Aaron Reutzel Scores Speedweek Victory During Second Stop At Fremont Speedway

Story By: TYLER ALTMEYER / ALL STAR CIRCUIT OF CHAMPIONS – FREMONT, OH – The third try was definitely the charm for Clute, Texas-native Aaron Reutzel, as the two-time and defending Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 titleholder finally cracked into the 2020 Cometic Gasket Ohio Sprint Speedweek presented by Hercules Tires win column, doing so with a victory at Fremont Speedway in Fremont, Ohio, on Sunday evening, July 5.

The win, the second of Reutzel’s career at Fremont, not only secured a $5,000 payday, but it ultimately furthered a Speedweek podium streak that already includes a third-place performance at Attica Raceway Park on Friday, July 3, and a runner-up finish at Fremont on Saturday, July 4.
Lining up third on the main event grid by way of dash result, it did not take long for the Baughman-Reutzel Motorsports entry to find its way to the front, first sneaking by Paul McMahan to secure second after a restart on lap five, then taking command from race leader, Lee Jacobs, on lap 16. From that point forward, Reutzel was unchallenged, sailing ahead to solidify a 32nd All Star Circuit of Champions victory and his seventh of the season.
Nashville’s Paul McMahan chased Reutzel to the final checkers, followed by Lee Jacobs, Saturday night winner Buddy Kofoid, and Vienna, West Virginia’s Cale Conley.
“It’s pretty cool to win on a race track like this. The last time we won here, it was rough and heavy which is more my style,” Aaron Reutzel said, who now owns the Ohio Sprint Speedweek points lead. “This is as slick as it gets right here. Anything we had in our notebook, we couldn’t look at. We basically had to think ‘what would non-wing guys do’ because the wing really wasn’t working well.”
Although a contender from the start, a pair of cautions on lap five proved to be a positive momentum changer for Reutzel. Restarting in the third position, Reutzel quickly moved by McMahan to claim second, instantly applying pressure to race leader and Fremont Speedway track record holder, Lee Jacobs. By lap ten, Reutzel was all over Jacobs for the race lead, actually pulling even with the 1881 Racing entry on several occasions before slipping underneath Jacobs on lap 16.
Despite a third yellow flag appearance on lap 19, and a fourth caution on lap 24, Reutzel remained sound at the front of the field, never giving McMahan, who followed Reutzel beyond Jacobs for second on lap 18, an opportunity to capitalize. Even when Reutzel found himself entangled with slower cars during the final circuits, the two-time champ was untouchable, instantly separating himself from McMahan by two lappers.
“I can’t say enough about this Folkens Brothers Trucking, Fischer Body Shop, Dissolvalloy race team right now,” Reutzel continued. “Rough and heavy, slick; we just seem to adapt to anything and it’s pretty cool when you can do stuff like that. I couldn’t be more proud of my guys.”
The caution on lap 24 eventually turned into an open red scenario, which allowed the track’s ambulance to respond to a call in the pit area.
What’s Next:
The first segment of Cometic Gasket Ohio Sprint Speedweek presented by Hercules Tires will continue on Monday evening, July 6, with a visit to ‘Orrville’s Historic Oval’ – Wayne County Speedway in Orrville, Ohio. The $6,000-to-win program will conclude a four-race sweep for the All Stars with Ohio Sprint Speedweek continuing on Wednesday evening, July 8, during a visit to Brushcreek Motorsports Complex in Peebles, Ohio. To learn more, visit Brushcreek online at https://brushcreekmotorsports.com/.
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. To check out exclusive content, visit https://bit.ly/2XR863e.
