Aaron Reutzel Leads All 35 To Etched Name On Grandview’s Hodnett Cup; Reclaims All Stars Point Lead

Story By: TYLER ALTMEYER / ALL STAR CIRCUIT OF CHAMPIONS – BECHTELSVILLE, PA – For the second consecutive season, and with MAVTV Motorsports Network cameras rolling, Clute, Texas’ Aaron Reutzel earned his way into Grandview Speedway victory lane, only this time etching his name even deeper into sprint car history by becoming the first name added to the illustrious Hodnett Cup.

Set to be a signature award when the Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 visit the Bechtelsville, Pennsylvania, oval, the Hodnett Cup will be decorated year by year, as each winner’s name will be added for all to see.

Reutzel, driver of the Baughman-Reutzel Motorsports/Folkens Brothers Trucking/Fischer Body Shop/No. 87 sprint car, led all 35 circuits on Thursday night at Grandview Speedway, forced to survive a heavyweight bout in traffic to secure his Series-leading eighth All Star victory of the 2019 season. In addition, the Grandview Speedway triumph also allowed the defending All Star Circuit of Champions titleholder to reclaim the championship points lead, now with a two point advantage over six-time Series champion, Dale Blaney.

Before Reutzel could march his way to victory against the infamous Pennsylvania Posse, Mother Nature intervened just after qualifying resulting in a lengthy delay. Suffice it to say, track and Series officials held their ground and allowed the weather to pass.

“I just want to thank all of the fans, as well as all of the officials for sticking this one out and not throwing in the towel. We all really appreciate their efforts,” Aaron Reutzel said in victory lane. “It was definitely a hard call to make, but I’m glad they did it. The track was really fast tonight because of the rain. We were really lucky to draw the one [during dash redraw]. That was a pretty big deal.”

Despite starting from the pole position and earning the initial jump, the path to victory was not paved easy for Reutzel. After a pair of cautions, one resulting in red flag conditions, disturbed competition during the first six circuits, a long green followed, thus creating periods of dense traffic around the Grandview bullring.

As traffic started to intensify, so did the pressure on Reutzel for the lead. By lap 20, Paul McMahan, who battled in the second position the entire distance up until that point, was all over Reutzel for the top spot. Danny Dietrich, a 13-time winner in 2019, soon threw his hat into the ring creating a three-car battle for the lead. The lead trio raced nearly nose to tail until a yellow sign of relief waved for Reutzel on lap 27. The caution allowed Reutzel to restart in clean air, and that is where he dominated.

Paul McMahan held on to finish second at the final checkers, followed by Danny Dietrich, Ryan Smith and Ryan Taylor.

“There were a lot of lapped cars that were not cooperating,” Aaron Reutzel explained. “In clean air I was really good, but in dirty air I struggled a little bit. Hats off to my guys. Night in and night out, they bust their butts and it really shows.”

Fans will have the opportunity to relive the action from Grandview Speedway on MAVTV Motorsports Network on October 13.

Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, will host the All Star Circuit of Champions on Friday evening, August 23. Headlining a monster program at the world-famous half-mile, the annual Jack Gunn Memorial will be the main attraction at Williams Grove Speedway featuring a pair of 20-lap main events, each awarding a $4,000 top prize. The A-main finish of the first 20-lapper will help set the field for the second 20-lapper; a pill draw conducted at the conclusion of the first feature will determine the number of cars inverted for the start of the second.

Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, will open pit gates at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, August 23. A mandatory All Star drivers meeting will take shape at 6:30 p.m., followed by hot laps at 7 p.m.

Contingency Awards/Results: Grandview Speedway – August 22, 2019:
Event: Hodnett Cup
Entries: 24
C&R Racing All Star Warm-Ups: Tony Stewart – 11.768 seconds
Lincoln Electric Fast Qualifier: Aaron Reutzel – 11.868 seconds
Ford Performance Heat #1: Ryan Taylor
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #2: Brock Zearfoss
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #3: Danny Dietrich
JE Pistons presented by Fatheadz Eyewear Dash: Aaron Reutzel
Ollie’s Bargain Outlet A-Main Winner: Aaron Reutzel
MSD Performance Hard Charger Award: Anthony Macri (+8)
Cometic Gasket Most A-Main Laps Led: Aaron Reuztel (1-30)
(Lincoln Electric, MSD Performance, Fatheadz Eyewear, Rayce Rudeen Foundation, Cometic Gasket: Need decal to qualify for contingency award)

