Aaron Reutzel wins Summer Slash at Route 66

JOLIET, IL – Officially sweeping the two-day Indiana/Illinois road trip, Clute, Texas, native Aaron Reutzel cruised to his fifth Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 victory of the 2018 season on Saturdaynight, this time scoring a $5,000 payday during a visit to the Dirt Oval @ Route 66 in Joliet, Illinois. Reutzel, who was forced to overcome engine issues early in the program, took command for the first time on lap seven and never looked back, eventually surviving a few bobbles on a fast, but tricky curb, ultimately keeping a hard charging Dave Blaney at bay.

Six-time and defending All Star champion Chad Kemenah chased Blaney and Reutzel to the final checkers, followed by Lemoore, California’s Carson Macedo and Nashville’s Paul McMahan.

“This goes to show what kind of a team we have,” Aaron Reutzel said in victory lane with MAVTV Motorsports Network cameras rolling. “Hurting a motor earlier today really threw a wrench in our plans. Lucky for me, my guys were able to get that changed pretty quick. Besides that hiccup, we never really struggled tonight. We were able to put ourselves in a key position in the heat race, followed up with a solid dash finish, and then a win.”

Reutzel’s first, official bid for the top spot occurred on lap seven, actually driving around two competitors in one circuit to claim the race lead. Utilizing the very topside of the speedway while racing in the third position, the driver of the Baughman-Reutzel Motorsports/No. 87 entry powered around Parker Price-Miller at the exit of turn two to gain the runner-up spot, just before nailing a perfect slider on race leader Jac Haudenschild at the exit of turn four. The textbook slider worked perfectly, maintaining control as the front-runners raced by the flagstand to complete lap seven.

Reutzel’s campaign at the front of the field was not all gravy, forced to withstand four cautions and periods of heavy traffic. Perhaps Reutzel’s biggest challenge was the topside cushion, nearly biting the former ASCS national champion with less than five laps remaining. By that time, Dave Blaney, who had already charged from 21st to second, was closing-in on the familiar No. 87. Although strong around the bottom groove, Reutzel’s momentum on top was stronger, holding on to score his second All Star victory in as many days.

“This track really reminds me of a track we have back home,” Reutzel continued. “That track is really hard on left rears, so I knew I had to keep my left rear under me and just keep the tires from spinning. Once I got to third right from the start, I just kinda went into cruise mode. I was able to get around Parker [Price-Miller] and then make a slider work on Jac [Haudenschild]. That last caution actually saved me because I think I had the wing a little too far back. I’m glad to get this done.”

With the month of June officially in the books, the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 will move ahead and begin preparations for an action-packed July agenda, first visiting Sharon Speedway in Hartford, Ohio, for the 10th Annual Lou Blaney Memorial on Saturday evening, July 7.

Tony Stewart’s All Stars visited Sharon Speedway twice thus far in 2018; once for the inaugural Buckeye Cup in early May, followed by a visit during Ohio Sprint Speedweek in mid-June. Two different winners were crowned including Aaron Reutzel in May, followed by Christopher Bell during the 36th edition of Speedweek.

More information pertaining to Sharon Speedway’s 10th Annual Lou Blaney Memorial will be posted during the next few days. Those seeking information regarding reserved seats and advanced tickets should visit Sharon Speedway on the Web at www.sharonspeedway.com.

Contingency Awards/Results: Dirt Oval @ Route 66 – Saturday, June 30, 2018:
Summer Slash Event
EMi Driver’s Meeting: 39 entries
State Water Heaters Warm-Ups: Aaron Reutzel – 13.651 seconds
Lincoln Electric Fast Qualifier: Parker Price-Miller – 13.811 seconds
Ford Performance Heat #1: Chad Kemenah
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #2: Gary Taylor
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #3: Scotty Thiel
Mobil 1 Heat #4: Jac Haudenschild
JE Pistons Dash #1: Parker Price-Miller
Wix Filters Dash #2: Jac Haudenschild
Classic Ink USA B-Main: Dave Blaney
Daido Engine Bearings Main Event Winner: Aaron Reutzel
MSD Performance Hard Charger Award: Dave Blaney [+19]
(Lincoln Electric, Daido Engine Bearings, MSD Performance: Need decal to qualify for contingency award)

Qualifying

Group (A)
1. 4-Parker Price-Miller, 13.811; 2. 7K-Cale Conley, 13.859; 3. 3G-Carson Macedo, 13.938; 4. 10H-Chad Kemenah, 14.044; 5. 25-Jake Blackhurst, 14.116; 6. 65-Jordan Goldesberry, 14.121; 7. 7J-Joe Swanson, 14.181; 8. 10W-Brandon McMullen, 14.188; 9. 70-Dave Blaney, 14.205; 10. 17B-Bill Balog, NT

Group (B)
1. 13-Paul McMahan, 13.950; 2. 9X-Paul Nienhiser, 14.005; 3. 35-Tyler Esh, 14.012; 4. 11-Gary Taylor, 14.150; 5. 47-Terry Babb, 14.555; 6. 23-Russel Borland, 14.587; 7. 14AJ-Wayne Modjeski, 14.737; 8. 12-Mike Decker, 15.252; 9. 29-Hunter Custer, 16.268; 10. 5-Chase Briscoe, NT

