Reutzel Claims Inaugural Buckeye Cup At Sharon Speedway For First Career All Star Sprint Win

Story By: TYLER ALTMEYER / ALL STAR CIRCUIT OF CHAMPIONS – HARTFORD, OH – Although close during recent competition, finishing second to Lance Dewease during the annual Keith Kauffman Classic at Port Royal (Pa.) Speedway, Clute, Texas’ Aaron Reutzel was never an All Star Circuit of Champions winner.

That statistic changed Saturday evening as Reutzel dominated main event competition at Sharon Speedway to claim the inaugural “Buckeye Cup,” ultimately leading all 30 circuits around the Hartford, 3/8-mile oval to earn the $5,000 payday, as well as a first-ever Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 main event victory.

In addition, the “Buckeye Cup” triumph propelled Reutzel to the top of the All Star Circuit of Champions driver standings, now holding a ten-point advantage over the “Wild Child” Jac Haudenschild.

Fourth-starting Carson Macedo chased Reutzel to the final checkers, followed by Jac Haudenschild, Parker Price-Miller, and Tony Stewart.

“I could see my crew guy in turn one telling me that I had a huge lead. I’ve never laughed racing, but to see that big guy motion to me that I was clear was pretty funny,” Aaron Reutzel said, driver of the Baughman-Reutzel Motorsports/Folkens Brothers Trucking/No. 87 sprint car. “We’ve been close with the All Stars a few times, so to get a win now kinda puts some stress behind us. Now we have the rest of the year to enjoy and try to win more.”

Starting from the pole position by way of dash victory, Reutzel’s campaign at the front of the field was only put to the test once. A caution on lap six, followed by red flag conditions as the result of a multi-car incident on the ensuing restart, forced the field to be bunched back together. Despite being tailed during the single-file restart by Lemoore, California’s Carson Macedo, and three-time NASCAR Cup champion, Tony Stewart, Reutzel never faltered, wasting little time returning to a commanding lead that increased to nearly three seconds by lap ten.

Even during periods of heavy traffic, which came into play as early as lap 11, Reutzel maintained complete control, utilizing the ultra-thin cushion that lined the very outer rim of the speedway. Reutzel’s lead increased to nearly six seconds by lap 25, eventually crossing under the final checkers by a margin of victory equalling 5.3 seconds.

Despite Reutzel’s commanding performance at the front of the field, plenty of action was unfolding behind for former ASCS national champion that included an impressive hard charge by Jac Haudenschild to finish third after starting 16th. Kokomo, Indiana’s Parker Price-Miller was also making moves during the 30-lapper, battling ahead ten positions to earn his second top-five performance of the 2018 season against the All Star Circuit of Champions.

“We are having a lot of fun right now. To be fast like this right out of the box is unbelievable,” Reutzel continued. “We put this team together on December 20th. When you surround yourself with great people like I do, anything is possible. Things are going great right now. I’m pretty blessed to be in this spot.”

The Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 will take a weekend off before returning to competition on Saturday and Sunday, May 19-20, with a pair of visits in the Badger State. Invading Plymouth Dirt Track-Sheybogan County Fairgrounds and Angell Park Speedway, respectively, the All Star Circuit of Champions will challenge the IRA Outlaw Sprint Series during their weekend tour of Wisconsin; the first and only Wisconsin visit for Tony Stewart’s All Stars in 2018.

Those seeking additional news and notes regarding the upcoming starts in the Badger State should visit each facility live on the Web at http://www.plymouthdtr.com/ and http://www.angellparkspeedway.net/.

On a special note, in addition to the rescheduled Lernerville Speedway appearance set for Friday, June 1, the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 will also visit Bedford Speedway in Bedford, Pa., on Sunday, June 3. The All Stars were scheduled to make their first and only appearance at the Bedford Fairgrounds half-mile on Sunday, April 15, but unseasonably cold temperatures and wet weather forced an early cancellation.

