Aaron Reutzel Scores Thursday At DIRTcar Nationals For First Career All Star Win At Volusia

Story By: TYLER ALTMEYER / ALL STAR CIRCUIT OF CHAMPIONS – BARBERVILLE, FL – Unrattled by a Wednesday night performance that concluded with a sixth place finish during the evening’s consolation B-Main, two-time and defending Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 champion Aaron Reutzel was the class of the field on Thursday evening at Volusia Speedway Park, concluding the All Star segment of the 2020 DIRTcar Nationals with a victory; the 26th of Aaron Reutzel’s career and a first-ever Series win at the ‘World’s Fastest Half Mile Dirt Track.’

Defending World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series champion, Brad Sweet, finished second on Thursday night, followed by Ian Madsen, Donny Schatz and James McFadden.

“We do a lot in the off-season to try and make our cars better and better. I just can’t thank my guys enough,” Aaron Reutzel said, who amassed a Series-leading 16 victories in 2019. “Dylan Buswell is with us now because Cheeseburger is gone. He went home to better his career and you can’t blame someone for wanting to do that. This is just another testament to this team. We missed the A-Main last night but we came back with redemption tonight.”

Reutzel, driver of the Baughman-Reutzel Motorsports/Folkens Brothers Trucking/Fischer Body Shop/Nattress Construction/No. 87 sprint car, earned his $5,000 top prize from the inside of the second row, eventually working his way around front row starter and Wednesday night winner, Brad Sweet, with a diving move in turns one and two on lap eight, all before powering under race leader, Ian Madsen, in turn four on lap 16. A lapped car, which caused Madsen to slip out of his desired groove, aided Reutzel’s attempt.

Despite an abrasive surface ultimately leading to a thin, but ultra-fast racing groove, Reutzel never faltered, maintaining command, as well as his composure, even as tire wear started to become an obvious threat during the later stages of the 25-lap program.

Adding to the drama already assembling due to tire concern, cautions started to flood the main event with just four circuits remaining. In fact, caution lights appeared on lap 22 and again on lap 24, each for right-rear flats, ultimately setting up a green-white-checkered finish. In spite of concern, and a right-rear lacking tread, Reutzel persevered.

“The first couple of laps, I just kinda judged myself with everyone else. I could see Brad [Sweet] was moving around and he was pretty good, too. I eventually found the rubber and Brad found it at the same time, but luckily I was able to find it a little before he did,” Aaron Reutzel continued. “I eventually ran up on Ian [Madsen]. I thought I was running a pretty smart race but I think I got to Ian a little too quickly because he ended up seeing me and moving down on me. Regardless, it all ended up playing out in our favor. I was just trying to be as patient as I could.”

What’s Next:
Tony Stewart’s All Star Circuit of Champions will conclude their 2020 Florida vacation with a pair of East Bay Raceway Park starts on Monday and Tuesday, February 10-11. Dubbed the All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Winn-Dixie, the East Bay double will award a pair of $5,000 paydays. Fans should visit East Bay Raceway Park online for additional information: www.ebrp.co. The Tampa-area facility has not hosted an All Star Circuit of Champions program since 2010.

Contingency Awards/Results: Volusia Speedway Park – Thursday, February 6, 2020:
Event: 49th Annual DIRTcar Nationals
Entries: 34
C&R Racing All Star Warm-Ups: Aaron Reutzel – 13.563 seconds
Lincoln Electric Fast Qualifier: Daryn Pittman – 13.087 seconds
Ford Performance Heat #1: Daryn Pittman
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #2: Sheldon Haudenschild
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #3: Aaron Reutzel
Mobil 1 Heat #4: Logan Schuchart
JE Pistons Dash #1: Ian Madsen
Kear’s Speed Shop Dash #2: Brad Sweet
Classic Ink USA Screenprinting & Embroidery B-Main Winner: Chad Kemenah
Rayce Rudeen Foundation First Non-Transfer: Brock Zearfoss
Ollie’s Bargain Outlet A-Main Winner: Aaron Reutzel
Hercules Tire A-Main Hard Charger: Cory Eliason (+11)
(Lincoln Electric, Hercules Tire, Rayce Rudeen Foundation: Need decal to qualify for contingency award)

Qualifying

Group (A)
1. 83-Daryn Pittman, 13.087; 2. 15-Donny Schatz, 13.294; 3. 41-David Gravel, 13.311; 4. 14-Tim Shaffer, 13.316; 5. 15k-Chad Kemenah, 13.348; 6. 48-Danny Dietrich, 13.445; 7. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss, 13.504; 8. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 13.631; 9. 4-Terry McCarl, 13.789