Qualifying

Group (A)
1. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 11.868; 2. 72-Ryan Smith, 12.075; 3. O7-Gerard McIntyre, 12.230; 4. 20-Ryan Taylor, 12.233; 5. 99-Skylar Gee, 12.246; 6. 39M-Anthony Macri, 12.271; 7. 14-Tony Stewart, 12.288; 8. 91-Anthony Fiore, 12.565

Group (B)
1. 13-Paul McMahan, 12.292; 2. 70X-Justin Peck, 12.339; 3. 87K-Alan Krimes, 12.364; 4. 70-Brock Zearfoss, 12.514; 5. 51-Freddie Rahmer, 12.571; 6. 5-Jeff Halligan, 12.626; 7. 73B-Brett Michalski, 12.851

Group (C)
1. 26-Cory Eliason, 12.100; 2. 11-Dale Blaney, 12.290; 3. 48-Danny Dietrich, 12.302; 4. 98H-Dave Blaney, 12.391; 5. 88-Brandon Rahmer, 12.426; 6. 91R-Kyle Reinhardt, 12.573; 7. W20-Greg Wilson, 12.640; 8. 40-George Hobaugh, 12.770

Heat #1 – Group (A) (10 Laps) – Top 8 Transfer
1. 20-Ryan Taylor [1]; 2. O7-Gerard McIntyre [2]; 3. 72-Ryan Smith [3]; 4. 87-Aaron Reutzel [4]; 5. 14-Tony Stewart [7]; 6. 91-Anthony Fiore [8]; 7. 99-Skylar Gee [5]; 8. 39M-Anthony Macri [6]

Heat #2 – Group (B) (10 Laps) – Top 8 Transfer
1. 70-Brock Zearfoss [1]; 2. 13-Paul McMahan [4]; 3. 70X-Justin Peck [3]; 4. 87K-Alan Krimes [2]; 5. 51-Freddie Rahmer [5]; 6. 5-Jeff Halligan [6]; 7. 73B-Brett Michalski [7]

Heat #3 – Group (C) (10 Laps) – Top 8 Transfer
1. 48-Danny Dietrich [2]; 2. 98H-Dave Blaney [1]; 3. 26-Cory Eliason [4]; 4. 11-Dale Blaney [3]; 5. 91R-Kyle Reinhardt [6]; 6. 88-Brandon Rahmer [5]; 7. W20-Greg Wilson [7]; 8. 40-George Hobaugh [8]

Dash #1 (6 Laps)
1. 87-Aaron Reutzel [1]; 2. 13-Paul McMahan [2]; 3. 20-Ryan Taylor [3]; 4. 48-Danny Dietrich [5]; 5. 72-Ryan Smith [7]; 6. 98H-Dave Blaney [4]; 7. 70-Brock Zearfoss [8]; 8. O7-Gerard McIntyre [6]

A-Main (35 Laps)
1. 87-Aaron Reutzel [1]; 2. 13-Paul McMahan [2]; 3. 48-Danny Dietrich [4]; 4. 72-Ryan Smith [5]; 5. 20-Ryan Taylor [3]; 6. 11-Dale Blaney [11]; 7. 98H-Dave Blaney [6]; 8. 14-Tony Stewart [13]; 9. 70-Brock Zearfoss [7]; 10. 26-Cory Eliason [9]; 11. 51-Freddie Rahmer [14]; 12. 91R-Kyle Reinhardt [15]; 13. 88-Brandon Rahmer [16]; 14. 39M-Anthony Macri [22]; 15. 5-Jeff Halligan [18]; 16. W20-Greg Wilson [20]; 17. 99-Skylar Gee [19]; 18. 73B-Brett Michalski [21]; 19. 91-Anthony Fiore [17]; 20. O7-Gerard McIntyre [8]; 21. 87K-Alan Krimes [12]; 22. 40-George Hobaugh [23]; 23. 70X-Justin Peck [10] Lap Leaders: Aaron Reutzel (1-30)