RESULTS: Aaron Reutzel opens 2020 All Star point season with victory at Park Jefferson International Speedway

Aaron Reutzel opens 2020 All Star point season with victory at Park Jefferson International Speedway

JEFFERSON, S.D. (May 29, 2020) – Although it has been over three months since the Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 last hosted competition, two-time and defending Series champion, Aaron Reutzel, left zero doubt to those in attendance at Park Jefferson International Speedway in Jefferson, South Dakota, that the extended gap in the All Star schedule affected his focus and ability, ultimately ending his evening $6,600 richer, as well as the Series point leader. Including action that did not accumulate championship points in early February, the victory was Reutzel’s third of the 2020 season against the All Stars and the 28th of his career.

Reutzel, driver of the Baughman-Reutzel Motorsports/Folkens Brothers Trucking/Fischer Body Shop/Ti22/Dissolvalloy/No. 87 sprint car, dominated action during the first-ever All Star appearance at the southeast South Dakota facility, taking command for the first time on lap eight of 25 and immediately blasting away to a impressive lead. Justin Henderson, who earned the pole position by way of dash victory, led the first seven circuits before losing command to Reutzel. With very little real estate to work with, Reutzel’s takeover occurred on the very bottom of the speedway, narrowly squeezing by the Mike Sandvig entry in turn four.

Despite periods of relentless traffic, all circling the bottom groove within Reutzel’s preferred line, the Clute, Texas-native dodged the slower cars with ease, and at one point, placed five lapped cars between himself and Rudeen Racing’s Cory Eliason, who followed Reutzel beyond Henderson to take the runner-up spot on lap 11.

A caution on lap 19 would give Eliason an opportunity to restart on the tailtank of the two-time and defending champion, but even a fresh start on a slick surface would prove to be unsuccessful. Reutzel eventually slipped away to a near-three-second lead by feature’s end, once again forced to navigate slower cars during the final three circuits.Eliason held on to finish second, followed by Henderson, Brock Zearfoss, who cleared six positions to finish fourth, and Trey Starks.“The last time I was here, it was cowboy-up and you had to drive as hard as you could, but tonight it was really slick and technical and that’s how I like it,” Aaron Reutzel explained. “It took me five laps to figure out how to run this place. I really had to open my entry up and pivot around the tires to get going down the straightaways. It was a lot of fun though.“I’m just glad to be back racing a lot more, and I know the fans here tonight have been waiting for this for a long time,” Reutzel continued. “I can’t thank my team enough for their hard work so far this weekend. Our goal is to come back tomorrow night and do it again. I haven’t figured out how to surrender yet. I want to win every time we unload the car.”What’s Next:
The Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 will continue their South Dakota visit with a second consecutive start at Park Jefferson International Speedway on Saturday evening, May 30. Like the Friday night preliminary, Saturday’s Park Jefferson main event will award a $6,600 top prize, courtesy of Kevin Rudeen and Trunk Bar.Online Coverage:
Each and every event on the 2020 Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 schedule will be broadcast live exclusively at www.floracing.com. To access live and on-demand racing action from the All Star Circuit of Champions, visit www.floracing.com and become an annual PRO subscriber. The subscription unlocks access to premium content across the entire FloSports network. Watch the events across all screens by downloading the FloSports app on iOS, Android, Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire and Chromecast.Contingency Awards/Results: Park Jefferson International Speedway – May 29, 2020:Event: All Stars and IRA Invade Park Jefferson
Entries: 43C&R Racing All Star Warm-Ups: Cole Duncan – 13.564 secondsLincoln Electric Fast Qualifier: Zeb Wise – 13.050 secondsFord Performance Heat #1 Winner: Sawyer PhillipsAll Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #2 Winner: Cory EliasonHunt Brothers Pizza Heat #3 Winner: Terry McCarlMobil 1 Heat #4 Winner: Bill Balog
Kistler Racing Products Heat #5 Winner: Kyle Offill
Elliott’s Custom Trailers & Carts C-Main Winner: Jake BlackhurstJE Pistons Dash #1 Winner: Justin HendersonKear’s Speed Shop Dash #2 Winner: Aaron ReutzelClassic Ink USA Screenprinting & Embroidery B-Main Winner: Hunter Schuerenberg
Rayce Rudeen Foundation First Non-Transfer: Scotty NeitzelOllie’s Bargain Outlet A-Main Winner: Aaron ReutzelHercules Tire A-Main Hard Charger: Austin McCarl (+11)
(Lincoln Electric, Hercules Tire, Rayce Rudeen Foundation: Need decal to qualify for contingency award)

