1/15/2019
Aaron Reutzel
All Star Champ Reutzel Kicks off Chili Bowl with Race of Champions on Tuesday
Lonnie Wheatley, CLUTE, Texas (January 15, 2019) – After an amazing first full season of 410-ci Sprint Car competition in 2018 with the newly-formed Baughman-Reutzel Motorsports No. 87 Sprint Car team, Clute, TX, native Aaron Reutzel is ready for his third dose of Chili Bowl action at the Tulsa Expo Raceway.
And it begins on Tuesday night with Reutzel wheeling Joe Dooling’s No. 92 SR-11 powered Spike chassis in the 11th Annual Vacuworx Invitational Race of Champions (VIROC). The reigning champion of Tony Stewart’s All Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Car series landed the invitation by virtue of car owner Dooling’s Chili Bowl win with Bryan Clauson in 2014.
Reutzel will then take to the track again during Wednesday’s Hard Rock Casino Qualifying Night that will determine in large part his Saturday night Chili Bowl fate. A top-two finish in the feature would net his first Chili Bowl championship feature start with anything else determining his position among the day’s alphabet soup.
“I’m really looking forward to it, this is just a fun race,” Reutzel commented. “Being in the VIROC gives us some extra laps to get comfortable and dialed in and ready for Wednesday. And if the draw goes well for VIROC, hopefully we can put together a good finish there too.”
After a 2018 season that included 11 overall wins, this is just Reutzel’s third attempt at the Chili Bowl Nationals.
Reutzel’s first attempt was plagued by mechanical issues that resulted in less than a handful of laps. However, Reutzel bounced back the next year in 2017 and very nearly drove the Tyson Hall entry into the main event only to be collected in a late-race “B” Main tangle while in transfer position contention.
“It’s the Chili Bowl, so anything can happen,” Reutzel commented. “But if things fall right, I feel like we can be right there.”
Reutzel will find out in short order if Chili Bowl luck is on his side this time around with Tuesday’s VIROC.
2018 Quick Stats: 73 races, 11 wins, 27 top-fives, 39 top-tens.
Next Up: Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals Vacuworx Invitational Race of Champions on Tuesday, Hard Rock Casino Qualifying Night on Wednesday and Chili Bowl championship Saturday.
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.
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Article Credit: Lonnie Wheatley