by Bill Wright
West Burlington, IA, September 28, 2024 – Aaron Reutzel took an early lead and never looked back Saturday night at the 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa, capturing the 30-lap $5,000 “Fall Haul” main event. The Clute, Texas native’s win marks the eight winner in as many events in “Fall Haul” history. It was also Reutzel’s first ever Sprint Invaders win, and it came aboard the Ridge & Sons Racing #87. Paul Nienhiser of Chapin, Illinois capped off a great season with a top five finish sealing his first ever Sprint Invaders season title. Car owner Scott Bonar won his series record fourth car owner championship.
Terry McCarl led early in the main event, with Reutzel and Ryan Bunton in tow. Reutzel was already challenging McCarl for the point when Mike Mayberry slowed two laps in, bringing the first caution flag of the night. Reutzel shot into the lead on the restart and set sail, getting to lapped traffic by lap seven. Behind him, McCarl, Bunton, Cheris Martin and Colton Fisher followed.
At one point, Reutzel got over the top of the track in turn two and almost hit the tire entering the pit entrance. He righted his sprinter, and still retained a straightaway lead over McCarl. At the halfway point, a 5.4 second lead was erased when Luke Verardi got over the top of turn two and came to a stop, setting up a restart that saw Reutzel leading McCarl, Bunton, Martin and Fisher.
Martin shot into third on the restart, and Cody Wehrle entered the top five. The sixth running Fisher, also took a trip over the top of turn two two laps later, and Garrett Benson did the same on lap 18. Nienhiser was moving up from his 14th starting spot and entered the top five on the lap 17 restart, and took fourth on the restart for Benson.
Reutzel was back into lappers with seven to go, when Cam Martin suffered a flat right rear tire. The last stoppage of the race did not phase Reutzel, and with the track now taking rubber, he maintained his advantage to the checkers, ahead of McCarl, Chris Martin, Nienhiser and Bunton. JJ Hickle, Carson McCarl, Wehrle, hard-charger Dustin Selvage and Cam Sorrels completed the top ten. Reutzel, Tucker Daly, Wehrle and Terry McCarl were heat winners. McCarl also won the Dash. Tanner Gebhardt won the B main.
In addition to a boosted purse made possible by dozens of sponsors, a plethora of contingencies were also handed out (see below).
“There was enough moisture out there to hold on,” said Reutzel of his close call when he drove over the top of turn two early in the feature. “There might have been some rubber laid late, but it was a good race early. The track was awesome. The track was a lot of fun. The car was awesome all night. We really didn’t have to make any changes. We were able to run it really hard.”
“This is such a great event, and they do such a good job of promoting it,” said the second place McCarl. “I really appreciate all the sponsors and doing this for our teams. I’d like to tell them how much we appreciate it. I was happy to run second. My wing broke before the green flag, and I couldn’t move it. I couldn’t fight Aaron off at all, and couldn’t stop him. I was praying for rubber and trying to hang on. We were able get second and a Dash win, so it was a good money night as well. I can’t thank my partners enough.”
“This has been a growing event and the amount of skill that comes in every year just keeps on going up and up,” said the third place Martin. “I’m just very proud of my team for giving me a good car and putting me in a position to finish well.”
“Obviously, we wanted to stand on the top step tonight, but I have to thank Scott Bonar and everyone that helps us,” said Nienhiser of his series championship. “I was lucky enough to drive all the races this year. To cap it off with a championship is what we set our goals to. This is a great group of drivers that run in this series. These guys make me strive to be better. You have that target on your back and you have to work all the harder. It’s a group effort and takes our families to make it possible.”
For more information on the Sprint Invaders, visit www.SprintInvaders.net or visit us on Facebook.
Mohrfeld Solar Sprint Invaders Results
Shottenkirk Automotive Group A main (started), 30 laps: 1. 87, Aaron Reutzel, Clute, TX (3) 2. 24, Terry McCarl, Altoona, IA (1) 3. 44, Chris Martin, Ankeny, IA (4) 4. 50, Paul Nienhiser, Chapin, IL (14) 5. 6R, Ryan Bunton, Morton, IL (2) 6. 99, JJ Hickle, Quilcene, WA (10) 7. 27, Carson McCarl, Altoona, IA (11) 8. 40, Cody Wehrle, Burlington, IA (8) 9. 6, Dustin Selvage, Indianola, IA (22) 10. 57, Cam Sorrels, Hallsville, MO (13) 11. 2, Chase Porter, St. Joseph, MO (20) 12. 11, Colton Fisher, Mediapolis, IA (5) 13. 2B, Garrett Benson, Concordia, MO (9) 14. 24x, Kade Higday, Knoxville, IA (19) 15. 81, Tanner Gebhardt, Burlington, IA (21) 16. 49, Josh Schneiderman, West Burlington, IA (23) 17. 28, Luke Verardi, Taylorville, IL (25, prov.) 18. 15JR, Cole Mincer, Burlington, IA (12) 19. 31, McCain Richards, Burlington, IA (24) 20. 51J, Blaine Jamison, Mediapolis, IA (15) 21. 4M, Mike Mayberry, Fremont, IA (18) 22. 99D, Tucker Daly, Hallsville, MO (7) 23. 4, Cam Martin, Ankeny, IA (6) 24. 98P, Miles Paulus, Marshall, MO (17) 25. 5A, Alex Vande Voort, Knoxville, IA (16). Lap Leaders: T. McCarl 1-2, Reutzel 3-30.. $500/KSE Hard-charger: Selvage. Maxim Mystery Spots: Mike Mayberry, Kade Higday, JJ Hickle. In Memory of Todd Taeger: Carson McCarl.
