Lonnie Wheatley, CLUTE, Texas (September 24, 2014) – After more of the same nasty luck reared its ugly head once again on Friday, fortune finally turned for Aaron Reutzel with a strong run from 16th to seventh in Saturday night’s Fall Brawl finale at Greenwood, Nebraska’s I-80 Speedway.
It was the dose of positive momentum that Reutzel and the BC Fundz/Wren Motorsports No. 87 Triple-X Chassis team needed going into this weekend’s Jesse Hockett/Daniel McMillin Memorial at Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, MO.
Coming off a slew of misfortune in recent weeks, much seemed the same for the Clute, TX, driver early on in I-80’s Fall Brawl.
“The draw didn’t go our way either night,” Reutzel explained. “We had good positions but not the right cars, we had some of the fastest cars in front of us and around us both nights.”
Track conditions didn’t help with the draw position either.
“It was one-lane, locked down in the heat races both nights, there wasn’t a lot you could you,” Reutzel says. “It was good for the features though.”
After starting third and finishing third in his Friday heat, Reutzel was in “B” Main action and on the move right away in the Momentum Racing Suspensions/Danny Sander Construction/ButlerBuilt machine.
But it didn’t last long. “We were taking the lead going down the frontstretch,” Reutzel says. “I don’t know exactly what happened, but it pulled a spark plug wire right off.” And just like that, Reutzel’s Friday effort was done.
Reutzel’s luck began to turn for the better on Saturday with an Ian Madsen penalty for jumping a start moving Reutzel to third and putting him 16th in the feature starting grid.
And, after riding through the early portion of the race, Reutzel was on the move over the latter half of the feature in the Scott Baylor Racing Engines/Basic One Services entry, charging all the way up to seventh by the time the checkered flag flew.
And, more importantly, Reutzel finally saw a checkered flag for the first time in a while.
“With seven DNF’s in a row, I was nervous, I was bound and determined to finish the race,” Reutzel says.
“When the middle went away, you had to go up and pound the fence to get around,” Reutzel explains. “I just didn’t want to crash or have something go wrong so I waited a while to do it.”
Reutzel could only resist the temptation so long in the Lone Star Hydro Maintenance/Wright Way Logistics machine.
“I finally went up there and we just took off,” Reutzel says. “We started doing that and went from about 12th or so to finish seventh. If we had done that earlier, we probably could have been a top five.”
Reutzel admits the recent spate of bad luck affected his approach.
“I was just a little messed up in the head,” Reutzel says. “That many DNF’s and you just want to finish a race.”
With that mission accomplished, Reutzel and the No. 87 team can focus on winning with this weekend’s Hockett/McMillin Memorial at Lucas Oil Speedway.
“Hopefully we’ve got all that stuff out of the way, now I can just focus on driving and getting up front.”
Reutzel enters this weekend ranked ninth in Lucas Oil ASCS National points with an eye focused towards adding to his overall total of six feature wins thus far in 2014.
2014 Quick Stats: 51 races, 6 “A” Main wins, 22 top-fives, 32 top-tens.
Up Next: Lucas Oil ASCS action with the Jesse Hockett/Daniel McMillin Memorial at Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, MO, this Friday and Saturday.
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 Seth Lacewell)
- Lonnie Wheatley on Sep 24, 2014
- Article Date: 9/24/2014 by Lonnie Wheatley