Contingency Awards/Results: Sharon Speedway – Saturday, May 5, 2018:
Event: Inaugural Buckeye Cup
EMi Driver’s Meeting: 43 entries
State Water Heaters Warm-Ups: Chad Kemenah – 13.692 seconds
Lincoln Electric Fast Qualifier: Chad Kemenah – 14.051 seconds
Ford Performance Heat #1: Brandon Spithaler
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #2: Carl Bowser
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #3: Aaron Reutzel
Mobil 1 Heat #4: Tony Stewart
Ford Performance Heat #5: George Hobaugh
Elliott’s Custom Trailers and Carts C-main: Gary Kriess, Jr.
JE Pistons Dash #1: Aaron Reutzel
Wix Filters Dash #2: Carl Bowser
Classic Ink USA B-Main: Travis Philo
Daido Engine Bearings Main Event Winner: Aaron Reutzel
MSD Performance Hard Charger Award: Jac Haudenschild (+13)
(Lincoln Electric, Daido Engine Bearings, MSD Performance: Need decal to qualify for contingency award)

Qualifying
Group (A)
1. 10H-Chad Kemenah, 14.0511; 2. 51-John Garvin, 14.4781; 3. 70-Dave Blaney, 14.5986; 4. 22-Brandon Spithaler, 14.8397; 5. D4-Danny Holtgraver, 14.8824; 6. 2-AJ Flick, 14.9228; 7. 4N-Jim Morris, 15.1886; 8. 38-Dennis Wagner, 15.407; 9. 23-Darren Pifer, 15.6634

Group (B)
1. 3G-Carson Macedo, 14.0716; 2. 3-Jac Haudenschild, 14.3033; 3. 98-Carl Bowser, 14.5733; 4. 17b-Josh Baughman, 14.7291; 5. 35-Tyler Esh, 15.1652; 6. 71-Ayrton Olsen, 15.3302; 7. 46-Michael Bauer, 15.6546; 8. 76-David Jones, 99.13; 9. 27K-Jeremy Kornbau, 99.18

Group ( C )
1. 22C-Cole Duncan, 14.5947; 2. 23JR-Jack Sodeman Jr., 14.6123; 3. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 14.6882; 4. 24-Rico Abreu, 14.7219; 5. 45-Trevor Baker, 14.8804; 6. 11-Max McGhee, 14.8887; 7. 7K-Cale Conley, 15.2867; 8. 13M-Brandon Matus, 15.4439; 9. 33-Brent Matus, 15.5985

Group (D)
1. 29-Dan Shetler, 14.7375; 2. 17-Caleb Helms, 14.9106; 3. 35Z-Jared Zimbardi, 14.9139; 4. 14-Tony Stewart, 14.9545; 5. 49x-Tim Shaffer, 15.0542; 6. 126-Bryan Salisbury, 15.7017; 7. 1R-Gale Ruth Jr., 16.1392; 8. 55-Gary Kriess, 17.4888

Group (E)
1. 5T-Travis Philo, 14.6465; 2. 81-Lee Jacobs, 14.8987; 3. 4-Parker Price-Miller, 14.9662; 4. 40-George Hobaugh, 15.024; 5. 13-Paul McMahan, 15.2012; 6. 2L-Sye Lynch, 15.3066; 7. 4W-Eric Williams, 15.897; 8. 34M-Michael Marano II, 99.43

Heat #1 – Group (A) (8 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 22-Brandon Spithaler [1]; 2. 51-John Garvin [3]; 3. 10H-Chad Kemenah [4]; 4. 70-Dave Blaney [2]; 5. D4-Danny Holtgraver [5]; 6. 38-Dennis Wagner [8]; 7. 2-AJ Flick [6]; 8. 4N-Jim Morris [7]; 9. 23-Darren Pifer [9]

Heat #2 – Group (B) (8 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 98-Carl Bowser [2]; 2. 17B-Josh Baughman [1]; 3. 3G-Carson Macedo [4]; 4. 3-Jac Haudenschild [3]; 5. 35-Tyler Esh [5]; 6. 71-Ayrton Olsen [6]; 7. 46-Michael Bauer [7]; 8. 76-David Jones [8]; 9. 27K-Jeremy Kornbau [9]

