Aaron Reutzel scores Screven’s Winter Freeze All Star finale for $10,000
SYLVANIA, Georgia (January 30, 2021) – Although no longer a full-time traveler with “America’s Series,” three-time All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 champion, Aaron Reutzel, picked up right where he left off in 2020 and maneuvered his way back to All Star victory lane, this time scoring $10,000 in Screven Motor Speedway’s Winter Freeze All Star finale on Saturday, January 30. The Clute, Texas-native earned his triumph from the outside of row two, forced to outduel Wooster, Ohio’s Sheldon Haudenschild, all before fending off a late charge by Neptune City, New Jersey’s Kyle Reinhardt. The Sugarlands Shine Southern Tour presented by Elliott’s Custom Trailers and Carts victory bumped Reutzel’s All Star win total to 37; his first at Screven Motor Speedway.
“I can’t thank the entire Roth Motorsports team enough for allowing Dylan (Buswell) and I to come on board and bring our package with us. They took a big risk and we appreciate everything they’ve done for us,” Aaron Reutzel said in Screven victory lane. “We struggled a little bit in Arizona, but we took some time during the week to think about some things. We made a few fine changes and now I feel right at home. Everyone has done such a great job and I can’t say how excited I am enough.”
Taking off from the outside-pole position, Sheldon Haudenschild was the early leader, forced to withstand a caution on the initial start, as well as an ensuing red flag incident, all before the main event could officially get underway. It did not take long for Haudenschild to escape to a lengthy advantage, stretching his gap over KCP Racing’s Gio Scelzi to a near-straightaway by lap 15. It was at that time when Reutzel started to come alive on the bottom of the speedway, first working by Scelzi for the runner-up spot on lap 18.
Caution flags appeared again on lap 20 setting up a single file restart with Reutzel on the tail tank of Haudenschild. Keeping his focus on the bottom of the speedway, Reutzel stalked Haudenschild for four circuits, eventually making his move on lap 24 when the Stenhouse Jr Marshall Racing entry slipped up the track allowing Reutzel to squeeze through. Despite a few desperate attempts to regain the top spot, Haudenshild would eventually succumb to his own aggressiveness, spinning to a stop on lap 28.
Reutzel drove on to clinch the $10,000 payday, surviving one final caution on lap 33 and late pressure from 2021 All Star Circuit of Champions Rookie of the Year contender, Kyle Reinhardt.
Sam Hafertepe finished third on Saturday night, followed by a hard-charging Donny Schatz, who climbed from 21st to fourth after winning the evening’s B-Main, and Justin Peck. Schatz was forced to compete in the evening’s B-Main after missing the scales following his respective heat race.
“I really wanted to race Sheldon (Haudenschild) in traffic,” Reutzel added. “I wanted to catch him off guard and think I was just a lapped car that got by him. I knew on that restart that if I stuck my nose under him, he would assume that rubber was coming on the bottom. I tried to just hang back until the groove came in a little bit better for us, but the time came where I had to pull the trigger. I went for it and he didn’t have time to shut the door on us.”
The All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 will enjoy an off day on Sunday, January 31, before returning to Sugarlands Shine Southern Tour presented by Elliott’s Custom Trailers and Carts competition on Monday evening, February 1, at East Bay Raceway Park in Tampa, Florida. “America’s Series” will face-off for two straight nights at East Bay chasing a pair of $6,000 top prizes. For more information, please visit East Bay Raceway Park online at https://ebrp.co/.
For those who can not make the journey to Tampa for the two-day East Bay visit, FloRacing, the official media partner and live broadcast provider of the All Star Circuit of Champions, has you covered. Each and every event on the 2021 All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 schedule will be broadcast live exclusively at www.floracing.com.