Heats: 1. $300 2. $200 3. $100 4. $50
Randall’s Performance Heat one (started, *qualified for feature), 8 laps: 1. Aaron Reutzel (3*) 2. Garrett Benson (1*) 3. Paul Nienhiser (2*) 4. Alex Vande Voort (5*) 5. Carson McCarl (8*) 6. Dustin Selvage (7) 7. Luke Verardi (7) 8. 7, Tyler Lee, Cedar Rapids, IA (10) 9. 4x, Chase Richards, Burlington, IA (9) 10. 99x, Bradyn Greubel, Lacona, IA (4)
Joshua Denning & Associates Heat two (started, *qualified for feature), 8 laps: 1. Tucker Daly (1*) 2. Cam Martin (3*) 3. Blaine Jamison (2*) 4. Miles Paulus (4*) 5. Cole Mincer (8*) 6. 16, Dustin Clark, Agency, IA (7) 7. Josh Schneiderman (9) 8. 1A, John Anderson, Des Moines, IA (5) 9. 7B, Nick Guernsey, Burlington, IA (6) 10. 25Y, Brett Yeager, Coal Valley, IL (10)
Morning Sun Farm Implement Heat three (started, *qualified for feature), 8 laps: 1. Cody Wehrle (2*) 2. Colton Fisher (4*) 3. Chris Martin (8*) 4. Mike Mayberry (1*) 5. Kade Higday (5*) 6. Tanner Gebhardt (7) 7. 52D, Skyler Daly, Hallsville, MO (6) 8. 33, Alan Zoutte, Knoxville, IA (3) 9. 14, Aidan Zoutte, Knoxville, IA (9)
Budweiser King of Beers – Golden Eagle Distributors Heat four (started, *qualified for feature), 8 laps: 1. Terry McCarl (2*) 2. JJ Hickle (1*) 3. Cam Sorrels (3*) 4. Ryan Bunton (7*) 5. Chase Poter (5*) 6. McCain Richards (4) 7. 88, Riley Scott, Quincy, IL (6) 8. 2A, Austin Archdale, Brimfield, IL (8) DNS – 20T, Corey Timmerman, Burlington, IA
Dash: 1. $300 2. $250 3. $200 4. $150 5. $100 6. $50 7. $50 8. $50
Agriland FS Dash (started), 6 laps: 1.Terry McCarl (2) 2. Ryan Bunton (3) 3. Aaron Reutzel (6) 4. Chris Martin (4) 5. Colton Fisher (8) 6. Cam Martin (5) 7. Tucker Daly (1) 8. Cody Wehrle (7)
B main (started), 12 laps: 1. Tanner Gebhardt (3) 2. Dustin Selvage (1) 3. Josh Schneiderman (4) 4. McCain Richards (3) / 5. Dustin Clark (2) 6. Riley Scott (9) 7. Luke Verardi (7) 8. Austin Archdale (10) 9. Skyler Daly (8) 10. Aidan Zoutte (13) 11. Alan Zoutte (14) 12. Nick Guernsey (15) 13. Corey Timmerman (17) 14. Brett Yeager (18) 15. John Anderson (11) 16. Bradyn Greubel (16) 17. Tyler Lee (6) 18. Chase Richards (12). $100 Non-Qualifiers from PositivelyRacing.com, OpenWheel101.com, Krieger Farms: Dustin Clark, Austin Archdale, Alan Zoutte, Riley Scott, Skyler Daly. Set of XYZ Arms: Tyler Lee, HRP Nose Wing: Chase Richards, KSE Wing Cylinder: Riley Scott.
Contingencies
King Racing Products – Chris Martin
DMI – Luke Verardi
Saldana Racing Products – Ryan Bunton
BMRS ($300 plus $100 gift certificate) – Chris Martin