Aaron Reutzel Wins All Star Sprint Jack Gunn Memorial Friday At Williams Grove

Story By: TYLER ALTMEYER / ALL STAR CIRCUIT OF CHAMPIONS – MECHANICSBURG, PA – Two-time and defending Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 champion, Aaron Reutzel, has certainly found his stride in Pennsylvania Posse country, winning at the famed Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, for the third time in the last two seasons, this time scoring the annual Jack Gunn Memorial for a $5,000 payday.

A contender the entire evening at the paperclip-shaped half-mile, Reutzel drove ahead from fourth on the grid and took command for the first time on lap 14, sneaking under KCP Racing’s Gio Scelzi at the exit of turn two and never looking back. The Jack Gunn Memorial title is Reutzel’s second at The Grove, also owning a Tommy Hinnershitz Classic triumph. The victory also propelled the Clute, Texas-native to the double-digit win mark, now owning ten All Star victories in 2020.

“Our car was phenomenal tonight,” Aaron Reutzel said, driver of the Baughman-Reutzel Motorsports/Fischer Body Shop/Precision Catalyst/Hollywood Blasting/Folkens Brothers Trucking/No. 87 sprint car. “I could move around; blast the top, run through the middle, run the bottom. Sometimes it pays off to be in second or third where you can move around like that. My crew chief is from Australia and he really wanted to win a race (at Williams Grove Speedway). It’s pretty special that we were able to make that happen. Just an awesome night all around.”

Getting away third at the initial start, it took Reutzel only eight circuits to find his way around second-place running Brian Brown, utilizing the speedway’s top grove to power by the 2020 Knoxville Raceway track champion. In the meantime, outside-pole sitter and Fresno-native Gio Scelzi was the man in charge, extending his lead to nearly a straightaway by the time Reutzel found his way to the tailtank of Brown.

Lapped traffic entered the picture by lap 11 creating an instant momentum block for Scelzi. With slower cars cutting down on Scelzi’s mobility, Reutzel closed-in in a hurry, putting himself well within striking distance by lap 13. The following circuit, Reutzel made his bid for the lead, entering turn one as low as he could before driving up across the race track and in front of the KCP Racing No. 18.

From that point forward, the bottom is where Reutzel stayed, keeping his focus ahead as Scelzi, Brown and Larson battled behind him. Although a caution on lap 29 would set-up a green-white-checkered restart, Reutzel never faltered, using clean air and a clear track to solidify his place in Williams Grove Speedway victory lane.

Gio Scelzi hung on to finish second, followed by Kyle Larson, Paul McMahan and Brent Marks.

“I just got lucky at the right time that allowed me to get a run on Gio (Scelzi),” Reutzel continued. “He ended up moving down in three and four, but didn’t move down yet in one and two, but I think he thought he was still OK on the top. You never want to pull the trigger too soon and not clear. Luckily, I was able to get down there and make it stick and get by him. From that point on, I was able to stay on the bottom and just hit my marks.”

“I should have known to get down there a little sooner,” Gio Scelzi said, driver of the KCP Racing/Logan Contractors/Aspen Aire, Inc./No. 18 sprint car. “(Aaron Reutzel) deserves to win; he drove the smarter race.”

What’s Next:
The Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 will conclude their final trek through the Keystone State with a visit to the “Fabulous” Lincoln Speedway on Saturday, September 19. The annual Dirt Classic will headline action in the Pigeon Hills awarding a $20,000 top prize. Gates are scheduled to open at 3:30 p.m. with a mandatory drivers meeting scheduled for 6 p.m. Hot laps will hit the speedway at 7 p.m., sharp. For more information, please visit Lincoln Speedway online at www.lincolnspeedway.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: Williams Grove Speedway – September 18, 2020:
Event: The Jack Gunn Memorial
Entries: 33
C&R Racing Warm-Ups: Aaron Reutzel – 16.540
Lincoln Electric Fast Qualifier: Gio Scelzi – 16.742
Ford Performance Heat #1 Winner: Brian Brown
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #2 Winner: Zeb Wise
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #3 Winner: Paul McMahan
Mobil 1 Heat #4 Winner: Aaron Reutzel
Classic Ink USA Screenprinting & Embroidery B-Main Winner: Chad Trout
Rayce Rudeen Foundation First Non-Transfer: Justin Peck
Ollie’s Bargain Outlet A-Main Winner: Aaron Reutzel
Hercules Tire A-Main Hard Charger: Danny Dietrich (+10)

Qualifying

Group (A)
1. 18-Gio Scelzi, 16.742; 2. 57-Kyle Larson, 16.748; 3. 2M-Kerry Madsen, 16.768; 4. 21-Brian Brown, 16.903; 5. 48-Danny Dietrich, 16.933; 6. 1X-Chad Trout, 16.935; 7. 24W-Lucas Wolfe, 17.248; 8. 12-Brent Shearer, 17.323; 9. 73B-Brett Michalski, 17.612

