Lonnie Wheatley, CLUTE, Texas (May 20, 2014) – Carrying the momentum of five wins in seven races into this past weekend’s ASCS Lone Star double in North Texas, Aaron Reutzel very easily could have added another pair of wins to the ledger.
It wasn’t in the cards this time for the Clute, TX, driver however, with a late stoppage at Boyd Raceway resulting in a fourth-place finish after leading all the way on Friday night and then a flip while leading Saturday heat race action at Devil’s Bowl Speedway muting the night’s results.
With a North Texas weekend in the books, the focus shifts back closer to home with this Memorial Day weekend’s ASCS Gulf South triple at Cotton Bowl Speedway (Paige, TX), Shady Oaks Speedway (Goliad, TX) and then Golden Triangle Raceway Park (Beaumont, TX).
Summing up this past weekend, Reutzel said, “It just didn’t go our way. No complaints though, I’m just glad to get that stuff out of the way before we get back to National races.”
It all started out in promising fashion.
“We drew a good heat and won it,” Reutzel explained of Friday’s card at Boyd Raceway. “The track was awesome, slick all the way across up to the cushion. Just the way I like them.”
After fending off a Kolt Walker slider in the early going, Reutzel slipped away from the field in the Stafford Performance-powered Bob and Christie Miller’s Car Parts Machine/Wren Motorsports No. 87 Triple-X.
“We were checked out and here came the rubber,” Reutzel explained. “I got lucky and found the rubber while I was leading, I was trying to change my entry to the cushion and found it. I moved to the bottom but it rubbered up so bad, we were way too tight.”
Still, Reutzel had win number six for the Momentum Racing Suspensions/Danny Sander Construction/ButlerBuilt team in his sites as the laps clicked down.
“We were struggling bad but we were hanging on,” Reutzel said. “It was the white flag lap and we’re rolling down the backstretch and there’s the yellow flag. I knew we didn’t need that.”
Reutzel was still holding on to the point.
“I got a good jump, we’re rolling down the backstretch again and then the red flag flies.” It was exactly what Reutzel didn’t need.
“I knew we were in trouble,” Reutzel explains. “It was a long red flag, about ten minutes, and I could feel the right rear tire getting low.”
“I tried to get some heat in it to build it up but it wasn’t enough. It pushed like a dump truck getting into turn one, Jeff (Swindell) got under us and bumped us a little, which wasn’t a big deal. I got on it then I was out of the rubber and sideways and lost three positions on that last lap.”
Still, a fourth-place finish marked the 12th top-five run in the last 15 races for the Lone Star Hydro Maintenance/BC Fundz/Wright Way Logistics team and tenth consecutive top-ten finish.
Moving on to Devil’s Bowl Speedway in Mesquite, TX, for ASCS Lone Star vs. ASCS Sooner action on Saturday night, Reutzel got off to another strong start.
“We drew good again and were leading the heat race,” Reutzel comments.
And he led in strong fashion, distancing himself from the field and reeling in backmarkers.
“I didn’t know I was that checked out, and I didn’t realize how slow the lapped car I was coming up on was going.”
Running just the top side of the ½-mile clay oval, Reutzel saw the lapped car as an opportunity to try to the low side.
“I went in too hard and slid across to the middle, at the same time he went in high and then came down, we met in the middle and I flipped,” Reutzel explained. “It was all my fault.”
Damage proved to be minimal with Reutzel making the call for the “B” Main after some wing and axle repairs. Reutzel won the “B” Main and then made an early exit from the main event as rubber once again came into play.
“It started taking rubber with about three laps to go in the “B” Feature,” Reutzel said. “They ran one more race and then it was feature time. We were starting too far back to go anywhere with it like that so we just took the green and called it a night.”
Before ASCS National action resumes on May 30-31 at Salina, KS, and Eagle, NE, Reutzel and crew will take on the ASCS Gulf South this weekend.
“I want to take some of Bruce’s money!” Reutzel exclaimed of a $1,000 bonus offered by Bruce Griffith for a sweep of the weekend.
Reutzel posted runner-up honors in his first visit to Cotton Bowl Speedway last July. “It’s a nice place, good dirt and races really good.”
Saturday will mark Reutzel’s first outing at Shady Oaks Speedway while long-time Gulf South stop Golden Triangle Raceway Park is the site of Reutzel’s first career ASCS Gulf South win in 2009.
2014 Quick Stats: 23 races, 5 wins, 12 top-fives, 17 top-tens, 4 heat race wins, 3 “B” Main wins.
Up Next: ASCS Gulf South action at Cotton Bowl Speedway in Paige, TX, on Friday before moving on to Goliad’s Shady Oaks Speedway on Saturday. The weekend wraps up at Beaumont’s Golden Triangle Raceway Park on Sunday pending the outcome of Friday and Saturday action.
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 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.
- Lonnie Wheatley on May 20, 2014
- Article Date: 5/20/2014 by Lonnie Wheatley