Lonnie Wheatley, CLUTE, Texas (June 30, 2016) – Aaron Reutzel wasted little time shaking off the demons that harassed him throughout Speedway by racing from mid-pack to capture a second-place finish in last Saturday night’s Dirt Cup finale at Alger, Washington’s Skagit Speedway.
Jumping up to fourth in Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour points after the strong finish, the Fred Brownfield Classic at Elma’s Grays Harbor Raceway is next up for Reutzel and the Shark-powered Dissolvalloy Downhole Revolution/BC Fundz No. 87 Triple-X Sprint Car on Friday and Saturday.
Reutzel will then round out the weekend by taking a quick flight to South Dakota to join forces with Shane Liebig’s No. 55 team for Sunday night’s World of Outlaws action at Badlands Speedway near Sioux Falls, SD.
“It should be a good weekend, Grays Harbor was really good and racy last year and we have been fast at Badlands this year, I’m looking forward to it,” Reutzel said.
After a rainout last Thursday, Skagit’s Dirt Cup was reduced to a two-night affair. And Reutzel looked to be a potential lock-in aboard the Wren Motorsports/Momentum Racing Suspensions entry, running fourth for a while in Friday’s preliminary feature.
“We were rolling around fourth on a track where there was really only a bottom that was good,” Reutzel relates. “I tried to make something happen to get myself off the lock-in bubble and smoked the fence.”
Reutzel settled for 14th on Friday and started fresh on Saturday in the Danny Sander Construction/ButlerBuilt entry.
After finishing second in his heat race and then winning his qualifier, Reutzel gridded the field tenth aboard the Wright Way Logistics/Walker Performance Filtration entry for the $15,000-to-win Dirt Cup finale.
“We were really good in the ‘A’, we ran up through there with no real problem,” Reutzel explained.
As the track improved throughout the race, Reutzel had worked his way up to fourth by the time the race’s only caution flew with 18 laps to go.
“We were up to fourth but we were still 12th in line on the restart with all the lapped cars in place,” Reutzel says.
Reutzel worked his way through the lapped cars and took over second. By that time though, eventual race-winner Sam Hafertepe, Jr., had built a half straightaway lead that too much to overcome in the few laps remaining.
“We didn’t get the caution we needed, didn’t get that break,” Reutzel comments. “We gave it a heck of an effort though, it was definitely a much-needed good run for us.”
Reutzel looks to improve upon Saturday’s finish by one position in this weekend’s Fred Brownfield Classic at Grays Harbor Raceway, a track where he finished third and eighth in last year’s championship campaign.
2016 Quick Stats: 48 races, 3 wins, 13 top-fives, 23 top-tens.
Up Next:
Friday and Saturday – Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour at Grays Harbor Raceway’s “Fred Brownfield Classic” in Elma, WA
Sunday – World of Outlaws at Badlands Motor Speedway in Brandon, SD
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 30, 2016
- Article Date: 6/30/2016 by Lonnie Wheatley