Aaron Reutzel Scores Second-Straight All Stars Victory With Triumph At East Bay Monday

Story By: TYLER ALTMEYER / ALL STAR CIRCUIT OF CHAMPIONS – TAMPA, FL – Despite the entire Florida campaign not accumulating points toward the overall Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 championship, if Florida results could give any indication on how the 2020 All Star title chase will unfold, Clute, Texas’ Aaron Reutzel is a surefire favorite to earn the $65,000 top prize, ultimately increasing his consecutive championship run to three.

Now with two consecutive All Star victories in the Sunshine State, the first occurring during Volusia Speedway Park’s DIRTcar Nationals on Thursday, February 6, Baughman-Reutzel Motorsports’ Aaron Reutzel continued his Florida dominance with a convincing All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Winn-Dixie victory at East Bay Raceway Park on Monday evening, February 10, taking command for the first time on lap three before escaping from the rest of the field to snag the $5,000 payday. In addition, the win was Reutzel’s 27th during Series competition, doing so from sixth on the grid.

“We kinda picked up right where we left off last year. Whenever you’re running that good at the end of the year, you don’t want the year to end. Momentum can change and you can never be too sure how the next year is going to start,” Aaron Reutzel explained, driver of the Baughman-Reutzel Motorsports/Folkens Brothers Trucking/Fischer Body Shop/Dissolvalloy/No. 87 sprint car. “Even when we had the opportunity to practice last week, I told the guys I didn’t want to practice. I just wanted to head into race night like it was another race from last year.”

A takeover that proved to be just as impressive as the driver performing it, Reutzel’s bid for the lead on lap three consisted of two parts, the first segment being a slingshot move around the outer edge of the speedway in turns one and two to power by three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, Tony Stewart. Reutzel’s maneuver in the first two corners was soon followed by a dive through turns three and four to sneak by Brian Brown for the top spot. The multi-time Knoxville Raceway track champion led the first two circuits.

Reutzel went on to race unchallenged throughout the remaining distance, easily navigating through slower traffic while Tony Stewart, Cory Eliason, Ian Madsen and Brian Brown all jockeyed for position. Climbing ahead from eighth, Madsen eventually settled into second on lap 18 and desperately attempted to track down the two-time champion during the second half of the 30-lap program. The effort was present, but the gap was too much to overcome, even in late stages of traffic. Reutzel lapped all but the top 11 cars and, at one point, maintained a near-five second advantage. The final margin of victory equalled 2.5 seconds.

“The track was phenomenal tonight. I’d love to see a race track like that the entire time we are here,” Reutzel continued. “That was a lot of fun. I can’t thank my team enough for what they do for me. I wouldn’t be where I am today without their hard work and dedication.”

Following Reutzel and Madsen to the line were Cory Eliason, Tony Stewart and Chad Kemenah, who advanced four spots to secure his top-five performance. On a special note, Aaron Reutzel is now the second Texan to score an All Star Circuit of Champions main event victory at East Bay Raceway Park, now joining Gary Wright on the Florida wins list.

What’s Next:
With one night of Winn-Dixie action in the books, Tony Stewart’s All Star Circuit of Champions will conclude their 2020 Florida vacation, officially, with one final visit to East Bay Raceway Park on Tuesday, February 11. Dubbed the All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Winn-Dixie, the East Bay All Star finale will award a $5,000 top prize.

Contingency Awards/Results: East Bay Raceway Park – Monday, February 10, 2020:
Event: All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Winn-Dixie
Entries: 36
C&R Racing All Star Warm-Ups: Aaron Reutzel – 14.129 seconds
Lincoln Electric Fast Qualifier: Aaron Reutzel – 13.252 seconds
Ford Performance Heat #1: Ian Madsen
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #2: Chad Kemenah
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #3: Aaron Reutzel
Mobil 1 Heat #4: Tony Stewart
JE Pistons Dash #1: Brian Brown
Kear’s Speed Shop Dash #2: Tony Stewart
Classic Ink USA Screenprinting & Embroidery B-Main Winner: Bradley Howard
Rayce Rudeen Foundation First Non-Transfer: R.J. Jacobs
Ollie’s Bargain Outlet A-Main Winner: Aaron Reutzel
Hercules Tire A-Main Hard Charger: Ian Madsen (+6)
(Lincoln Electric, Hercules Tire, Rayce Rudeen Foundation: Need decal to qualify for contingency award)

Qualifying

Group (A)
1. 24-Danny Martin Jr., 13.659; 2. 4t-Terry McCarl, 13.667; 3. 18-Ian Madsen, 13.690; 4. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss, 13.817; 5. 3C-Cale Conley, 13.915; 6. 4-Danny Smith, 14.080; 7. 40i-Mark Imler, 14.445; 8. 95-Hunter Mackison, 14.452; 9. 7B-Ben Brown, 15.052

