks, 00:15.891[8]; 2. 21-Brian Brown, 00:16.103[13]; 3. 70-Brock Zearfoss, 00:16.305[29]; 4. 11-Dale Blaney, 00:16.312[26]; 5. 26-Cory Eliason, 00:16.333[9]; 6. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 00:16.372[3]; 7. 2M-Kerry Madsen, 00:16.380[18]; 8. 9-James McFadden, 00:16.384[30]; 9. 13-Paul McMahan, 00:16.452[20]; 10. 17-Josh Baughman, 00:16.488[1]; 11. 42-Sye Lynch, 00:16.527[12]; 12. 48-Danny Dietrich, 00:16.563[19]; 13. 70X-Justin Peck, 00:16.621[10]; 14. 24-Lucas Wolfe, 00:16.645[7]; 15. 7K-Dan Shetler, 00:16.660[2]; 16. K4-Chad Kemenah, 00:16.662[11]; 17. 07-Gerard McIntyre Jr, 00:16.696[21]; 18. 55-Logan Wagner, 00:16.699[14]; 19. 98H-Dave Blaney, 00:16.723[15]; 20. 13M-Brandon Matus, 00:16.876[4]; 21. 91-Anthony Fiore, 00:16.883[23]; 22. 11B-Carl Bowser, 00:16.891[16]; 23. W20-Greg Wilson, 00:16.910[28]; 24. 99-Skylar Gee, 00:16.930[5]; 25. 18J-R.J. Jacobs, 00:16.931[17]; 26. 40-George Hobaugh Jr., 00:17.153[6]; 27. 5-Justin Barger, 00:17.164[22]; 28. I07-Mark Coldren, 00:17.350[24]; 29. J4-John Garvin, 00:17.476[25]; 30. 33-Brent Matus, 00:18.519[27]