Aaron Reutzel goes two-for-two in the Buckeye State; Earns first-ever Fremont Speedway victory

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Aaron Reutzel goes two-for-two in the Buckeye State; Earns first-ever Fremont Speedway victory

Story By: Tyler Altmeyer/ASCOC

FREMONT, Ohio (5/26/2019) – Despite a late arriving shower’s attempt to ruin the evening by creating a near-three hour rain delay just after heat race competition was complete, Fremont Speedway and Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 officials persevered and proved Mother Nature wrong, giving Fremont, Ohio, fans their first taste of All Star competition in nearly three and a half years.

The delay was well worth the wait for the enthusiastic fans, as Clute, Texas’ Aaron Reutzel hard charged ten positions to claim a second All Star victory in as many contested events. In fact, Reutzel’s impressive charge to the top of the podium did not require all 40 main event circuits, as the defending All Star champion took the lead for the first time on lap 12, utilizing a restart on lap 11 to drive around Aliquippa, Pennsylvania’s Tim Shaffer for the runner-up spot, soon followed by a second slingshot move in turns one and two to drive around race leader, Paul McMahan, the following circuit.

Impressive enough, the $5,000 victory bumped Reutzel’s career win total with Tony Stewart’s All Star Circuit of Champions to 11, each of those occurring at a different race track.

Nashville’s Paul McMahan held on to maintain second at the final checkers, followed by Rookie of the Year contender, Skylar Gee, a fast closing Christopher Bell from 12th, and local standout, Craig Mintz.

“This isn’t Ohio racing. This is a night when a guy can drive really hard & make a difference,” Aaron Reutzel expressed in victory lane, driver of the Baughman-Reutzel Motorsports/Fisher Body Shop/Folkens Brothers Trucking/Precision Catalyst/Hollywood Coating/Dissolvalloy/No. 87 sprint car. “A big thanks going out to the track and fans for sticking this one out and making this happen for us. We just want to race! Oh, and for the guy booing me, stop down when we’re done here and I’ll sign you an autograph.”

Despite starting 11th on the grid, Reutzel wasted little time powering his way toward the front of the field. By lap five, with the added help of a caution, Reutzel was able to advance his way to fifth, eventually battling his way around Brock Zearfoss for the fourth position with only nine laps recorded. A slowing Tyler Esh, who was racing just ahead of Reutzel, soon pulled to a stop on the speedway, not only allowing Reutzel the opportunity to restart in the third position, but it also gave the Texan a clear takeover attempt on the ensuing restart.

When green flags flew again, Reutzel pounced, this time utilizing an impressive slingshot move through turns one and two to drive around Tim Shaffer for the runner-up position. It was just one circuit later when Reutzel repeated his power move through the first and second corners, skimming the narrow cushion to blast by Paul McMahan to officially lead lap 12.

From that point forward, it was all Aaron Reutzel at the front of the field, and although the Texan was forced to deal with periods of heavy traffic during the later stages of the 40-lap program, as well as two more stoppages in the form of cautions – one of which a red flag incident involving Brock Zearfoss, Tim Shaffer and Buddy Kofoid – the former ASCS national champion and defending All Star champion was untouchable.

“He’s a champion for a reason,” Paul McMahan said, who led the first 11 circuits at Fremont Speedway aboard the Tom Buch-owned No. 13. “They have a solid team, so hats off to those guys for what they are able to do. [Aaron Reutzel] just about sucked my tear-offs off when he blew by me coming out of [turn two]. He showed me the top, so I was able to move up there and hang with him. I can’t thank my group of misfits enough. They work hard and I appreciate what they do.”

“This team is just unbelievable,” Reutzel continued. “We put this deal together last year and it’s all the same group of guys. It’s just…unbelievable.”

The All Star Circuit of Champions will enjoy a weekend off before returning to competition on Friday evening, June 7. Igniting a month-long campaign consisting of 14 events, Tony Stewart’s All Stars will spend three nights in the Empire State during the first, full weekend of June, visiting Outlaw Speedway in Dundee on Friday before making an appearance at Busti’s Stateline Speedway on Saturday. The weekend will conclude with a Sunday night visit to the state-of-the-art Weedsport Speedway on June 9.

Contingency Awards/Results: Fremont Speedway – Sunday, May 26, 2019:
Event: Computer Man Night
Entries: 27
C&R Racing All Star Warm-Ups: Craig Mintz – 12.982
Lincoln Electric Fast Qualifier: Tim Shaffer – 13.110
Ford Performance Heat #1: Tyler Esh
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #2: Spencer Bayston
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #3: Stuart Brubaker
JE Pistons Dash presented by Fatheadz Eyewear #1: Paul McMahan
Classic Ink USA B-Main Winner: George Hobaugh
Ollie’s Bargain Outlet A-Main Winner: Aaron Reutzel
MSD Performance Hard Charger Award: Aaron Reutzel [+10]
Rayce Rudeen Foundation First Non-Transfer: Caleb Griffith
(Lincoln Electric, MSD Performance, Fatheadz Eyewear, Rayce Rudeen Foundation: Need decal to qualify for contingency award)