Contingency Awards/Results: Fremont Speedway – July 5, 2020:
Event: Cometic Gasket Ohio Sprint Speedweek presented by Hercules Tires
Entries: 39
C&R Racing Warm-Ups: Buddy Kofoid – 13.013
Lincoln Electric Fast Qualifier: Jac Haudenschild – 13.240
Ford Performance Heat #1 Winner: Tyler Street
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #2 Winner: Lee Jacobs
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #3 Winner: Aaron Reutzel
Mobil 1 Heat #4 Winner: Travis Philo
Kear’s Speed Shop Dash #1 Winner: Paul McMahan
Elliott’s Custom Trailers & Carts Dash #2 Winner: Lee Jacobs
Classic Ink USA Screenprinting & Embroidery B-Main Winner: Justin Peck
Rayce Rudeen Foundation First Non-Transfer: Greg Wilson
Ollie’s Bargain Outlet A-Main Winner: Aaron Reutzel
Hercules Tire A-Main Hard Charger: Greg Wilson (+15)
Qualifying
Group (A)
1. 3-Jac Haudenschild, 13.240; 2. 4-Cap Henry, 13.456; 3. 28-Tim Shaffer, 13.496; 4. 4S-Tyler Street, 13.682; 5. 99-Skylar Gee, 13.750; 6. 35-Stuart Brubaker, 13.865; 7. 15-Mitch Harble, 13.884; 8. 19R-Jordan Ryan, 13.936; 9. 9W-Lance Webb, 14.341; 10. 21N-Frankie Nervo, 14.488
Group (B)
1. 13-Paul McMahan, 13.471; 2. 11N-Buddy Kofoid, 13.531; 3. 11-Zeb Wise, 13.667; 4. 81-Lee Jacobs, 13.777; 5. 22B-Ryan Broughton, 14.085; 6. 5-Byron Reed, 14.178; 7. 5h-Jordan Harble, 14.204; 8. 8M-TJ Michael, 14.310; 9. 2L-Landon Lalonde, 14.462; 10. 88N-Frank Neill, 15.082
Group (C)
1. 22C-Cole Duncan, 13.883; 2. 3C-Cale Conley, 13.972; 3. 26-Cory Eliason, 14.003; 4. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 14.232; 5. O9-Craig Mintz, 14.308; 6. 3J-Trey Jacobs, 14.342; 7. 17-Josh Baughman, 14.382; 8. 23-Cole Macedo, 14.388; 9. W20-Greg Wilson, 14.451; 10. 2-Ricky Peterson, 14.758
Group (D)
1. 1-Nate Dussel, 14.208; 2. 15k-Chad Kemenah, 14.259; 3. 7BC-Tyler Courtney, 14.496; 4. 5T-Travis Philo, 14.504; 5. 2+-Brian Smith, 14.776; 6. 16-DJ Foos, 14.834; 7. 5x-Justin Peck, 14.891; 8. O7-Gerard McIntyre, 15.122; 9. 6-Frank Rodgers, 15.710
Heat #1 – Group (A) (10 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 4S-Tyler Street [1]; 2. 4-Cap Henry [3]; 3. 28-Tim Shaffer [2]; 4. 3-Jac Haudenschild [4]; 5. 35-Stuart Brubaker [6]; 6. 99-Skylar Gee [5]; 7. 19R-Jordan Ryan [8]; 8. 15-Mitch Harble [7]; 9. 21N-Frankie Nervo [10]; 10. 9W-Lance Webb [9]
Heat #2 – Group (B) (10 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 81-Lee Jacobs [1]; 2. 11N-Buddy Kofoid [3]; 3. 11-Zeb Wise [2]; 4. 13-Paul McMahan [4]; 5. 5-Byron Reed [6]; 6. 5H-Jordan Harble [7]; 7. 22B-Ryan Broughton [5]; 8. 88N-Frank Neill [10]; 9. 8M-TJ Michael [8]; 10. 2L-Landon Lalonde [9]