Heat #3 – Group (C) (8 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 87-Aaron Reutzel [2]; 2. 24-Rico Abreu [1]; 3. 22C-Cole Duncan [4]; 4. 23JR-Jack Sodeman Jr. [3]; 5. 11-Max McGhee [6]; 6. 7K-Cale Conley [7]; 7. 45-Trevor Baker [5]; 8. 33-Brent Matus [9]; 9. 13M-Brandon Matus [8]

Heat #4 – Group (D) (8 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 14-Tony Stewart [1]; 2. 35Z-Jared Zimbardi [2]; 3. 49X-Tim Shaffer [5]; 4. 29-Dan Shetler [4]; 5. 17-Caleb Helms [3]; 6. 126-Bryan Salisbury [6]; 7. 1R-Gale Ruth Jr. [7]; 8. 55-Gary Kriess [8]

Heat #5 – Group (E) (8 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 40-George Hobaugh [1]; 2. 2L-Sye Lynch [6]; 3. 4-Parker Price-Miller [2]; 4. 13-Paul McMahan [5]; 5. 5T-Travis Philo [4]; 6. 81-Lee Jacobs [3]; 7. 4W-Eric Williams [7]

Dash #1 (4 Laps)
1. 87-Aaron Reutzel [1]; 2. 14-Tony Stewart [2]; 3. 17B-Josh Baughman [3]; 4. 10H-Chad Kemenah [5]; 5. 51-John Garvin [4]; 6. 40-George Hobaugh [6]

Dash #2 (4 Laps)
1. 98-Carl Bowser [2]; 2. 3G-Carson Macedo [3]; 3. 22-Brandon Spithaler [1]; 4. 24-Rico Abreu [6]; 5. 2L-Sye Lynch [4]; 6. 35Z-Jared Zimbardi [5]

C-Main (10 Laps) – Top 2 Transfer
1. 55-Gary Kriess [3]; 2. 4N-Jim Morris [1]; 3. 33-Brent Matus [2]; 4. 23-Darren Pifer [6]; 5. 27K-Jeremy Kornbau [7]; 6. 13M-Brandon Matus [5]; 7. 76-David Jones [4]; 8. 34M-Michael Marano II [8]

B-Main (12 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 5T-Travis Philo [1]; 2. D4-Danny Holtgraver [3]; 3. 45-Trevor Baker [2]; 4. 11-Max McGhee [4]; 5. 81-Lee Jacobs [7]; 6. 7K-Cale Conley [8]; 7. 17-Caleb Helms [5]; 8. 71-Ayrton Olsen [9]; 9. 35-Tyler Esh [6]; 10. 46-Michael Bauer [13]; 11. 38-Dennis Wagner [10]; 12. 126-Bryan Salisbury [11]; 13. 55-Gary Kriess [16]; 14. 4W-Eric Williams [14]; 15. 4N-Jim Morris [17]; 16. 2-AJ Flick [12]; 17. 1R-Gale Ruth Jr. [15]

A-Main (30 Laps)
1. 87-Aaron Reutzel [1]; 2. 3G-Carson Macedo [4]; 3. 3-Jac Haudenschild [16]; 4. 4-Parker Price-Miller [14]; 5. 14-Tony Stewart [3]; 6. 22-Brandon Spithaler [6]; 7. 49X-Tim Shaffer [15]; 8. 24-Rico Abreu [8]; 9. 98-Carl Bowser [2]; 10. 70-Dave Blaney [17]; 11. 40-George Hobaugh [11]; 12. 13-Paul McMahan [20]; 13. D4-Danny Holtgraver [22]; 14. 45-Trevor Baker [21]; 15. 11-Max McGhee [24]; 16. 29-Dan Shetler [19]; 17. 35Z-Jared Zimbardi [12]; 18. 2L-Sye Lynch [10]; 19. 5T-Travis Philo [23]; 20. 10H-Chad Kemenah [7]; 21. 7K-Cale Conley [25]; 22. 17-Caleb Helms [26]; 23. 17B-Josh Baughman [5]; 24. 51-John Garvin [9]; 25. 22C-Cole Duncan [13]; 26. 23JR-Jack Sodeman Jr. [18] Lap Leaders: Aaron Reutzel (1-30)