Reutzel Takes on World of Outlaws in Indiana after Knoxville Podium
CLUTE, Texas (April 28, 2017) – With Mother Nature flexing early-season muscle, Aaron Reutzel and the Dissolvalloy Downhole Revolution/BC Fundz No. 87 Triple-X Sprint Car team found themselves at Iowa’s Knoxville Raceway for last weekend’s 410-ci Sprint Car season-opener atop the storied ½-mile clay oval.
While original plans had called for World of Outlaws action at West Memphis and Pevely, the change of plans worked out quite well with Reutzel driving the Wren Motorsports/Momentum Racing Suspensions entry to a strong third-place finish.
“We practiced on Friday for the first time there and I’m really glad we did,” Reutzel said. “We got in our comfort zone, the car had a lot of speed.”
With weather very much in effect again for this weekend, Reutzel and the Nattress Construction/Wings Unlimited team will take on the World of Outlaws at Indiana’s Plymouth Speedway on Friday night before determining a Saturday night destination.
Following last Friday’s successful practice run at Knoxville, Saturday got off to a strong start with Reutzel quickest in hot laps. But it nearly got away from him in qualifying.
“I made a mistake in qualifying that messed up both of my laps,” Reutzel explains. “I was surprised and happy that we were still seventh-quick.”
Reutzel responded by racing from fourth to win his heat race aboard the Wright Way Logistics/Walker Performance Filtration machine. “That’s tough to do any time there,” Reutzel says. “To pass quality cars in a short race, you have to be going good.”
With a zero invert, Reutzel was third in points after heat race action and gridded the feature inside the second row behind Brian Brown and Kerry Madsen.
“We were a little faster than Kerry, I tried to slide him a few times for second,” Reutzel recalls.
Reutzel persisted, falling just short. “I thought I had him one time, and he just barely drove back by,” Reutzel says of the battle. “A little bit after that, he challenged Brown for the lead.”
“I wish I could have got by him (Madsen), I think it would have made for a different race,” Reutzel explains.
Still, a strong third-place finish in the Knoxville Raceway season opener is nothing to scoff at and bodes well for the upcoming season.
“We’re really excited about Nationals now, we feel really good with the package that we have,” Reutzel says.
Reutzel finds himself back in World of Outlaws action Friday at Plymouth Speedway and seeks any place with clear skies on Saturday.
2017 Quick Stats: 23 races, 2 top-fives, 6 top-tens.
Up Next: World of Outlaws at Plymouth (IN) Speedway on Friday with Saturday yet to be determined.
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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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.
Sources: Lonnie Wheatley/Aaron Reutzel PR