Heat #3 – Group (C) (10 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 87-Aaron Reutzel [1]; 2. 26-Cory Eliason [2]; 3. 3C-Cale Conley [3]; 4. 3J-Trey Jacobs [6]; 5. O9-Craig Mintz [5]; 6. 22C-Cole Duncan [4]; 7. 23-Cole Macedo [8]; 8. W20-Greg Wilson [9]; 9. 17-Josh Baughman [7]; 10. 2-Ricky Peterson [10]
Heat #4 – Group (D) (10 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 5T-Travis Philo [1]; 2. 2+-Brian Smith [5]; 3. 1-Nate Dussel [4]; 4. 15K-Chad Kemenah [3]; 5. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [2]; 6. 5X-Justin Peck [7]; 7. O7-Gerard McIntyre [8]; 8. 16-DJ Foos [6]; 9. 6-Frank Rodgers [9]
Dash #1 (4 Laps)
1. 13-Paul McMahan [1]; 2. 87-Aaron Reutzel [2]; 3. 1-Nate Dussel [4]; 4. 4-Cap Henry [5]; 5. 5T-Travis Philo [3]
Dash #2 (4 Laps)
1. 81-Lee Jacobs [1]; 2. 3C-Cale Conley [3]; 3. 3-Jac Haudenschild [5]; 4. 28-Tim Shaffer [4]; 5. 4S-Tyler Street [2]
B-Main (12 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 5X-Justin Peck [4]; 2. 99-Skylar Gee [1]; 3. 22C-Cole Duncan [2]; 4. 5H-Jordan Harble [3]; 5. W20-Greg Wilson [10]; 6. 19R-Jordan Ryan [5]; 7. 16-DJ Foos [11]; 8. O7-Gerard McIntyre [8]; 9. 23-Cole Macedo [7]; 10. 17-Josh Baughman [14]; 11. 2-Ricky Peterson [19]; 12. 21N-Frankie Nervo [15]; 13. 22B-Ryan Broughton [6]; 14. 2L-Landon Lalonde [18]; 15. 88N-Frank Neill [12]; 16. 6-Frank Rodgers [16]; 17. 8M-TJ Michael [13]; 18. 15-Mitch Harble [9]; 19. 9W-Lance Webb [17]
A-Main (35 Laps)
1. 87-Aaron Reutzel [3]; 2. 13-Paul McMahan [1]; 3. 81-Lee Jacobs [2]; 4. 11N-Buddy Kofoid [11]; 5. 3C-Cale Conley [4]; 6. 1-Nate Dussel [5]; 7. 28-Tim Shaffer [8]; 8. 5T-Travis Philo [9]; 9. 2+-Brian Smith [13]; 10. W20-Greg Wilson [25]; 11. 26-Cory Eliason [12]; 12. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [20]; 13. 3-Jac Haudenschild [6]; 14. 5X-Justin Peck [21]; 15. 5-Byron Reed [18]; 16. 99-Skylar Gee [22]; 17. 11-Zeb Wise [14]; 18. 5H-Jordan Harble [24]; 19. 4-Cap Henry [7]; 20. O9-Craig Mintz [19]; 21. 4S-Tyler Street [10]; 22. 17-Josh Baughman [26]; 23. 22C-Cole Duncan [23]; 24. 35-Stuart Brubaker [17]; 25. 15K-Chad Kemenah [15]; 26. 3J-Trey Jacobs [16] Lap Leaders: Paul McMahan (1), Lee Jacobs (2-15), Aaron Reutzel (16-35)
2020 Cometic Gasket Ohio Sprint Speedweek presented by Hercules Tires Standings: (As of July 5, 2020):
1. Aaron Reutzel – 440
2. Buddy Kofoid – 438
3. Paul McMahan – 416
4. Cale Conley – 414
5. Jac Haudenschild – 392
6. Cap Henry – 388
7. Lee Jacobs – 382
8. Skylar Gee – 376
9. Tim Shaffer – 374
10. Greg Wilson – 368
2020 All Star Circuit of Champions Driver Standings: (As of July 5, 2020)
1. Aaron Reutzel – 2326
2. Cory Eliason – 2196
3. Paul McMahan – 2150
4. Zeb Wise – 2134
5. Greg Wilson – 2032
6. Josh Baughman – 2004
7. Skylar Gee – 1988
8. Tony Stewart – 1702
9. Danny Dietrich – 1678
10. Brock Zearfoss – 1632