Aaron Reutzel Rolls to 11th All Star Win of 2019 During Thursday Night Bedford Visit
BEDFORD, Pa. (September 5, 2019) – Aaron Reutzel’s march toward a second consecutive Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 title has been rocky at times, but the Clute, Texas-native gave open-wheel fans all the reason to leave their doubts behind on Thursday night at Bedford Speedway, eventually ending his evening by leading all 30 circuits around the Bedford Fairgrounds half-mile, securing a Series-leading 11th victory in the process.
The win, accompanied by a $5,000 payday, also allowed Reutzel to snip away at Dale Blaney’s All Star championship point lead, this time narrowing the six-time champ’s command to just 16 markers with two events remaining on the weekend.
Three-time Knoxville Raceway track champion, Brian Brown, chased Reutzel to the final checkers, followed by Kasey Kahne Racing’s James McFadden, Dale Blaney, and a hard-charging Danny Dietrich, who rallied eight positions to find the top five.
“Hell of a run for this team,” Aaron Reutzel explained, driver of the Baughman-Reutzel Motorsports/Folkens Brothers Trucking/Fischer Body Shop/Hollywood Blasting & Coating/No. 87 sprint car. “We were great all night; unloaded with a fast hot rod. We’ve had a lot of heartbreak this year, but we always bounce back and get wins. That just goes to show what kind of a team effort we have here.”
Although a surefire favorite, as well as dominate, Reutzel’s campaign from the pole position did encounter some pressure from Grain Valley, Missouri’s Brian Brown, but not until after the midpoint of the 30-lap program. In fact, Reutzel’s lead was just over three seconds by the time the leaders received the crossed flags; it was down to less than three-quarters of second by lap 23.
A caution on lap 25 for a slowing Trey Starks, who was battling in the fourth position at the time, created a momentum shift for Reutzel and served as the break that Brown needed. Unfortunately for Brown, a clear track and clean air created the perfect recipe for Reutzel, immediately blasting away to a comfortable lead.
The main event’s second and final caution occurred on the white flag lap, this time setting up a green-white-checkered finish. Despite Brown’s attempt to capitalize, Reutzel did exactly what he did during the prior restart and quickly escaped to a comfortable advantage.
“I was happy to see that yellow, for sure,” Aaron Reutzel continued. “It got to the point where I couldn’t pass the lapped cars. But I was hoping since I couldn’t pass them, I couldn’t get passed.”
“Aaron (Reutzel) was probably better than me overall,” Brian Brown said, who will spend the next few weeks racing in Pennsylvania. “I found the rubber in one and two a little bit sooner than he did which allowed us to make up some ground. I could see he was having a little bit of trouble with the lapped cars, and I was having some trouble, too, which kinda slowed my pace down. The caution was an opportunity I needed.”
Tony Stewart’s All Star Circuit of Champions will continue their weekend venture through the Keystone State with a doubleheader at Port Royal Speedway in Port Royal, Pennsylvania, on Friday and Saturday, September 6 & 7. The 52nd running of the prestigious Tuscarora 50 will headline action at the ‘Speed Palace,’ kicking-off, officially, Friday evening with the $5,000-to-win Night Before The 50 preliminary program. The two-day showstopper will conclude with the 50-lap, $52,000-to-win Tuscarora 50; the largest paying program on the All Star Circuit of Champions campaign trail.
MAVTV Motorsports Network, the official television home of the All Star Circuit of Champions in 2019, will be on hand to capture action from both nights of Port Royal Speedway’s Tuscarora 50. The Night Before The 50, as well as the 50-lap Tuscarora 50 finale, will be aired on MAVTV Motorsports Network via tape-delay broadcast beginning November 3.
