3/22/2018
Aaron Reutzel
Reutzel Wraps Up Cali WoO Swing Saturday at Bakersfield
Lonnie Wheatley, CLUTE, Texas (March 22, 2018) – With Mother Nature dominating the World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Cars California swing thus far, Aaron Reutzel and the Baughman-Reutzel Motorsports No. 87 Sprint Car team hope to get on the track one more time before traveling back to Ohio to begin their pursuit of the All Star Circuit of Champions title.
With the Wednesday card at Placerville nixed days in advance and Friday’s event at Watsonville’s Ocean Speedway falling victim as well, all that remains standing is Saturday’s Cali finale at Bakersfield Speedway.
“We need to get one of these in,” the driver of the Folkens Brothers Tucking/Dissolvalloy Downhole Revolution Triple-X Sprint Car commented. Thus far, California rain has washed out four of six scheduled events.
After debuting the newly-formed BRM team at Las Vegas, the Precision Catalyst/Hollywood Blasting & Coating/Beard Equipment entry has performed superbly in California with Reutzel bagging his first career World of Outlaws win at Tulare’s Thunderbowl Raceway on March 9 and then marching towards another strong finish at The Stockton Dirt Track last Saturday (March 17) before suspension woes forced him pitside.
“It was unbelievable,” Reutzel says of his first World of Outlaws triumph at the Thunderbowl Raceway. “It was the same thing that I did for the Peter Murphy win, I just kind of held position early and then found the top and got rolling. Once I got by (Donny) Schatz for second, I figured that had to be the hardest part right there.”
After that, Reutzel battled past Cory Eliason for the win in the closing laps. “The main thing was I didn’t want to show him the top of three and four,” Reutzel recalls. “After I got by him, I was happy that I got by the lapped cars right away, I knew we had it then.”
With the following night at Tulare rained out and then last Friday’s Stockton opener awash as well, track crews managed to get in the Saturday card.
“The track caught us by surprise all night,” Reutzel says. “We never could quite adjust for the racetrack.”
Reutzel still timed in seventh among his group aboard the Nattress Construction/Momentum Racing Suspensions entry to grid fourth in heat race action. “Outside was the place to be and we had two good starts get called back,” Reutzel says. “Then a car on the inside wrecked and we had to move inside.”
It proved costly, with Reutzel dropping to fifth early before battling back to finish fourth, putting him 17th in the feature lineup.
“We loosened up a little bit for the ‘A’”, Reutzel relates. “They scraped the track and it was lockdown heavy.”
Reutzel was on the move though, making it up to tenth when a left rear shock broke.
“We changed it and got back out,” Reutzel recalls. “We didn’t have another one like the one that broke though and what we put on wasn’t working so we pulled off after a few laps.”
It was another night that the BRM No. 87 showed impressive speed. “We had just passed the car that finished seventh when that shock broke,” Reutzel explains. “I feel like we had a car that could have run up as far as fifth.”
Reutzel gets one more California chance on Saturday with his first visit to Bakersfield Speedway.
“It looks badass, a tight little bullring,” Reutzel said after scouting out the track in videos. “It should be a fun one.”
2018 Quick Stats: 4 races, 1 win, 2 top-fives, 2 top-tens.
Up Next: World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Cars at Bakersfield (CA) Speedway on Saturday. For those unable to catch the action in person, it is available via PPV on www.dirtvision.com.
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.
(DB3 Photo)
Article Credit: Lonnie Wheatley