(Photo Credit: Al Steinberg)
OCALA, Fla. (February 27, 2015) The Lucas Oil American Sprint Series presented by MAVTV American Real paid its first visit Florida's Bubba Raceway Park with Aaron Reutzel picking up his second Protect the Harvest A-Feature win of the 2015 season.
Reutzel's sixth Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour Victory since 2014 the Clute, Texas driver took off from the pole to lead flag-to-flag for his third podium in four starts.
"I tell you what; this team has got some momentum right now. It just seems like we can't do anything wrong," said Reutzel. "I knew all we had to do was win the start, and once I did I just stayed around the tires. My highs are like 7,500RPM, I don't think I went any further than half-throttle at anytime. I got too lapped there and I knew if I just followed them, I'd be alright. I was actually trying to let them get away from me but I just kept getting slower and slower like I was pulling them back to me."
Nearly collected in slower traffic on the final lap, the caution displayed before Johnny Herrera could mount a charge on the B.C. Funds No 87.
Asked about the caution, Reutzel replied, "I really didn't want to see that caution. That's like the third race I've been leading on a rubber down track and had a caution on the white flag lap and just something happened, so I was just like well, here we go again, but I knew if I could just get the jump and roll into one and two, I'd be okay."
Johnny Herrera's second straight podium of the season, the MVT No. 45x made quick moves on the start to go from second to fourth by Lap 4.
"We kind of figured this thing was going to take rubber, and whoever was good off the front row, then that's where it was going to be won from. Reutzel up there and wasn't going to make any mistakes so I knew we were just going to be setting pace with him."
Clicking his fourth podium finish in as many starts, Pennsylvania's Mark Smith brought the Mach 1 Chassis No. M1 third after starting seventh.
"We were able to move forward, which is tough to do on a track like that. I didn't have the tire I wanted on the Left Rear, but we had to get as far as we could get and third was it," commented Smith. Asked about being locked into the redraw, Mark replied, "That's cool, I like that."
The final transfer into Saturday's A-Feature went to Ohio's Greg Wilson. From eighth, Brad Loyet finished one spot shy in fifth.
Derek Hagar crossed sixth with Danny Martin, Jr. seventh. Danny Holtgraver from 11th claimed eighth with Chad Kemenah advancing eight spots to ninth as the evening's Hard Charger. Parker Price-Miller completed the top-ten.
A total of 43 drivers drew in with five Heat Races going to Danny Martin, Jr., A.J. Maddox, Johnny Herrera, Greg Wilson, and Brad Loyet. B-Features were won by Chad Kemenah and Travis Rilat. The A-Feature saw 24 starters as Jeff Swindell and Matt Covington each used a provisional.
Events at the Bubba Raceway Park continue on Saturday, February 28 with races scheduled to begin at 7:30 P.M. (ET). Live PPV of the Lucas Oil ASCS spectacular can be found at http://www.racinboys.com.
For continued updates on the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by MAVTV American Real, log onto http://www.ascsracing.com.
Race Results:
Lucas Oil ASCS presented by MAVTV American Real
Bubba Raceway Park - Ocala, Fla.
Bubba Army Winter Nationals
Friday, February 27, 2015
Event Car Count: 43
Heat Races: (8 Laps, taking winners plus Top 11 in Passing Points to the A-Feature.)
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 24-Danny Martin Jr.[1]; 2. M1-Mark Smith[3]; 3. 14K-Kyle Bellm[4]; 4. 9JR-Derek Hagar[7]; 5. 18-Tony Bruce Jr[8]; 6. 17B-Josh Baughman[5]; 7. 33M-Randy Hannagan[6]; 8. 5X-Tyson Hall[9]; 9. 36-Ken Laureno[2]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 3A-A.J. Maddox[1]; 2. 0-Glenn Styres[2]; 3. 9P-Parker Price-Miller[6]; 4. 23-Seth Bergman[8]; 5. 77X-Wayne Johnson[9]; 6. 66-Danny Smith[5]; 7. 10-Terry Gray[7]; 8. 33-Kris Miller[3]; DNS 83-Mark Ruel Jr
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 45X-Johnny Herrera[2]; 2. 59-Danny Holtgraver[1]; 3. 10H-Chad Kemenah[3]; 4. 20K-Thomas Kennedy[8]; 5. 14-Tyler Clem[6]; 6. 43-Terry Witherspoon; 7. 4X-Shawn Petersen[7]; 8. 92-Jordan Weaver[5]; DNS 21K-Lou Kennedy Jr.
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. W20-Greg Wilson[1]; 2. 49-Shawn Dancer[5]; 3. 29-Travis Rilat[2]; 4. 52-Blake Hahn[6]; 5. 10B-Mitch Brown[7]; 6. 7K-Kyle Pitts[8]; 7. 17-Lane Whittington[4]; DNS 94-Jeff Swindell
Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 05-Brad Loyet[2]; 2. 87-Aaron Reutzel[3]; 3. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[1]; 4. 92K-Matt Kurtz[5]; 5. 40-Caleb Helms[4]; 6. 95-Matt Covington[7]; 7. 10M-Morgan Turpen[6]; 8. 6S-Robbie Smith[8]
B-Features: (12 Laps, top 3 advance to the A-Feature.)