Qualifying
Group (A)1. O9-Matt Juhl, 13.096; 2. 23-Russel Borland, 13.289; 3. 3-Tim Kaeding, 13.431; 4. 3p-Sawyer Phillips, 13.503; 5. 55m-McKenna Haase, 13.535; 6. O5-Colin Smith, 13.704; 7. 14m-Jack Rouston, 14.161; 8. 29-Hunter Custer, 14.540; 9. 35L-Cody Ledger, 99.100Group (B)1. 11-Zeb Wise, 13.050; 2. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 13.073; 3. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss, 13.140; 4. 26-Cory Eliason, 13.153; 5. 14-Tony Stewart, 13.232; 6. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg, 13.397; 7. W20-Greg Wilson, 13.451; 8. 73-Jake Blackhurst, 13.509; 9. 99-Skylar Gee, 13.858Group (C)1. 17-Josh Baughman, 13.097; 2. 17A-Austin McCarl, 13.184; 3. 13-Paul McMahan, 13.280; 4. 4-Terry McCarl, 13.408; 5. 35-Skylar Prochaska, 13.525; 6. 8H-Jade Hastings, 13.894; 7. 97-Alan Gilbertson, 14.120; 8. Os-Brandon Stevenson, 14.531; 9. 2K-Kevin Ingle, 99.290Group (D)1. 44-Trey Starks, 13.457; 2. 21-Brinton Marvel, 13.464; 3. 48-Danny Dietrich, 13.476; 4. 17B-Bill Balog, 13.537; 5. 70-Justin Peck, 13.687; 6. 44M-Chris Martin, 13.716; 7. 14j-Jody Rosenboom, 13.827; 8. O-Johnny Fahl, 14.759Group (E)1. 7-Justin Henderson, 13.457; 2. 2ks-Chad Boespflug, 13.597; 3. 22-Cole Duncan, 13.608; 4. 88-Kyle Offill, 13.664; 5. 5J-Jeremy Schultz, 13.931; 6. 33-James Broty, 14.308; 7. 2W-Scotty Neitzel, 14.314; 8. 14R-Sean Rayhall, 99.360Heat #1 – Group (A) (8 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer1. 3P-Sawyer Phillips [1]; 2. 3-Tim Kaeding [2]; 3. O9-Matt Juhl [4]; 4. 23-Russel Borland [3]; 5. 55M-McKenna Haase [5]; 6. O5-Colin Smith [6]; 7. 35L-Cody Ledger [9]; 8. 14M-Jack Rouston [7]; 9. 29-Hunter Custer [8]Heat #2 – Group (B) (8 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer1. 26-Cory Eliason [1]; 2. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [2]; 3. 87-Aaron Reutzel [3]; 4. 11-Zeb Wise [4]; 5. 14-Tony Stewart [5]; 6. 99-Skylar Gee [9]; 7. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [6]; 8. 73-Jake Blackhurst [8]; 9. W20-Greg Wilson [7]Heat #3 – Group (C) (8 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer1. 4-Terry McCarl [1]; 2. 13-Paul McMahan [2]; 3. 17A-Austin McCarl [3]; 4. 17-Josh Baughman [4]; 5. 8H-Jade Hastings [6]; 6. 35-Skylar Prochaska [5]; 7. OS-Brandon Stevenson [8]; 8. 97-Alan Gilbertson [7]; 9. 2K-Kevin Ingle [9]Heat #4 – Group (D) (8 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer1. 17B-Bill Balog [1]; 2. 48-Danny Dietrich [2]; 3. 44-Trey Starks [4]; 4. 14J-Jody Rosenboom [7]; 5. 44M-Chris Martin [6]; 6. 70-Justin Peck [5]; 7. 21-Brinton Marvel [3]; 8. O-Johnny Fahl [8]Heat #5 – Group (E) (8 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer1. 88-Kyle Offill [1]; 2. 2KS-Chad Boespflug [3]; 3. 