7/8/2015
Aaron Reutzel
Reutzel Lands Roth Ride for Howard Kaeding Classic
Lonnie Wheatley, CLUTE, Texas (July 8, 2015) – The Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour may have an idle weekend coming up. But, the series points leader won’t be flipping channels or seeing the sights, as Aaron Reutzel will take the wheel of the Roth Motorsports No. 83 for this weekend’s Howard Kaeding Classic at Ocean Speedway in Watsonville, CA.
The weekend’s action will include a winged 360-ci Civil War vs. Ocean Sprints card on Friday night and then 410-ci King of the West competition on Saturday night.
“It’s a great opportunity, I’m looking forward to my first weekend with such a successful team,” the Clute, TX, racer said. “We’ve been talking some but they know I’m committed to the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour. We decided that we could race on some of the off weekends from the tour and this weekend fits in perfectly.”
Reutzel has already racked up seven feature wins this year, including his first 410-ci Sprint Car triumph in just his fifth start with the bigger powerplant. He has since posted a top-five finish in his World of Outlaws debut, an unheard of feat.
The driver of the Shark-powered BC Fundz/Basic One Services No. 87 Triple X Sprint Car comes off another strong weekend of ASCS National Tour action in Washington that almost felt like a home race.
“My engine builder, my chassis guys, my tee-shirt guy, they’re all from Washington so it really felt like being at home,” Reutzel said of the location that’s actually more than 2,500 miles from his south Texas residence.
And Reutzel made Elma’s Grays Harbor Raceway seem like home with a tenth-to-third run on Friday and then a charge from the tail in Saturday’s Fred Brownfield Classic to notch another top ten aboard the Wren Motorsports/Momentum Racing Suspensions machine.
Friday’s front row outside draw for heat race action didn’t necessarily work to Reutzel’s favor. “The only moisture was on the bottom so Wayne (Johnson) had the advantage.”
Starting tenth in the feature after running second in his heat race, Reutzel had work to do in the Dissolvealloy Frac Ball Revolution machine.
“We missed the setup a little bit and started out way too tight,” Reutzel says. “After a few laps it started getting better and we were floating the middle. We were able to get up to third, another five laps and we maybe could of won, it kept getting better as we went.”
Locked into Saturday’s Fred Brownfield Classic finale with the top-four finish, bad luck struck on the opening lap for the driver of the Danny Sander Construction/ButlerBuilt entry.
“I’m not sure why it happened, but it jumped out of gear in turn two on the first lap,” Reutzel explains. “I stopped in turn three, but they went single-file on the restart.”
Relegated to the tail, Reutzel had his work cut out aboard the Lone Star Hydro Maintenance/Wright Way Logistics Sprint Car.
“Single-file with 25 cars was tough, the track was racy but it was narrow,” Reutzel says. “Two guys would be racing side-by-side and there wasn’t room to get around.”
Reutzel still made the most of it, clawing his way back up to eighth by race’s end to preserve a 62-point lead in the $60,000 Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour title chase.
“It was tight racing, we were lucky to get back up to eighth,” Reutzel says.
Now, with an open weekend before ASCS action resumes in Montana on July 17-18, Reutzel is set to take in a California weekend with the Roth Motorsports No. 83 at Ocean Speedway this Friday and Saturday.
“Hopefully we’ll have some success and this is something we can do more of in the future,” Reutzel concludes.
2015 Quick Stats: 36 races, 7 wins, 19 top-fives, 25 top-tens.
Up Next: The Howard Kaeding Classic at Ocean Speedway in Watsonville, CA, including 360-ci Civil War vs. Ocean Sprints on Friday and then 410-ci King of the West Sprint Cars on Saturday night.
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.
(Photo courtesy of Malcolm White Photography)
Article Credit: Lonnie Wheatley
Submitted By: Lonnie Wheatley