Group (C)
1. 5J-Jeremy Schultz, 14.124; 2. 2W-Scotty Neitzel, 14.253; 3. 64-Scotty Thiel, 14.272; 4. 1M-Phillip Mock, 14.351; 5. 63-Kevin Thomas Jr., 14.378; 6. 98-Carl Bowser, 14.398; 7. 23D-Trey Datweiler, 14.719; 8. 7-Scott Uttech, 15.170; 9. 43-Jereme Schroeder, 15.542; 10. 14F-Jimmy Fifield, 16.326

Group (D)
1. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 13.917; 2. 14-Tony Stewart, 13.963; 3. 73-Ben Schmidt, 14.017; 4. 3-Jac Haudenschild, 14.055; 5. 85M-Steve Meyer, 14.494; 6. 28-Brian Paulus, 14.499; 7. 22-Brandon Spithaler, 14.806; 8. 4K-Kris Spitz, 14.916; 9. 63X-Nick Matuszewski, 15.506

Heat #1 – Group (A) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 10H-Chad Kemenah [1]; 2. 3G-Carson Macedo [2]; 3. 7K-Cale Conley [3]; 4. 4-Parker Price-Miller [4]; 5. 25-Jake Blackhurst [5]; 6. 70-Dave Blaney [9]; 7. 65-Jordan Goldesberry [6]; 8. 10W-Brandon McMullen [8]; 9. 7J-Joe Swanson [7]

Heat #2 – Group (B) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 11-Gary Taylor [1]; 2. 9X-Paul Nienhiser [3]; 3. 13-Paul McMahan [4]; 4. 35-Tyler Esh [2]; 5. 23-Russel Borland [6]; 6. 47-Terry Babb [5]; 7. 12-Mike Decker [8]; 8. 29-Hunter Custer [9]; 9. 14AJ-Wayne Modjeski [7]

Heat #3 – Group (C) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 64-Scotty Thiel [2]; 2. 5J-Jeremy Schultz [4]; 3. 98-Carl Bowser [6]; 4. 63-Kevin Thomas Jr. [5]; 5. 1M-Phillip Mock [1]; 6. 2W-Scotty Neitzel [3]; 7. 23D-Trey Datweiler [7]; 8. 7-Scott Uttech [8]; 9. 43-Jereme Schroeder [9]; 10. 14F-Jimmy Fifield [10]

Heat #4 – Group (D) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 3-Jac Haudenschild [1]; 2. 87-Aaron Reutzel [4]; 3. 14-Tony Stewart [3]; 4. 73-Ben Schmidt [2]; 5. 28-Brian Paulus [6]; 6. 85M-Steve Meyer [5]; 7. 22-Brandon Spithaler [7]; 8. 4K-Kris Spitz [8]; 9. 63X-Nick Matuszewski [9]

Dash #1 (4 Laps)
1. 4-Parker Price-Miller [1]; 2. 10H-Chad Kemenah [4]; 3. 7K-Cale Conley [2]; 4. 9X-Paul Nienhiser [5]; 5. 5J-Jeremy Schultz [3]

Dash #2 (4 Laps)
1. 3-Jac Haudenschild [1]; 2. 87-Aaron Reutzel [4]; 3. 64-Scotty Thiel [2]; 4. 3G-Carson Macedo [5]; 5. 11-Gary Taylor [3]

B-Main (12 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 70-Dave Blaney [3]; 2. 65-Jordan Goldesberry [1]; 3. 85M-Steve Meyer [5]; 4. 2W-Scotty Neitzel [4]; 5. 22-Brandon Spithaler [8]; 6. 10W-Brandon McMullen [10]; 7. 23D-Trey Datweiler [7]; 8. 4K-Kris Spitz [11]; 9. 7-Scott Uttech [12]; 10. 14AJ-Wayne Modjeski [14]; 11. 12-Mike Decker [9]; 12. 14F-Jimmy Fifield [17]; 13. 63X-Nick Matuszewski [15]; 14. 29-Hunter Custer [13]; 15. 43-Jereme Schroeder [16]; 16. 47-Terry Babb [6]; 17. 7J-Joe Swanson [2]

A-Main (30 Laps)
1. 87-Aaron Reutzel [4]; 2. 70-Dave Blaney [21]; 3. 10H-Chad Kemenah [3]; 4. 3G-Carson Macedo [8]; 5. 13-Paul McMahan [11]; 6. 4-Parker Price-Miller [1]; 7. 3-Jac Haudenschild [2]; 8. 5J-Jeremy Schultz [9]; 9. 11-Gary Taylor [10]; 10. 35-Tyler Esh [14]; 11. 14-Tony Stewart [12]; 12. 64-Scotty Thiel [6]; 13. 7K-Cale Conley [5]; 14. 85M-Steve Meyer [23]; 15. 28-Brian Paulus [19]; 16. 23-Russel Borland [20]; 17. 9X-Paul Nienhiser [7]; 18. 2W-Scotty Neitzel [24]; 19. 73-Ben Schmidt [15]; 20. 1M-Phillip Mock [18]; 21. 25-Jake Blackhurst [17]; 22. 63-Kevin Thomas Jr. [16]; 23. 98-Carl Bowser [13]; 24. 65-Jordan Goldesberry [22] Lap Leaders: Jac Haudenschild [1-6], Aaron Reutzel [7-30]

All Star Circuit of Champions Driver Standings: (after 6/30/2018)
1. Carson Macedo – 2780
2. Aaron Reutzel – 2772
3. Chad Kemenah – 2750
4. Jac Haudenschild – 2710
5. Parker Price-Miller – 2592
6. Dave Blaney – 2580
7. Paul McMahan – 2570
8. Cale Conley – 2418
9. Carl Bowser – 2244
10. Brandon Spithaler – 2232