Qualifying

Group (A)

87-Aaron Reutzel, 13.139; 2. O9-Craig Mintz, 13.186; 3. 1-Nate Dussel, 13.217; 4. 35-Tyler Esh, 13.228; 5. 16-DJ Foos, 13.254; 6. W20-Greg Wilson, 13.349; 7. 40-George Hobaugh, 13.355; 8. 3J-Trey Jacobs, 13.577; 9. 40I-Mark Imler, 13.652

Group (B)

11-Dale Blaney, 13.219; 2. 11N-Buddy Kofoid, 13.252; 3. 99-Skylar Gee, 13.342; 4. 70X-Spencer Bayston, 13.352; 5. 19-Paige Polyak, 13.371; 6. 22-Brandon Spithaler, 13.421; 7. 5R-Byron Reed, 13.508; 8. 57X-Andrew Palker, 13.587; 9. 97-Caleb Helms, 13.753

Group (C)

49x-Tim Shaffer, 13.110; 2. 13-Paul McMahan, 13.132; 3. 70-Brock Zearfoss, 13.185; 4. 35b-Stuart Brubaker, 13.256; 5. 39-Christopher Bell, 13.257; 6. O7-Gerard McIntyre, 13.280; 7. 9-Dean Jacobs, 13.372; 8. 26-Cory Eliason, 13.408; 9. 33W-Caleb Griffith, 14.092

Heat #1 – Group (A) (10 Laps) – Top 6 Transfer

35-Tyler Esh [1]; 2. 1-Nate Dussel [2]; 3. O9-Craig Mintz [3]; 4. 87-Aaron Reutzel [4]; 5. W20-Greg Wilson [6]; 6. 16-DJ Foos [5]; 7. 3J-Trey Jacobs [8]; 8. 40-George Hobaugh [7]; 9. 40I-Mark Imler [9]

Heat #2 – Group (B) (10 Laps) – Top 6 Transfer

70X-Spencer Bayston [1]; 2. 11N-Buddy Kofoid [3]; 3. 99-Skylar Gee [2]; 4. 22-Brandon Spithaler [6]; 5. 11-Dale Blaney [4]; 6. 19-Paige Polyak [5]; 7. 97-Caleb Helms [9]; 8. 57X-Andrew Palker [8]; 9. 5R-Byron Reed [7]

Heat #3 – Group (C) (10 Laps) – Top 6 Transfer

35B-Stuart Brubaker [1]; 2. 70-Brock Zearfoss [2]; 3. 49X-Tim Shaffer [4]; 4. 39-Christopher Bell [5]; 5. 13-Paul McMahan [3]; 6. O7-Gerard McIntyre [6]; 7. 26-Cory Eliason [8]; 8. 9-Dean Jacobs [7]; 9. 33W-Caleb Griffith [9]

Dash #1 (6 Laps)

13-Paul McMahan [2]; 2. 35-Tyler Esh [1]; 3. 70-Brock Zearfoss [5]; 4. 49X-Tim Shaffer [3]; 5. 11N-Buddy Kofoid [6]; 6. 35B-Stuart Brubaker [7]; 7. 70X-Spencer Bayston [8]; 8. 1-Nate Dussel [4]

B-Main (10 Laps) – Top 6 Transfer

40-George Hobaugh [1]; 2. 9-Dean Jacobs [2]; 3. 26-Cory Eliason [3]; 4. 97-Caleb Helms [5]; 5. 57X-Andrew Palker [6]; 6. 3J-Trey Jacobs [4]; 7. 33W-Caleb Griffith [9]; 8. 5R-Byron Reed [7]; 9. 40I-Mark Imler [8]

A-Main (40 Laps)

87-Aaron Reutzel [11]; 2. 13-Paul McMahan [1]; 3. 99-Skylar Gee [10]; 4. 39-Christopher Bell [12]; 5. O9-Craig Mintz [9]; 6. W20-Greg Wilson [15]; 7. 49X-Tim Shaffer [4]; 8. 70X-Spencer Bayston [7]; 9. 22-Brandon Spithaler [13]; 10. 11-Dale Blaney [14]; 11. 35B-Stuart Brubaker [6]; 12. 26-Cory Eliason [21]; 13. 16-DJ Foos [16]; 14. 9-Dean Jacobs [20]; 15. 19-Paige Polyak [18]; 16. O7-Gerard McIntyre [17]; 17. 97-Caleb Helms [22]; 18. 40-George Hobaugh [19]; 19. 3J-Trey Jacobs [24]; 20. 11N-Buddy Kofoid [5]; 21. 70-Brock Zearfoss [3]; 22. 35-Tyler Esh [2]; 23. 57X-Andrew Palker [23]; 24. 1-Nate Dussel [8] Lap Leaders: Paul McMahan (1-11), Aaron Reutzel (12-40)

2019 All Star Circuit of Champions Driver Standings (After 5/26/2019):