Lonnie Wheatley, CLUTE, Texas (July 15, 2014) – A first time turning laps and slinging clay in the state of Montana turned into yet another strong weekend of Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour action for Clute, TX, racer Aaron Reutzel.
After charging from 19th to eighth in Friday’s main event at Electric City Speedway in Great Falls, Reutzel and the Bob and Christie Miller’s Car Parts Machine/Wren Motorsports No. 87 Triple-X team finished off the Big Sky weekend with a strong third-place run at Billings Motorsports Park on Saturday night for his 14th overall podium finish of 2014.
The weekend didn’t get off to the best of starts though.
“It started really rough,” Reutzel commented.
“It’s probably the worst we’ve started a night all year,” Reutzel explained of an ill-running car. “We figured things out and turned it around, I’m proud of this team for being able to do that and make a good night out of it.”
Indeed they did. After transferring from “B” Main action, Reutzel got up on the wheel and advanced 11 positions aboard the Momentum Racing Suspensions/Danny Sander Construction/ButlerBuilt machine to finish eighth, his 11th top ten in 15 ASCS National events thus far.
“We actually started a little too tight but the track came to us at the end,” Reutzel explained. “Going 19th to eighth on that track, that was pretty lucky.”
Moving on to Billings Motorsport Park, Reutzel was fast out of the box in the Lone Star Hydro Maintenance/BC Fundz/Wright Way Logistics machine, winning his heat race to get in the redraw. But there were issues once again.
“There was a vibration the car, we had to change the yoke and the driveshaft after the heat,” Reutzel says.
Issues fixed, Reutzel gridded the feature in seventh and made a quick move to fifth at the outset and then climbed to fourth in short order.
“It was the best racetrack we’ve been on all year, it was perfect,” Reutzel explains. “There was a good top and a good bottom, and slick through the middle.”
After trading sliders with Seth Bergman for several laps before finally gaining command of third, Reutzel set his sights on Jason Johnson for second.
“Right when I got to Jason, a lapped car moved up and killed my momentum,” Reutzel explains. “I don’t think we had anything for Jeff (Swindell), but we could have got by Jason.”
Still, a third-place run was a strong way to wrap up another successful weekend on the road.
“Third place, we’ll take it,” Reutzel says. “We can use the extra money after the drive up here.”
Reutzel and the No. 87 team continue action with the ASCS National Tour this Friday night at Black Hills Speedway in Rapid City, SD.
2014 Quick Stats: 38 races, 6 wins, 20 top-fives, 29 top-tens, 8 heat race wins, 4 “B” Main wins.
Up Next: ASCS National Tour action at Black Hills Speedway in Rapid City, SD, on Friday.
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 Jul 15, 2014
- Article Date: 7/15/2014 by Lonnie Wheatley