Group (B)
1. 21-Brian Brown, 13.401; 2. 26-Cory Eliason, 13.488; 3. 13-Paul McMahan, 13.606; 4. 15k-Chad Kemenah, 13.712; 5. 5-Brent Marks, 13.783; 6. 49H-Bradley Howard, 14.066; 7. 25-Chris Myers, 14.464; 8. 197-Ryan Harrison, 14.491; 9. 23-Chase Baker, 14.606

Group (C)
1. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 13.252; 2. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr., 13.341; 3. 28-Tim Shaffer, 13.852; 4. W20-Greg Wilson, 13.954; 5. 40-George Hobaugh, 14.090; 6. 47X-Dylan Westbrook, 14.093; 7. 18J-RJ Jacobs, 14.142; 8. 121-Steve Glover, 14.709; 9. 4X-Carson McCarl, 14.801

Group (D)
1. M1-Mark Smith, 13.750; 2. 48-Danny Dietrich, 13.751; 3. 14-Tony Stewart, 13.810; 4. 44-Trey Starks, 14.008; 5. 1-Jamie Myers, 14.045; 6. 28F-Davie Franek, 14.048; 7. 1080-Jordan Mackison, 14.472; 8. 4b-Billy Boyd Jr., 15.161; 9. J4-John Garvin, 99.520

Heat #1 – Group (A) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 18-Ian Madsen [2]; 2. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [1]; 3. 4T-Terry McCarl [3]; 4. 3C-Cale Conley [5]; 5. 24-Danny Martin Jr. [4]; 6. 4-Danny Smith [6]; 7. 95-Hunter Mackison [8]; 8. 40I-Mark Imler [7]; 9. 7B-Ben Brown [9]

Heat #2 – Group (B) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 15K-Chad Kemenah [1]; 2. 13-Paul McMahan [2]; 3. 26-Cory Eliason [3]; 4. 21-Brian Brown [4]; 5. 5-Brent Marks [5]; 6. 25-Chris Myers [7]; 7. 49H-Bradley Howard [6]; 8. 197-Ryan Harrison [8]; 9. 23-Chase Baker [9]

Heat #3 – Group (C) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 87-Aaron Reutzel [4]; 2. W20-Greg Wilson [1]; 3. 28-Tim Shaffer [2]; 4. 40-George Hobaugh [5]; 5. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. [3]; 6. 47X-Dylan Westbrook [6]; 7. 18J-RJ Jacobs [7]; 8. 4X-Carson McCarl [9]; 9. 121-Steve Glover [8]

Heat #4 – Group (D) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 14-Tony Stewart [2]; 2. M1-Mark Smith [4]; 3. 44-Trey Starks [1]; 4. 48-Danny Dietrich [3]; 5. 1-Jamie Myers [5]; 6. 4B-Billy Boyd Jr. [8]; 7. 1080-Jordan Mackison [7]; 8. 28F-Davie Franek [6]; 9. J4-John Garvin [9]

Dash #1 (4 Laps)
1. 21-Brian Brown [2]; 2. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. [4]; 3. M1-Mark Smith [1]; 4. 13-Paul McMahan [3]; 5. 15K-Chad Kemenah [5]

Dash #2 (4 Laps)
1. 14-Tony Stewart [2]; 2. 26-Cory Eliason [1]; 3. 87-Aaron Reutzel [5]; 4. 18-Ian Madsen [4]; 5. 24-Danny Martin Jr. [3]

B-Main (12 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 49H-Bradley Howard [2]; 2. 4-Danny Smith [3]; 3. 28F-Davie Franek [1]; 4. 47X-Dylan Westbrook [4]; 5. 18J-RJ Jacobs [7]; 6. 1080-Jordan Mackison [9]; 7. 25-Chris Myers [5]; 8. 197-Ryan Harrison [11]; 9. 40I-Mark Imler [10]; 10. 4X-Carson McCarl [12]; 11. 4B-Billy Boyd Jr. [6]; 12. 121-Steve Glover [14]; 13. 95-Hunter Mackison [8]; 14. 7B-Ben Brown [15]; 15. 23-Chase Baker [13]; 16. J4-John Garvin [16]

A-Main (30 Laps)
1. 87-Aaron Reutzel [6]; 2. 18-Ian Madsen [8]; 3. 26-Cory Eliason [4]; 4. 14-Tony Stewart [2]; 5. 15K-Chad Kemenah [9]; 6. 21-Brian Brown [1]; 7. 4T-Terry McCarl [13]; 8. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. [3]; 9. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [11]; 10. 13-Paul McMahan [7]; 11. 28-Tim Shaffer [14]; 12. M1-Mark Smith [5]; 13. 5-Brent Marks [19]; 14. 3C-Cale Conley [17]; 15. W20-Greg Wilson [12]; 16. 44-Trey Starks [15]; 17. 24-Danny Martin Jr. [10]; 18. 47X-Dylan Westbrook [24]; 19. 40-George Hobaugh [18]; 20. 1-Jamie Myers [20]; 21. 49H-Bradley Howard [21]; 22. 48-Danny Dietrich [16]; 23. 28F-Davie Franek [23]; 24. 4-Danny Smith [22] Lap Leaders: Brian Brown (1,2), Aaron Reutzel (3-30)