Group (B)
1. 17-Ian Madsen, 16.818; 2. 39M-Anthony Macri, 16.990; 3. 5-Brent Marks, 17.057; 4. 11-Zeb Wise, 17.084; 5. 14-Tony Stewart, 17.238; 6. 1W-Matt Campbell, 17.241; 7. 99M-Kyle Moody, 17.373; 8. 54-Zach Newlin, 17.768

Group (C)
1. 5C-Dylan Cisney, 17.023; 2. 51-Freddie Rahmer, 17.117; 3. 24-Rico Abreu, 17.306; 4. 13-Paul McMahan, 17.333; 5. 21m-Brian Montieth, 17.356; 6. 91-Kyle Reinhardt, 17.449; 7. 55K-Robbie Kendall, 17.540; 8. 12w-Troy Fraker, 19.052

Group (D)
1. 26-Cory Eliason, 17.201; 2. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss, 17.334; 3. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 17.382; 4. 11T-TJ Stutts, 17.389; 5. 39-Justin Peck, 17.558; 6. W20-Greg Wilson, 17.961; 7. 99-Skylar Gee, 17.973; 8. 27S-Adrian Shaffer, 18.176

Heat #1 – Group (A) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 21-Brian Brown [1]; 2. 2M-Kerry Madsen [2]; 3. 57-Kyle Larson [3]; 4. 18-Gio Scelzi [4]; 5. 48-Danny Dietrich [5]; 6. 1X-Chad Trout [6]; 7. 73B-Brett Michalski [9]; 8. 24W-Lucas Wolfe [7]; 9. 12-Brent Shearer [8]

Heat #2 – Group (B) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 11-Zeb Wise [1]; 2. 5-Brent Marks [2]; 3. 39M-Anthony Macri [3]; 4. 17-Ian Madsen [4]; 5. 14-Tony Stewart [5]; 6. 1W-Matt Campbell [6]; 7. 99M-Kyle Moody [7]; 8. 54-Zach Newlin [8]

Heat #3 – Group (C) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 13-Paul McMahan [1]; 2. 51-Freddie Rahmer [3]; 3. 24-Rico Abreu [2]; 4. 5C-Dylan Cisney [4]; 5. 91-Kyle Reinhardt [6]; 6. 21M-Brian Montieth [5]; 7. 55K-Robbie Kendall [7]; 8. 12W-Troy Fraker [8]

Heat #4 – Group (D) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 87-Aaron Reutzel [2]; 2. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [3]; 3. 26-Cory Eliason [4]; 4. 99-Skylar Gee [7]; 5. 27S-Adrian Shaffer [8]; 6. 39-Justin Peck [5]; 7. W20-Greg Wilson [6]; 8. 11T-TJ Stutts [1]

Dash #1 (4 Laps)
1. 21-Brian Brown [1]; 2. 13-Paul McMahan [2]; 3. 57-Kyle Larson [3]; 4. 2M-Kerry Madsen [4]; 5. 17-Ian Madsen [5]

Dash #2 (4 Laps)
1. 18-Gio Scelzi [1]; 2. 87-Aaron Reutzel [4]; 3. 11-Zeb Wise [2]; 4. 5C-Dylan Cisney [5]; 5. 26-Cory Eliason [3]

B-Main (12 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 1X-Chad Trout [1]; 2. 1W-Matt Campbell [2]; 3. 21M-Brian Montieth [3]; 4. 55K-Robbie Kendall [6]; 5. 39-Justin Peck [4]; 6. 73B-Brett Michalski [7]; 7. 11T-TJ Stutts [10]; 8. 99M-Kyle Moody [5]; 9. 24W-Lucas Wolfe [9]; 10. 54-Zach Newlin [11]; 11. W20-Greg Wilson [8]; 12. 12W-Troy Fraker [12]; 13. 12-Brent Shearer [13]

A-Main (30 Laps)
1. 87-Aaron Reutzel [4]; 2. 18-Gio Scelzi [2]; 3. 57-Kyle Larson [5]; 4. 13-Paul McMahan [3]; 5. 5-Brent Marks [11]; 6. 39M-Anthony Macri [14]; 7. 48-Danny Dietrich [17]; 8. 2M-Kerry Madsen [7]; 9. 51-Freddie Rahmer [12]; 10. 5C-Dylan Cisney [10]; 11. 17-Ian Madsen [8]; 12. 26-Cory Eliason [9]; 13. 27S-Adrian Shaffer [19]; 14. 91-Kyle Reinhardt [21]; 15. 24-Rico Abreu [15]; 16. 14-Tony Stewart [18]; 17. 1X-Chad Trout [20]; 18. 24w-Lucas Wolfe [25]; 19. 21M-Brian Montieth [22]; 20. 99-Skylar Gee [16]; 21. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [13]; 22. 21-Brian Brown [1]; 23. 11-Zeb Wise [6]; 24. 1W-Matt Campbell [23]; 25. 11T-TJ Stutts [24]; 26. 55K-Robbie Kendall [26] Lap Leaders: Gio Scelzi (1-13), Aaron Reutzel (14-30)