Lonnie Wheatley, CLUTE, Texas (August 19, 2014) – Aaron Reutzel had another win within his sights. But it wasn’t to be, as Lady Luck intervened during Saturday’s Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour outing atop the Salina Highbanks in Salina, OK.
With a parts failure denying win number seven of the year for Reutzel and the BC Fundz/Wren Motorsports No. 87 Triple-X team, Reutzel and crew hope for better fortune with this week’s Thursday-Friday Lucas Oil ASCS double in Arkansas and Tennessee.
After rallying from fifth to second in his heat race to make the redraw at Salina, Reutzel started the main event in fifth.
And he was on the move quickly in the Scott Baylor Racing Engines/Basic One Services machine.
“We pretty much had that one locked up,” Reutzel said afterward. “We had passed Dustin (Morgan) for second and had run Sam (Hafertepe) down for the lead when a caution came out and put us back to third.”
With the Momentum Racing Suspensions/Danny Sander Construction/ButlerBuilt car the fastest on the track, a parts failure soon after the restart forced Reutzel pitside and resulted in a 16th place DNF instead of a likely win.
“That’s the way our season has been, a few highs along the way with a bunch of lows,” Reutzel laments. “It’s about time for another high.”
Even with the DNF, Reutzel and the Lone Star Hydro Maintenance/Wright Way Logistics team still sit sixth in National points with several opportunities to move up the point charts including this weekend on Thursday at Riverside International Speedway in West Memphis and then Friday at 104 Speedway in Lexington, TN.
“That hurt us in points,” Reutzel say. “That along with breaking at Devil’s Bowl early in the season and not making the feature at Yuma, take those three nights out and we’re probably second in points. We’ve just got to make up for it over the last races.”
2014 Quick Stats: 45 races, 6 “A” Main wins, 22 top-fives, 31 top-tens.
Up Next: Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour action at Riverside International Speedway in West Memphis, AR, on Thursday and then 104 Speedway in Lexington, TN, 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.
(Photo courtesy of Mike Howard)
- Lonnie Wheatley on Aug 19, 2014
- Article Date: 8/19/2014 by Lonnie Wheatley