Lonnie Wheatley, CLUTE, Texas (July 14, 2017) – Aaron Reutzel keeps grinding away in the Lucas Oil ASCS National championship points chase, posting another pair of top five finishes in last weekend’s Grizzly Nationals at Belgrade, Montana’s Gallatin Speedway to close to within 50 points of the lead in the $60,000 title chase.
After finishes of third and fourth at Gallatin Speedway, action resumes for Reutzel and the Dissolvalloy Downhole Revolution/BC Fundz No. 87 Triple-X Sprint Car team with a weekend double at Black Hills Speedway in Rapid City, SD, on Friday and Saturday.
“It wasn’t too bad,” Reutzel said of last weekend’s Montana outing.
It began with a run from fourth to second in Friday night heat race action to land in the redraw. “The redraw was important, you really needed to be in the first couple of rows to have a chance to get the lead before the rubber laid down,” Reutzel explained.
Instead, Reutzel drew the eight pill, putting the Wren Motorsports/Momentum Racing Suspensions machine outside the fourth row in the starting grid.
“I knew I had to be on the gas the first couple of laps to get as close to the leaders as I could,” Reutzel explains. “By the second lap I was running fifth, then the rubber really laid down.”
Gaining those three positions at the outset proved beneficial, with Reutzel then capitalizing on opportunities to climb to third by the end of the race.
“Skylar Gee got together with a lapped car to move us up to fourth and then Seth (Bergman) blew a tire on the last lap to get us to third,” Reutzel said of the drive that locked the Nattress Construction/Wings Unlimited entry into Saturday’s Grizzly Nationals finale.
The redraw worked to Reutzel’s advantage with the driver of the No. 87 Sprint Car landing the pole position.
Some last minute track work mixed things up this time though.
“They re-watered the track right before the feature,” Reutzel says. “We really had to chase the track around early, it changed every lap.”
By the fourth lap, some rubber began to appear on the surface.
“I started protecting in the rubber, but the top was still a little faster where it was still wet,” Reutzel says. “It took about ten laps before the rubber got fast.”
Before then, Gio Scelzi raced by on the high side. “I went up there, and then Wayne (Johnson) slid me,” Reutzel relates. “I slid back a little early and just never could recover.”
Reutzel still made another strong night of it, finishing fourth in the Wright Way Logistics/Walker Performance machine.
Now, Reutzel and crew are ready for Rapid City, South Dakota’s Black Hills Speedway. In four Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour features at Black Hills Speedway over the last three years, Reutzel has finished no worse than fourth.
“We have always been fast there, we just haven’t got the win yet,” Reutzel says.
Reutzel has been climbing upward with a fourth-place showing at Black Hills in 2015 and then finishes of second and third last year. He looks for the top step of the podium this weekend.
2017 Quick Stats: 43 races, 4 wins, 16 top-fives, 23 top-tens.
Up Next: Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour at Black Hills Speedway in Rapid City, SD, on Friday and Saturday, July 14-15.
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.