Contingency Awards/Results: Bedford Speedway – September 5, 2019:
Event: Roy Morral Tribute
Entries: 30
C&R Racing All Star Warm-Ups: Dale Blaney – 16.571seconds
Lincoln Electric Fast Qualifier: Trey Starks – 15.891 seconds
Ford Performance Heat #1: Aaron Reutzel
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #2: Kerry Madsen
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #3: James McFadden
JE Pistons presented by Fatheadz Eyewear Dash: Aaron Reutzel
Classic Ink USA Screenprinting B-Main Winner: Gerard McIntyre
Ollie’s Bargain Outlet A-Main Winner: Aaron Reutzel
MSD Performance Hard Charger Award: Danny Dietrich (+8)
Cometic Gasket Most A-Main Laps Led: Aaron Reutzel (1-30)
Rayce Rudeen Foundation First Non-Transfer: Brandon Matus
(Lincoln Electric, MSD Performance, Fatheadz Eyewear, Rayce Rudeen Foundation, Cometic Gasket: Need decal to qualify for contingency award)
Qualifying
Group (A)
1. 44-Trey Starks, 15.891; 2. 26-Cory Eliason, 16.333; 3. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 16.373; 4. 17-Josh Baughman, 16.488; 5. 70X-Justin Peck, 16.621; 6. 24-Lucas Wolfe, 16.645; 7. 7k-Dan Shetler, 16.660; 8. 13M-Brandon Matus, 16.876; 9. 99-Skylar Gee, 16.930; 10. 40-George Hobaugh, 17.153
Group (B)
1. 21-Brian Brown, 16.104; 2. 2M-Kerry Madsen, 16.380; 3. 13-Paul McMahan, 16.452; 4. 42-Sye Lynch, 16.528; 5. 48-Danny Dietrich, 16.563; 6. K4-Chad Kemenah, 16.662; 7. 55-Logan Wagner, 16.699; 8. 98H-Dave Blaney, 16.723; 9. 11B-Carl Bowser, 16.891; 10. 18J-RJ Jacobs, 16.932
Group (C)
1. 70-Brock Zearfoss, 16.305; 2. 11-Dale Blaney, 16.312; 3. 9-James McFadden, 16.384; 4. O7-Gerard McIntyre, 16.696; 5. 91-Anthony Fiore, 16.883; 6. W20-Greg Wilson, 16.910; 7. 5-Justin Barger, 17.164; 8. iO7-Mark Coldren, 17.350; 9. J4-John Garvin, 17.477; 10. 33-Brent Matus, 18.519
Heat #1 – Group (A) (8 Laps) – Top 6 Transfer
1. 87-Aaron Reutzel [2]; 2. 44-Trey Starks [4]; 3. 17-Josh Baughman [1]; 4. 26-Cory Eliason [3]; 5. 70X-Justin Peck [5]; 6. 24-Lucas Wolfe [6]; 7. 13M-Brandon Matus [8]; 8. 7K-Dan Shetler [7]; 9. 99-Skylar Gee [9]; 10. 40-George Hobaugh [10]
Heat #2 – Group (B) (8 Laps) – Top 6 Transfer
1. 2M-Kerry Madsen [3]; 2. 42-Sye Lynch [1]; 3. 13-Paul McMahan [2]; 4. 21-Brian Brown [4]; 5. 48-Danny Dietrich [5]; 6. K4-Chad Kemenah [6]; 7. 55-Logan Wagner [7]; 8. 98H-Dave Blaney [8]; 9. 11B-Carl Bowser [9]; 10. 18J-RJ Jacobs [10]
Heat #3 – Group (C) (8 Laps) – Top 6 Transfer
1. 9-James McFadden [2]; 2. 70-Brock Zearfoss [4]; 3. 11-Dale Blaney [3]; 4. W20-Greg Wilson [6]; 5. 91-Anthony Fiore [5]; 6. 5-Justin Barger [7]; 7. O7-Gerard McIntyre [1]; 8. IO7-Mark Coldren [8]; 9. J4-John Garvin [9]; 10. 33-Brent Matus [10]
Dash #1 (6 Laps)
1. 87-Aaron Reutzel [2]; 2. 21-Brian Brown [1]; 3. 11-Dale Blaney [3]; 4. 44-Trey Starks [6]; 5. 9-James McFadden [4]; 6. 2M-Kerry Madsen [7]; 7. 70-Brock Zearfoss [8]; 8. 42-Sye Lynch [5]
B-Main (12 Laps) – Top 6 Transfer
1. O7-Gerard McIntyre [2]; 2. 7K-Dan Shetler [1]; 3. 55-Logan Wagner [3]; 4. 99-Skylar Gee [8]; 5. 13M-Brandon Matus [4]; 6. 98H-Dave Blaney [5]; 7. 11B-Carl Bowser [7]; 8. 18J-RJ Jacobs [10]; 9. J4-John Garvin [9]; 10. 40-George Hobaugh [11]; 11. IO7-Mark Coldren [6]; 12. 33-Brent Matus [12]
A-Main (30 Laps)
1. 87-Aaron Reutzel [1]; 2. 21-Brian Brown [2]; 3. 9-James McFadden [5]; 4. 11-Dale Blaney [3]; 5. 48-Danny Dietrich [13]; 6. 26-Cory Eliason [11]; 7. 70-Brock Zearfoss [7]; 8. 17-Josh Baughman [10]; 9. 2M-Kerry Madsen [6]; 10. 24-Lucas Wolfe [16]; 11. 13-Paul McMahan [9]; 12. K4-Chad Kemenah [17]; 13. O7-Gerard McIntyre [19]; 14. 99-Skylar Gee [22]; 15. 55-Logan Wagner [21]; 16. 7K-Dan Shetler [20]; 17. 42-Sye Lynch [8]; 18. 91-Anthony Fiore [15]; 19. W20-Greg Wilson [12]; 20. 44-Trey Starks [4]; 21. 70X-Justin Peck [14]; 22. 13M-Brandon Matus [23]; 23. 98H-Dave Blaney [24]; 24. 5-Justin Barger [18] Lap Leaders: Aaron Reutzel (1-30)
