Lonnie Wheatley, CLUTE, Texas (June 23, 2016) – It wasn’t exactly the ASCS Speedweek that reigning Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour champion Aaron Reutzel had hoped for, so this weekend’s Dirt Cup at Washington’s Skagit Speedway may just be just what the doctor ordered for the Clute, TX, racer.
Reutzel and the Shark-powered Dissolvalloy Downhole Revolution/BC Fundz No. 87 Triple-X Sprint Car came into Speedweek off a runner-up finish at South Dakota’s Badlands Speedway the previous Sunday night, June 5.
And a runner-up finish in the Speedweek opener at Amarillo’s Route 66 Motor Speedway on June 12 bode well for the Wren Motorsports/Momentum Racing Suspensions team, though Reutzel was looking for more than runner-up finishes.
“The second place finishes are kind of frustrating, especially when we were in position to probably win both of those races,” Reutzel commented. “It’s good to know we’re in position though, we have to carry that forward.”
The balance of Speedweek was rough on Reutzel and the Danny Sander Construction/ButlerBuilt team with a sixth-place run at Lawton Speedway the only finish among the top ten with 11th place showings at Creek County Speedway and Sedalia to follow before making an early exit at Lucas Oil Speedway.
“It was a week of hell,” Reutzel sums up. “Just no luck at all.”
“We’re just not catching breaks in heat races,” Reutzel explains of the challenging week. “When we do draw good, then we get qualifiers and then get bottled up in those.”
It very nearly all started with a win at Amarillo. “We should have won hands down. I took the lead on the top, then I saw Sam (Hafertepe, Jr.) under me a couple of times,” Reutzel recalls. “I probably took the lead a little too early, but I handed it over to him.”
It was his second consecutive runner-up finish after a possible Badlands win got away six nights earlier. “I ran into the back of a lapped car, that gave Tim (Kaeding) a shot,” Reutzel said. “We banged wheels, I tried to block going into the final corners and he passed me in the infield.”
That’s what led into Amarillo. And from there, it got tougher after a Devil’s Bowl rainout.
“We were kinda okay at Lawton in the “A”, and then it laid rubber,” Reutzel says of a sixth-place finish.
Creek County looked promising for the Wright Way Logistics/Walker Performance Filtration team after the heat races. “We were sitting good after the heats, then our row got bottled up in the qualifier,” Reutzel explains. “That put us 12th in the feature, Blake (Hahn) spun on the first lap and knocked the nose wing down so all we could do was ride around.”
At Sedalia, the team opted to change engines after just missing the feature cut and was relegated to the tail of the “B” Main. Reutzel responded by rallying from 18th to make a transfer position. “We got there somehow, I’m not even sure how.”
Reutzel then worked from the tail of the field to salvage a second 11th-place finish in as many nights. “The first couple of laps, you couldn’t see anything for all the dust,” Reutzel comments. “We got going pretty good then and were up to about tenth early before the rubber came back in.”
Then, after winning his qualifier at Lucas Oil Speedway on Saturday night, his feature came to an early end with engine woes. “We started 12th, we were up to 10th on the start and broke a valve spring retainer,” Reutzel says. “That’s just how the week was.”
With ASCS Speedweek in the rearview mirror and the cross-country trek to Washington on the horizon, Reutzel took the time to rejoin forces with the Shane Liebig No. 55L team for Sunday night’s World of Outlaws tilt at Aberdeen, South Dakota’s Brown County Speedway where he knocked off another 11th-place finish.
“We were a little tight in hot laps, but we didn’t tighten up as much as we should have for qualifying,” Reutzel explains. “We qualified 13th, so that’s pretty much how you’re night is going to go racing with those guys.”
“We fell back to 15th at the start,” Reutzel says of the feature event. “I got the wing back and started running some good lines and got back to 11th.”
“The car was good,” Reutzel says of the Liebig No. 55L. “They just keep getting it better and better every time out.”
Now, it’s time for Skagit Speedway’s Dirt Cup in Alger, WA. The $15,000-to-win event is scheduled to start tonight, weather permitting, with ensuing action on Friday and Saturday.
“I’m looking forward to it,” Reutzel says. “The track was awesome last year. It’s tough with so many cars, last year we started 12th and raced up to second. Maybe our luck will turn around and we can get that $15,000.”
2016 Quick Stats: 46 races, 3 wins, 12 top-fives, 22 top-tens.
Up Next:
Thursday, Friday and Saturday – Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour at Skagit Speedway’s “Dirt Cup” in Alger, WA
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 www.sprintcarmania.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.
- administrator on Jun 23, 2016
- Article Date: 6/23/2016 by Lonnie Wheatley