Lonnie Wheatley, TAMPA, Fla. (February 19, 2015) – “That was a heckuva racetrack!” Aaron Reutzel exclaimed as he climbed from his winning Shark-powered BC Fundz/Basic One Services No. 87 Triple X Sprint Car at East Bay Raceway Park on Thursday night.
And a heckuva race car. That pretty much summed it up as the Clute, TX, racer successfully kicked off his Lucas Oil ASCS National championship pursuit with a victory in the opening leg of East Bay Raceway Park’s “King of 360’s” Nationals.
Reutzel battled with Pennsylvania shoe Mark Smith in the early stages then emerged from a heated duel with Terry McCarl in traffic to take the win in Thursday’s 25-lap preliminary feature event aboard the Wren Motorsports/Momentum Racing Suspensions machine.
After making a last-lap move to win his heat race from the sixth starting position, Reutzel started the main event in eighth and was up to third within three laps aboard the Danny Sander Construction/ButlerBuilt machine.
Reutzel and Mark Smith swapped the lead repeatedly over the next several rounds before Smith slipped away, with East Bay ace McCarl entering the mix and shuffling Reutzel back to third just past the midway point.
“The car was great to begin with, then I’m not sure what happened,” Reutzel explained afterward. “I don’t know if we had a tire going down or what, but it took me about five laps to get going after the cautions.”
Once he got going in the Lone Star Hydro Maintenance/Wright Way Logistics machine though, there was no stopping Reutzel.
Reutzel raced past Smith for second on the 17th lap and then battled past McCarl to take the lead for keeps on the 19th circuit, slipping away over the final rounds to post his second overall win of a young 2015 season.
“The car was great and that was a great track to race on, I’m looking forward to the next two nights,” Reutzel concluded.
Reutzel will try to accumulate more points in Friday’s preliminary action in hopes of being among the top six in overall points that will lock into Saturday night’s $10,000-to-win Ronald Laney Memorial.
For those unable to attend, all the action is live via PPV at www.xsan.tv.
2015 Quick Stats: 8 races, two wins, three top-fives, four front-row feature starts.
Up Next: Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour action continues at East Bay Raceway Park’s “King of 360’s” Nationals on 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.
- Lonnie Wheatley on Feb 19, 2015
- Article Date: 2/19/2015