2019 All Star Circuit of Champions Driver Standings (After 9/5/2019):
1. Dale Blaney – 4444
2. Aaron Reutzel – 4428
3. Cory Eliason – 4350
4. Paul McMahan – 4280
5. Brock Zearfoss – 4214
6. Greg Wilson – 4106
7. Gerard McIntyre – 3980
8. Skylar Gee – 3874
9. George Hobaugh – 3332
10. Justin Peck – 2814
2019 All Star Circuit of Champions Winners:
Bubba Raceway Park, Fla. (1/31/2019): Tim Shaffer
Bubba Raceway Park, Fla. (2/1/2019): Tim Shaffer (2)
Bubba Raceway Park, Fla. (2/2/2019): Tony Stewart
Volusia Speedway Park, Fla. (2/6/2019): Shane Stewart
Volusia Speedway Park, Fla. (2/7/2019): Brad Sweet
Virginia Motor Speedway, Va. (4/11/2019): Cory Eliason
Port Royal Speedway, Pa. (4/13/2019): Lance Dewease
Attica Raceway Park, Ohio (5/24/2019): Aaron Reutzel
Fremont Speedway, Ohio (5/26/2019): Aaron Reutzel (2)
Outlaw Speedway, N.Y. (6/7/2019): Brock Zearfoss
Stateline Speedway, N.Y. (6/8/2019): Dale Blaney
Weedsport Speedway, N.Y. (6/9/2019): Danny Dietrich
Attica Raceway Park, Ohio (6/14/2019): Kyle Larson
Muskingum County Speedway, Ohio (6/16/2019): Dale Blaney (2)
Wayne County Speedway, Ohio (6/19/2019): Aaron Reutzel (3)
Wayne County Speedway, Ohio (6/22/2019): Buddy Kofoid
Dirt Oval at Route 66, Ill. (6/29/2019): Aaron Reutzel (4)
Lernerville Speedway, Pa. (7/5/2019): Aaron Reutzel (5)
Sharon Speedway, Ohio (7/6/2019): Dale Blaney (3)
Utica-Rome Speedway, N.Y. (7/12/2019): Aaron Reutzel (6)
Orange County Fair Speedway N.Y. (7/13/2019): Danny Dietrich (2)
Lebanon Valley Speedway N.Y. (7/14/2019): Brock Zearfoss (2)
Plymouth Dirt Track, Wis. (7/25/2019): James McFadden
Jackson Motorplex, Minn. (7/26/2019): James McFadden (2)
Knoxville Raceway, Iowa (7/27/2019): Gio Scelzi
34 Raceway, Iowa (7/28/2019): Tony Stewart (2)
I-96 Speedway, Mich (8/16/2019): Cory Eliason (2)
Plymouth Speedway, Ind. (8/17/2019): Aaron Reutzel (7)
Grandview Speedway, Pa. (8/22/2019): Aaron Reutzel (8)
Williams Grove Speedway, Pa. (8/23/2019): Aaron Reutzel (9)
Williams Grove Speedway, Pa. (8/23/2019): Lance Dewease (2)
Lincoln Speedway, Pa. (8/24/2019): Skylar Gee
BAPS Motor Speedway, Pa. (8/25/2019): Gerard McIntyre
Attica Raceway Park, Ohio (8/30/2019): Aaron Reutzel (10)
Attica Raceway Park, Ohio (8/31/2019): Brock Zearfoss (3)
Wayne County Speedway, Ohio (9/2/2019): Cap Henry
Bedford Speedway, Pa. (9/5/2019): Aaron Reutzel (11)
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About the All Star Circuit of Champions:
All Star Enterprises, LLC, wholly owned by Tony Stewart, d/b/a the All Star Circuit of Champions, is a winged sprint car series. The All Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Car Series is one of the oldest traveling 410 sprint car organizations and is a staple of grassroots, open-wheel racing. Formed in 1970 by Bud Miller, the series has largely been considered the first ‘outlaw’ Sprint Car organization of the modern era. Motorsports entrepreneur Tony Stewart agreed to terms with Guy Webb to become the sole owner of the original winged sprint car tour in January of 2015. In 2019, MAVTV Motorsports Network will continue to be the official television home of the Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 and will broadcast ten high-profile events.
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Sources: Tyler Altmeyer/Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 PR
Photo Credit: Michael Fry