B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 10H-Chad Kemenah[2]; 2. 18-Tony Bruce Jr[1]; 3. 92K-Matt Kurtz[3]; 4. 10B-Mitch Brown[4]; 5. 4X-Shawn Petersen[8]; 6. 66-Danny Smith[7]; 7. 95-Matt Covington[6]; 8. 10M-Morgan Turpen[9]; 9. 40-Caleb Helms[5]; 10. 17-Lane Whittington[10]; 11. 33-Kris Miller[12]; 12. 6S-Robbie Smith[11]; DNS 94-Jeff Swindell; DNS 83-Mark Ruel Jr
14-Jeff Swindell-94
B Feature 2 (12 Laps): 1. 29-Travis Rilat[2]; 2. 77X-Wayne Johnson[1]; 3. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[3]; 4. 7K-Kyle Pitts[5]; 5. 17B-Josh Baughman[6]; 6. 33M-Randy Hannagan[8]; 7. 10-Terry Gray[7]; 8. 14-Tyler Clem[4]; 9. 5X-Tyson Hall[9]; 10. 92-Jordan Weaver[11]; 11. 43-Terry Witherspoon[10]; 12. 36-Ken Laureno[12]; DNS 21K-Lou Kennedy Jr.
A-Feature: (25 Laps, top 4 lock into Saturday's feature event.)
A Feature (25 Laps): 1. 87-Aaron Reutzel[1]; 2. 45X-Johnny Herrera[4]; 3. M1-Mark Smith[7]; 4. W20-Greg Wilson[6]; 5. 05-Brad Loyet[8]; 6. 9JR-Derek Hagar[9]; 7. 24-Danny Martin Jr.[2]; 8. 59-Danny Holtgraver[11]; 9. 10H-Chad Kemenah[17]; 10. 9P-Parker Price-Miller[13]; 11. 18-Tony Bruce Jr[19]; 12. 23-Seth Bergman[14]; 13. 49-Shawn Dancer[5]; 14. 0-Glenn Styres[10]; 15. 52-Blake Hahn[16]; 16. 20K-Thomas Kennedy[15]; 17. 14K-Kyle Bellm[12]; 18. 29-Travis Rilat[18]; 19. 77X-Wayne Johnson[20]; 20. 94-Jeff Swindell[23]; 21. 95-Matt Covington[24]; 22. 3A-A.J. Maddox[3]; 23. 92K-Matt Kurtz[21]; 24. (DNF) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[22]
Lap Leader: Aaron Reutzel 1-25
Hard Charger: Chad Kemenah +8
Provisional(s): Jeff Swindell P1; Matt Covington P1;
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2015 Lucas Oil ASCS Winners: Aaron Reutzel 2; Jason Sides 1; Mark Smith 1;
Lucas Oil ASCS Driver Points (Top 10): 1. Aaron Reutzel 567; 2. Mark Smith 562; 3. Brad Loyet 520; 4. Johnny Herrera 509; 5. Jeff Swindell 452; 6. Tony Bruce, Jr. 434; 7. Seth Bergman 429; 8.Chad Kemenah 405; 9. Greg Wilson; 399; 10. Wayne Johnson 391;
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The 2015 season will mark the 24th year of sanctioning Sprint Car racing for the American Sprint Car Series, which brings the best of Sprint Car racing to dozens of different tracks throughout the nation in both National and Regional competition.
Lucas Oil Products is the title sponsor of the American Sprint Car Series. More information can be found on Lucas Oil Products at www.lucasoil.com. MAVTV is the presenting sponsor of the American Sprint Car Series. Log onto www.mavtv.com for information regarding availability and listings in your area.
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ASCS National Drivers Online:
Josh Baughman - http://www.joshbaughman.com
Kyle Bellm - http://www.kylebellm.com
Seth Bergman - http://www.sethbergmanracing.com
Tony Bruce, Jr. - http://www.tonybrucejr.com
Matt Covington - http://www.mattcovingtonracing.com
Derek Hagar - http://www.derekhagarracing.com
Blake Hahn - http://www.blakehahnracing.com
Sam Hafertepe, Jr. - http://www.sam15.com
Johnny Herrera - http://www.johnnyherreraracing.com
Jeff Swindell - http://www.jeffswindell.com
Aaron Reutzel - http://www.aaronreutzelracing.com
Jordan Weaver - https://www.facebook.com/JordanWeaverRacing92
Associate sponsors for the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by MAVTV include: Hoosier Racing Tire and Brodix.
Team Lucas Sponsors for the American Sprint Car Series consist of Protect the Harvest, iON Camera, Smokey Mountain Moonshine, C&R Radiator, Hawk Performance Products, Geico, E3 Spark Plugs, and General Tire.
Communications for the American Sprint Car Series is provided by Racing Electronics. All events are broadcast online at http://www.racinboys.com.
Product and Contingency Sponsorship provided by: K&N Filters, KSE Racing Products, Fuel Safe, DMI Rear Ends, BMRS, SpeedMart, Competition Suspension, Engler Machine and Tool, FSR Radiator and Racing Products, Schoenfeld Headers, Driverwebsites.com, Weld Wheels, Maxwell Industries, Print Place, Simpson, The Joie of Seating, Wesmar Racing Engines, Hinchman Indy Racewear, Rod End Supply, Smiley's Racing Products, Speedway Motors, and Hilborn Injection.
- Bryan Hulbert on Feb 27, 2015
- Article Date: 2/27/2015