Group (B)
1. 14P-Parker Price-Miller, 13.194; 2. 49-Brad Sweet, 13.260; 3. 18-Ian Madsen, 13.281; 4. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild, 13.332; 5. 26-Cory Eliason, 13.376; 6. 2-Carson Macedo, 13.388; 7. 13-Paul McMahan, 13.483; 8. 2M-Kerry Madsen, 13.485; 9. 3C-Cale Conley, 13.610

Group (C)
1. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr., 13.153; 2. 57-Kyle Larson, 13.327; 3. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 13.525; 4. 21-Brian Brown, 13.538; 5. 5-Brent Marks, 13.575; 6. 39M-Anthony Macri, 13.646; 7. J4-John Garvin, 14.067; 8. 33M-Mason Daniel, 14.172

Group (D)
1. 1A-Jacob Allen, 13.458; 2. 9-James McFadden, 13.543; 3. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 13.608; 4. 5W-Lucas Wolfe, 13.686; 5. 40-George Hobaugh, 13.995; 6. 2C-Wayne Johnson, 14.161; 7. W20-Greg Wilson, 14.228; 8. B15-Kurt Conklin, 14.947

Heat #1 – Group (A) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 83-Daryn Pittman [4]; 2. 41-David Gravel [2]; 3. 14-Tim Shaffer [1]; 4. 15-Donny Schatz [3]; 5. 48-Danny Dietrich [6]; 6. 4-Terry McCarl [9]; 7. 15K-Chad Kemenah [5]; 8. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [7]; 9. 11K-Kraig Kinser [8]

Heat #2 – Group (B) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [1]; 2. 49-Brad Sweet [3]; 3. 18-Ian Madsen [2]; 4. 13-Paul McMahan [7]; 5. 14P-Parker Price-Miller [4]; 6. 2-Carson Macedo [6]; 7. 2M-Kerry Madsen [8]; 8. 3C-Cale Conley [9]; 9. 26-Cory Eliason [5]

Heat #3 – Group (C) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 87-Aaron Reutzel [2]; 2. 57-Kyle Larson [3]; 3. 21-Brian Brown [1]; 4. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. [4]; 5. 5-Brent Marks [5]; 6. J4-John Garvin [7]; 7. 33M-Mason Daniel [8]; 8. 39M-Anthony Macri [6]

Heat #4 – Group (D) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 1S-Logan Schuchart [2]; 2. 9-James McFadden [3]; 3. 5W-Lucas Wolfe [1]; 4. 2C-Wayne Johnson [6]; 5. W20-Greg Wilson [7]; 6. 1A-Jacob Allen [4]; 7. 40-George Hobaugh [5]; 8. B15-Kurt Conklin [8]

Dash #1 (4 Laps)
1. 18-Ian Madsen [2]; 2. 87-Aaron Reutzel [4]; 3. 9-James McFadden [1]; 4. 15-Donny Schatz [5]; 5. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. [3]

Dash #2 (4 Laps)
1. 49-Brad Sweet [1]; 2. 14P-Parker Price-Miller [2]; 3. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [3]; 4. 1S-Logan Schuchart [4]; 5. 83-Daryn Pittman [5]

B-Main (12 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 15K-Chad Kemenah [1]; 2. 2M-Kerry Madsen [7]; 3. 26-Cory Eliason [2]; 4. 2-Carson Macedo [3]; 5. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [10]; 6. 4-Terry McCarl [5]; 7. 33M-Mason Daniel [9]; 8. 11K-Kraig Kinser [14]; 9. 39M-Anthony Macri [12]; 10. 3C-Cale Conley [11]; 11. 40-George Hobaugh [8]; 12. J4-John Garvin [6]; 13. 1A-Jacob Allen [4]; 14. B15-Kurt Conklin [13]

A-Main (25 Laps)
1. 87-Aaron Reutzel [3]; 2. 49-Brad Sweet [2]; 3. 18-Ian Madsen [1]; 4. 15-Donny Schatz [7]; 5. 9-James McFadden [5]; 6. 21-Brian Brown [14]; 7. 83-Daryn Pittman [10]; 8. 57-Kyle Larson [12]; 9. 41-David Gravel [11]; 10. 48-Danny Dietrich [18]; 11. 2-Carson Macedo [21]; 12. 13-Paul McMahan [16]; 13. 26-Cory Eliason [24]; 14. 5W-Lucas Wolfe [15]; 15. 14-Tim Shaffer [13]; 16. 5-Brent Marks [19]; 17. 1S-Logan Schuchart [8]; 18. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [6]; 19. 2M-Kerry Madsen [23]; 20. 14P-Parker Price-Miller [4]; 21. 2C-Wayne Johnson [17]; 22. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. [9]; 23. W20-Greg Wilson [20]; 24. 15K-Chad Kemenah [22] Lap Leaders: Ian Madsen (1-15), Aaron Reutzel (16-25)