Contingency Awards/Results: Screven Motor Speedway – January 30, 2021:
Event: Sugarlands Shine Southern Tour presented by Elliott’s Custom Trailers and Carts | Winter Freeze XI
Entries: 38
C&R Racing Warm-Ups: Donny Schatz | 12.921
Lincoln Electric Fast Qualifier: Donny Schatz | 12.810
Ford Performance Heat #1 Winner: Carson Short
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #2 Winner: Sheldon Haudenschild
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #3 Winner: Aaron Reutzel
Mobil 1 Heat #4 Winner: Hunter Schuerenberg
Kear’s Speed Shop Dash #1 Winner: Gio Scelzi
Elliott’s Custom Trailers and Carts Dash #2 Winner: Sheldon Haudenschild
Classic Ink USA Screenprinting & Embroidery B-Main Winner: Donny Schatz
Rayce Rudeen Foundation First Non-Transfer: Tyler Ross
Ollie’s Bargain Outlet A-Main Winner: Aaron Reutzel
Hercules Tire A-Main Hard Charger: Donny Schatz (+17)
Sugarlands Shine Lap 21 Leader: Sheldon Haudenschild
Qualifying
Group (A)
1. 73-Scotty Thiel, 13.028; 2. 39M-Anthony Macri, 13.176; 3. 1A-Jacob Allen, 13.193; 4. 21-Carson Short, 13.230; 5. 22C-Cole Duncan, 13.353; 6. 14-Tony Stewart, 13.356; 7. 48-Danny Dietrich, 13.415; 8. 5-Brent Marks, 13.520; 9. 33M-Mason Daniel, 13.682; 10. 40-Mark Imler, 14.423
Group (B)
1. 15-Donny Schatz, 12.810; 2. 18-Gio Scelzi, 12.965; 3. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild, 13.051; 4. 101-Kerry Madsen, 13.096; 5. 26-Cory Eliason, 13.142; 6. 18J-RJ Jacobs, 13.286; 7. 1-Jamie Myers, 13.704; 8. 27-Carson McCarl, 13.758; 9. 70-Nick Tucker, 13.763; 10. 14R-Sean Rayhall, 13.972
Group (C)
1. 7BC-Tyler Courtney, 12.883; 2. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr., 13.141; 3. 83-Aaron Reutzel, 13.162; 4. 13-Justin Peck, 13.188; 5. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss, 13.278; 6. 49H-Bradley Howard, 13.415; 7. 75-Tyler Ross, 13.433; 8. 4-Danny Smith, 13.563; 9. 3C-Cale Conley, 13.718
Group (D)
1. 91-Kyle Reinhardt, 13.016; 2. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg, 13.184; 3. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 13.214; 4. 11-Ian Madsen, 13.248; 5. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 13.596; 6. O8-Brandon Conkel, 13.669; 7. 25-Chris Myers, 13.974; 8. 27c-Craig Pellegrini, 14.422; 9. 28-Skylar Gee, 99.999
Heat #1 – Group (A) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 21-Carson Short [1]; 2. 39M-Anthony Macri [3]; 3. 1A-Jacob Allen [2]; 4. 73-Scotty Thiel [4]; 5. 22C-Cole Duncan [5]; 6. 14-Tony Stewart [6]; 7. 33M-Mason Daniel [9]; 8. 5-Brent Marks [8]; 9. 48-Danny Dietrich [7]; 10. 40-Mark Imler [10]
Heat #2 – Group (B) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [2]; 2. 101-Kerry Madsen [1]; 3. 18-Gio Scelzi [3]; 4. 26-Cory Eliason [5]; 5. 18J-RJ Jacobs [6]; 6. 1-Jamie Myers [7]; 7. 27-Carson McCarl [8]; 8. 70-Nick Tucker [9]; 9. 14R-Sean Rayhall [10]; 10. 15-Donny Schatz [4]
Heat #3 – Group (C) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 83-Aaron Reutzel [2]; 2. 13-Justin Peck [1]; 3. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [4]; 4. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. [3]; 5. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [5]; 6. 49H-Bradley Howard [6]; 7. 3C-Cale Conley [9]; 8. 75-Tyler Ross [7]; 9. 4-Danny Smith [8]
Heat #4 – Group (D) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [3]; 2. 11K-Kraig Kinser [2]; 3. 1S-Logan Schuchart [5]; 4. 91-Kyle Reinhardt [4]; 5. 25-Chris Myers [7]; 6. O8-Brandon Conkel [6]; 7. 27C-Craig Pellegrini [8]; 8. 11-Ian Madsen [1]; 9. 28-Skylar Gee [9]
Dash #1 (4 Laps)
1. 18-Gio Scelzi [1]; 2. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. [3]; 3. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [5]; 4. 91-Kyle Reinhardt [2]; 5. 101-Kerry Madsen [4]
Dash #2 (4 Laps)
1. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [2]; 2. 83-Aaron Reutzel [1]; 3. 21-Carson Short [3]; 4. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [5]; 5. 73-Scotty Thiel [4]
