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Reutzel Regroups after Rough Iowa Outing
Lonnie Wheatley, CLUTE, Texas (August 6, 2014) – Hopes were high for Aaron Reutzel and the BC Fundz/Wren Motorsports No. 87 Triple-X team going into this past weekend’s 24th Annual Knoxville 360 Nationals.
But, some hot laps issues followed by miscommunications among race officials effectively derailed those hopes.
“There was a really bad vibration in hot laps so I just pulled in, not knowing exactly what it was,” Reutzel explained of Thursday night’s hot lap session.
“We asked an official if we could qualify the next night, he radioed upstairs and they said we could,” Reutzel says.
With that in mind, Reutzel and crew member Ryan Beechler diagnosed the problem as a broken U-joint in the driveline. Then the bad news came an hour or so later.
“An official came up to us and said they made a mistake, that we couldn’t qualify the next night,” Reutzel said. “We’d already missed qualifying and the heat race and it was too late to get ready for the B, it killed our whole nationals.”
Without making a single lap, Reutzel was mired deep in a Saturday “E” Main among the 102-car field. Reutzel advanced from “E” to “D” aboard the Scott Baylor Racing Engines/Basic One Services machine where he advanced from 22th to 15th to finish his Nationals effort.
“We were just making some laps, there was really no chance of getting to the feature from there,” Reutzel said.
Monday’s outing at Oskaloosa’s Front Row Challenge at Southern Iowa Speedway wasn’t much better for the No. 87 team.
After slipping from third to fourth in a loaded heat race, Reutzel missed the feature cut in “B” Main action, commenting that, “The car just wasn’t working for some reason.”
Shaking off the effects of Iowa, Reutzel and the Momentum Racing Suspensions/Danny Sander Construction/ButlerBuilt team are already prepping for upcoming events.
“There’s something not right so we’re going to go through the entire car and figure out where the problem is,” Reutzel explains. “It’s definitely not working like it was the first half of the year, so we’re going to spend the rest of this week going through it piece by piece.”
With an eye on a 2015 Knoxville Nationals Rookie of the Year effort, Reutzel will keep watch on Nationals action this week while fine tuning the Lone Star Hydro Maintenance/Wright Way Logistics machine.
Next week’s racing action includes a wingless outing in the opening leg of the USAC Southwest Sprint Cars Freedom Tour on Wednesday night at Lawton Speedway before resuming Lucas Oil ASCS National action atop the Salina Highbanks Speedway in Salina, OK, on Saturday.
2014 Quick Stats: 43 races, 6 “A” Main wins, 21 top-fives, 30 top-tens.
Up Next: USAC Southwest Freedom Tour at Lawton Speedway in Lawton, OK, on Wednesday, 13, and Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour at Salina Highbanks Speedway in Salina, OK, on Saturday, August 16.
Keep Track: Keep track of Aaron Reutzel’s on-track action including schedule and results at http://www.aaronreutzelracing.com/, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Aaron-Reutzel-Racing/117666254913127 or on Twitter at @AaronReutzel. You can also e-mail Aaron at aaronreutzel@yahoo.com.
If you would like Aaron Reutzel Racing press releases e-mailed directly to you, send your e-mail address to Lonnie Wheatley at lonniewheatley@gmail.com.
Penning the recurring series of “The Wheatley Chronicles” articles on racinboys.com, Lonnie Wheatley provides media, public relations and more for select tracks, drivers and events. For more information, Wheatley may be contacted at lonniewheatley@gmail.com.
From Kansas to Iowa for Bell – Knoxville Nationals Rookie Pursuit Begins Tonight!
Lonnie Wheatley, NORMAN, Okla. (August 6, 2014) – It has been a whirlwind week for Christopher Bell with six races over the course of the past eight days. And, it continues tonight, as the 19-year-old Norman, OK, native begins his pursuit of Rookie of the Year honors at the 54th Annual Knoxville Nationals in Knoxville, IA.
Amidst the whirlwind, Bell got his first glimpse of the famed half-mile clay oval at the Marion County Fairgrounds during Sunday night’s Third Annual Capitani Classic.
“The car felt good and we were going forward in the heat race before the engine soured,” Bell commented of the Brandon Berryman No. 31b entry. “We’ll change engines and hope we get this other one tuned a little better so we can do something.”
Sunday’s Capitani Classic followed four Kansas nights for the youngster that already his 17 wins to his credit during the 2014 campaign.
It began last Tuesday night, July 29, at the Solomon Valley Raceway in Beloit, KS, where Bell bounced back from an early feature spin to battle past teammate Rico Abreu in the closing laps to claim fourth aboard the Keith Kunz Motorsports No. 71 Toyota Midget.
“The longer the race went, the better the car got,” Bell commented. “We needed another ten or 15 laps, we were strong at the end.”
From there it was on to the 37th Annual Belleville Midget Nationals, where Bell reigned as defending champion.
Things didn’t fall into place this time though, with a blown engine in Thursday’s preliminary feature putting Bell and the Kunz team behind the eight ball.
After an engine change, Bell rallied from sixth to second in his Saturday heat race to earn a position in the Pole dash, where he finished fourth.
Bell raced fourth all the way in Saturday’s 40-lap Belleville Midget Nationals finale, battling with Tracy Hines for third most of the way before coming up just inches short for the position at the line.
“We just weren’t as fast as Rico (Abreu) this time around,” Bell said. “We got what we could get.”
Sandwiched in between the pair of Belleville Midget Nationals nights was the USAC Silver Crown High Banks Hustle on Friday night, with Bell battling for the lead aboard the RPM/Gormly No. 99 much of the way before settling for third.
“I packed the right rear with mud, the vibration got so bad I had to move down the track,” Bell explained after a race that is still raved about by those on hand.
Following Sunday night’s Capitani outing, Bell’s first 410 Sprint Car laps at Knoxville, the Berryman swapped powerplants for Monday’s Front Row Challenge at Oskaloosa’s Southern Iowa Speedway where 46th top ten finish of the season with a run of eighth.
“We just never really got going,” Bell said. “The track was racy enough, we just couldn’t find the speed we needed.”
And, after a Tuesday night off to catch his breath, it’s now time for Christopher Bell’s first crack at the Knoxville Nationals.
2014 Quick Stats: 70 races, 17 wins, 36 top-fives, 46 top-tens.
Next Up:
Wednesday, Knoxville Nationals (Knoxville, IA) – Berryman 31b Winged 410 Sprint Car
Friday (if necessary), Knoxville Nationals (Knoxville, IA) – Berryman 31b Winged 410 Sprint Car
Saturday, Knoxville Nationals (Knoxville, IA) – Berryman 31b Winged 410 Sprint Car
Meet Up: Fans can meet Christopher Bell during the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum’s fan forums. Bell will be on hand for the Friday session from 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Keep Track: Keep track of Christopher Bell’s on-track action including schedule and results at http://www.christopherbellracing.com/.
If you would like to keep up with all of Christopher Bell’s racing action by having press releases e-mailed directly to you, simply send your e-mail address to Lonnie Wheatley at lonniewheatley@gmail.com.
Penning the recurring series of “The Wheatley Chronicles” articles on racinboys.com, Lonnie Wheatley provides media, public relations and more for select tracks, drivers and events. For more information, Wheatley may be contacted at lonniewheatley@gmail.com.
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