7-Justin Henderson [4]; 4. 22-Cole Duncan [2]; 5. 2W-Scotty Neitzel [7]; 6. 5J-Jeremy Schultz [5]; 7. 33-James Broty [6]; 8. 14R-Sean Rayhall [8]Dash #1 (4 Laps)1. 7-Justin Henderson [1]; 2. 17-Josh Baughman [3]; 3. 4-Terry McCarl [2]; 4. 17B-Bill Balog [5]; 5. 88-Kyle Offill [6]; 6. 3P-Sawyer Phillips [4]Dash #2 (4 Laps)1. 87-Aaron Reutzel [1]; 2. 44-Trey Starks [2]; 3. 26-Cory Eliason [4]; 4. 11-Zeb Wise [3]; 5. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [5]; 6. O9-Matt Juhl [6]C-Main (10 Laps) – Top 2 Transfer1. 73-Jake Blackhurst [1]; 2. W20-Greg Wilson [6]; 3. 14M-Jack Rouston [3]; 4. O-Johnny Fahl [4]; 5. 97-Alan Gilbertson [2]; 6. 2K-Kevin Ingle [8]; 7. 29-Hunter Custer [7]; 8. 14R-Sean Rayhall [5]B-Main (12 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer1. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [2]; 2. 14-Tony Stewart [1]; 3. 70-Justin Peck [8]; 4. 44M-Chris Martin [4]; 5. 2W-Scotty Neitzel [6]; 6. 55M-McKenna Haase [3]; 7. 35-Skylar Prochaska [7]; 8. 99-Skylar Gee [10]; 9. O5-Colin Smith [9]; 10. 8H-Jade Hastings [5]; 11. 5J-Jeremy Schultz [11]; 12. W20-Greg Wilson [17]; 13. 73-Jake Blackhurst [16]; 14. 33-James Broty [13]; 15. 35L-Cody Ledger [15]; 16. OS-Brandon Stevenson [14]; 17. 21-Brinton Marvel [12]A-Main (25 Laps)1. 87-Aaron Reutzel [2]; 2. 26-Cory Eliason [6]; 3. 7-Justin Henderson [1]; 4. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [10]; 5. 44-Trey Starks [4]; 6. 17A-Austin McCarl [17]; 7. 17B-Bill Balog [7]; 8. 3-Tim Kaeding [14]; 9. 4-Terry McCarl [5]; 10. 11-Zeb Wise [8]; 11. 13-Paul McMahan [13]; 12. 48-Danny Dietrich [15]; 13. 22-Cole Duncan [19]; 14. 17-Josh Baughman [3]; 15. 14-Tony Stewart [22]; 16. 88-Kyle Offill [9]; 17. 3P-Sawyer Phillips [11]; 18. 5J-Jeremy Schultz [27]; 19. 99-Skylar Gee [25]; 20. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [21]; 21. 23-Russel Borland [18]; 22. 70-Justin Peck [23]; 23. 2KS-Chad Boespflug [16]; 24. 2W-Scotty Neitzel [26]; 25. 44M-Chris Martin [24]; 26. 14J-Jody Rosenboom [20]; 27. O9-Matt Juhl [12] Lap Leaders: Justin Henderson (1-7), Aaron Reutzel (8-25)2020 All Star Circuit of Champions Driver Standings: (May 29, 2020)
1. Aaron Reutzel – 150
2. Cory Eliason – 146
3. Justin Henderson – 144
4. Brock Zearfoss – 142
5. Trey Starks – 140
6. Austin McCarl – 138
7. Bill Balog – 136
8. Tim Kaeding – 134
9. Terry McCarl – 132
10. Zeb Wise – 1302020 All Star Circuit of Champions Winners:
Volusia Speedway Park, Fla. (2/5/2020): Brad Sweet
Volusia Speedway Park, Fla. (2/6/2020): Aaron Reutzel
East Bay Raceway Park, Fla. (2/10/2020): Aaron Reutzel (2)
East Bay Raceway Park, Fla. (2/11/2020): Kyle Larson
Park Jefferson International Speedway, S.D. (5/29/2020): Aaron Reutzel (3)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.