B-Main (12 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 15-Donny Schatz [1]; 2. 33M-Mason Daniel [7]; 3. 5-Brent Marks [12]; 4. O8-Brandon Conkel [5]; 5. 75-Tyler Ross [11]; 6. 3C-Cale Conley [8]; 7. 27-Carson McCarl [9]; 8. 70-Nick Tucker [13]; 9. 1-Jamie Myers [6]; 10. 14R-Sean Rayhall [15]; 11. 40-Mark Imler [16]; 12. 14-Tony Stewart [3]; 13. 27C-Craig Pellegrini [10]; 14. 49H-Bradley Howard [4]; 15. 4-Danny Smith [14]; 16. 11-Ian Madsen [2]; 17. 48-Danny Dietrich [17]; 18. 28-Skylar Gee [18]
A-Main (35 Laps)
1. 83-Aaron Reutzel [4]; 2. 91-Kyle Reinhardt [7]; 3. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. [3]; 4. 15-Donny Schatz [21]; 5. 13-Justin Peck [12]; 6. 18-Gio Scelzi [1]; 7. 101-Kerry Madsen [9]; 8. 1S-Logan Schuchart [15]; 9. 39M-Anthony Macri [11]; 10. 11K-Kraig Kinser [13]; 11. 26-Cory Eliason [16]; 12. 1A-Jacob Allen [14]; 13. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [2]; 14. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [5]; 15. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [8]; 16. 73-Scotty Thiel [10]; 17. 5-Brent Marks [23]; 18. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [17]; 19. 18J-RJ Jacobs [18]; 20. 25-Chris Myers [20]; 21. O8-Brandon Conkel [24]; 22. 21-Carson Short [6]; 23. 33M-Mason Daniel [22]; 24. 22C-Cole Duncan [19] Lap Leaders: Sheldon Haudenschild (1-23), Aaron Reutzel (24-35)
2021 All Star Circuit of Champions Winners:
Screven Motor Speedway, Georgia (January 29, 2021): Donny Schatz
Screven Motor Speedway, Georgia (January 30, 2021): Aaron Reutzel
2021 All Star Circuit of Champions Standings:
**Southern Tour events do not accumulate points.
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.
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Sugarlands Distilling Company, located in the heart of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, is a craft-distillery producing award-winning moonshine, rum, cream liqueurs and rye whiskey. Nearly 1 million people visit Sugarlands’ downtown Gatlinburg distillery annually, and over 25,000 visitors have rated the distillery a five-star experience on Trip Advisor ranking it as the ‘#1 Thing to do in Gatlinburg’ as well as the ‘World’s Top-Rated Distillery Experience.’
Sugarlands distributes their award-winning line of spirits in 32 states nationwide, and their spirits are available for home delivery via Reserve Bar. Sugarlands hand-crafted cocktails can be sipped on in restaurants, bars and festivals across the country as well as on the Back Porch located at the downtown Gatlinburg, Tenn., distillery.
Since 2018, Sugarlands has entered partnerships with country music superstar Cole Swindell, the Atlanta Braves, baseball Hall-of-Famer and former Braves player, Chipper Jones, and Bristol Motor Speedway. In October 2018, Sugarlands announced its historic partnership with NASCAR as the official moonshine of NASCAR. Sugarlands Shine is also the official moonshine of Talladega Superspeedway, where they are the title partner of the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Trucks Series fall race, the Sugarlands Shine 250.
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About Elliott’s Custom Trailers and Carts:
Elliott’s Custom Trailers & Carts is an authorized inTech Trailer, United, Featherlite, ATC, Legend, Alumitech, Haulmark, and EZ Go dealership serving the greater Warsaw, Indiana-area. We are proud to carry a large selection of new and pre-owned inventory. When you are ready to invest in a new trailer, our friendly and knowledgeable sales, financing, service, and parts departments are prepared to make sure your experience is outstanding. To learn more, visit Elliott’s Custom Trailers and Carts online at www.elliottscustomtrailers.com, or call 800-766-1886.
Sources: Tyler Altmeyer/All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 PR
Photo: Chad Warner