10/19/2016
Aaron Reutzel
Reutzel Takes on Trophy Cup after Pair of Devil's Bowl Top Fives
Lonnie Wheatley, CLUTE, Texas (October 19, 2016) – Aaron Reutzel puts a perfect record on the line this weekend.
In one previous visit to Tulare’s Thunderbowl Raceway in California, Reutzel raced to an $11,000 triumph in last year’s “Peter Murphy Classic”.
Reutzel makes his Thunderbowl return this weekend for his first attempt at the Trophy Cup on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, joining forces with the No. 21p team fielded by Randy and Robbie Price of Cobble Hill, British Columbia. The event offers up $3,000 to win features on Thursday and Friday and a $3,500 to win feature on Saturday with a $13,000 payday for the weekend’s overall top point earner.
In short, some pretty serious money is on the line.
It will be the first of two signature 360-ci Sprint Car events for the Clute, TX native in the coming weeks with a return to I-30 Speedway’s “Short Track Nationals” in Little Rock, AR, on November 3-5 on the docket as well.
“Trophy Cup is a race I’ve really wanted to run, I’m looking forward to this weekend and thankful to Randy and Robbie Price for the opportunity,” Reutzel said. “Then I can’t wait to get back to I-30 Speedway and the Short Track Nationals, I love that track and that event, it’s one I really want to win.”
Reutzel comes off a weekend of Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour competition that included a pair of top-five finishes at the Devil’s Bowl Winter Nationals including a runner-up showing in Friday night’s preliminary aboard the Dissolvalloy Downhole Revolution/BC Fundz No. 87 Triple-X Sprint Car.
Friday started with a heavy and narrow Devil’s Bowl half-mile oval.
“We had a tough heat, fortunately a couple of guys got bottled up and I got a pair of positions in the first two corners,” Reutzel says. “The same thing happened in the qualifier, I got a good start and got a couple of spots in the first two corners.”
That was good enough to put the reigning series champion fourth in the feature starting grid aboard the Wren Motorsports/Momentum Racing Suspensions mount.
“I kind of struggled early in the race, but then we were really good over the last half,” Reutzel said.
And when the leader started blowing some smoke, Reutzel sensed opportunity in the Danny Sander Construction/ButlerBuilt entry.
“Johnny (Herrera) started blowing up and we were catching him,” Reutzel recalls. “We might have got him, but then there was a caution with four laps to go.”
Enter an unexplained lapped car on the restart and it was just enough to slow Reutzel’s charge, forcing him to settle for a solid runner-up finish in the Wright Way Logistics/Walker Performance Filtration machine.
“We were running him down, but we weren’t good enough early to run with Johnny so we were happy with second,” Reutzel says.
With rubber atop the Devil’s Bowl Speedway surface on Saturday night, Reutzel redrew a four for the main event. “I knew our night was over,” Reutzel surmises.
“There was just a little moisture up top,” Reutzel said of the track. “I was hoping I could rip the top at the start and maybe get some positions. It didn’t work and I just fell back in line on the bottom and rode along the rest of the way.”
Reutzel rode along to another strong finish in fifth, the 29th time among the top five thus far in 2016.
Now, Reutzel sets his sights on Tulare’s Trophy Cup. Three wild nights of action get under way on Thursday night.
2016 Quick Stats: 89 races, 7 wins, 29 top-fives, 44 top-tens.
Up Next: Twenty-third Annual Trophy Cup at Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare, CA, aboard the Randy & Robbie Price No. 21p Sprint Car.
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.
Article Credit: Lonnie Wheatley