Reutzel in Command of ASCS Title Chase

Lonnie Wheatley, CLUTE, Texas (October 2, 2015) – Aaron Reutzel is moving that much closer to the 2015 Lucas Oil National Tour championship after two recent weekends of competition in Nebraska and Missouri.

With only the Devil’s Bowl Winter Nationals and I-30 Speedway’s “Short Track Nationals” remaining on the ASCS slate, Reutzel holds a 45-point advantage aboard the Shark-powered BC Fundz/Basic One Services No. 87 Triple X Sprint Car in the $60,000 championship chase.

It’s a lead that could have dwindled more after two trying weekends.

“We’ve had plenty of speed, but just no luck at all,” Reutzel explains.

Case in point, I-80 Speedway’s “Fall Brawl” that was compressed into one day on September 19 after Friday rains.

“We had it won hand down, we were leading coming to the checkered flag,” Reutzel said of the preliminary feature in the Wren Motorsports/Momentum Racing Suspensions machine.

But a last-second caution proved costly. 

“The left rear went flat under the caution,” Reutzel said of the costly caution.  “Then that set me up bad for the second feature.”

With the first feature finish setting the field for the second feature, Reutzel had to battle through “B” Main action rather than have a shot at the $20,000 bonus for sweeping the night.  Reutzel made the cut, but there was little to be done from 13th in the Dissolvealloy Frac Ball Revolution machine.

“It was rubbered up for the second feature, you couldn’t really go anywhere,” Reutzel explained.

From there, it was on to Wheatland, Missouri’s Lucas Oil Speedway, a track that’s similar to I-80 Speedway in at least one respect.  “It’s like I-80, we’ve been fast there but no luck,” Reutzel commented prior to the Hockett/McMillin Memorial.

That luck held to be unfortunately true for Reutzel and the Danny Sander Construction/ButlerBuilt team.

The weekend started out in promising fashion with Reutzel racing through his heat race field with ease.  But, after contact while trying to slide a car for second, the uphill battle was on.

“It popped the right rear and also tore up the radius rods and arm,” Reutzel said.

Troubles carried over to the “B” Main.  “We thought it just jumped out of gear, but it turned out that it broke the yoke.”

After hasty repairs, Reutzel made the call for the “A” Main.  “They tilled the top and then it was just one-lane around the top the entire race.”

Saturday at Lucas Oil Speedway was similar, with Reutzel again transferring from the “B” Main after being in a stout heat.

“Then they tilled it again, it was one lane around the top,” Reutzel says.  “You couldn’t really go anywhere, we managed to pick off a few.

Reutzel picked off enough positions to climb to 11th from 20th after finishing 15th in Friday’s feature.

Now, a pair of familiar ovals in Mesquite, TX, and Little Rock, AR, are all that stand between the $60,000 title for Reutzel and the Lone Star Hydro Maintenance/Wright Way Logistics team.

A weekend or two off to prepare for the final two events should work to Reutzel’s advantage.

“As long as we get through Devil’s Bowl with no parts failures and run top five both nights, then we should be okay,” Reutzel wraps up.

2015 Quick Stats:  62 races, 11 wins, 30 top-fives, 40 top-tens.

Up Next: Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour action resumes with the Devil’s Bowl Speedway “Winter Nationals” in Mesquite, TX, on October 16-17.

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 www.sprintcarmania.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.

Bellm Holds ASCS Rookie Lead after Two More Weekend Doubles

Lonnie Wheatley, NIXA, Mo. (October 2, 2015) – Leading Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour Rookie of the Year contender Kyle Bellm finally gets a chance to catch his breath after a couple of busy weekends of racing action in Nebraska and Missouri.

Two weekend doubles aboard the PPG Automotive Finishes/Colorvision No. 14k Sprint Car included the “Fall Brawl” with double features at Greenwood, Nebraska’s I-80 Speedway on September 19 and then last weekend’s Hockett/McMillin Memorial event at Wheatland, Missouri’s Lucas Oil Speedway.

After finishes of 19th and 15th at I-80 Speedway, Bellm commented that, “It will be nice to get back to some tracks that we’re familiar with, where we’ve had some success.”

That familiarity began with Lucas Oil Speedway, where he raced to a seventh-place finish in the Schure Built Suspensions/Christian County Collision Repair entry on Friday night before finishing off the weekend with a 12th-place run on Saturday.

“There were a lot of good cars, we were the top finishing National car,” Bellm points out of the 50-plus car field.

Missing a lock-in position by just three spots, Bellm was on the move from the 13th starting position on Saturday aboard the Bybee Lawn Care/Dynotech Racing Engines machine.

“We were up to sixth at one point and got to racing with Herrera,” Bellm relates.  “I got out of line and got freight-trained.”

“We probably should have tightened up a little more on both nights,” Bellm says.  “We were competitive, we were in the mix both night, so we’ll take it.”

The Lucas Oil Speedway double came off I-80 Speedway’s “Fall Brawl” double that was compressed into one night after Friday rains.

“It got off to a bad start with probably the worst heat we could have drawn,” Bellm explains.  “It’s hard to dig yourself out when it starts like that.”

Bellm made the most of it, making his way into the first feature and then racing into the second one as well through “B” Main action.

“The first feature we were fighting for position with some cars back there and ended up getting lapped,” Bellm recalls.  “We raced into the second one and it was 30 laps of rubber.”

The net result of two weeks of action still has Bellm seventh in Lucas Oil National Tour points and in command of the Rookie of the Year points chase in the Scheaffer’s Oil machine with just the Devil’s Bowl Winter Nationals on October 16-17 and I-30 Speedway’s Short Track Nationals on October 28-31 remaining.

“We have high hopes for sure,” Bellm says.  “We hope to end strong, I think we’re capable.”

Up Next: Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour action resumes on October 16-17 with the Devil’s Bowl Speedway “Winter Nationals” in Mesquite, TX.

Keep Track:  Keep track of Kyle Bellm’s on-track action including schedule and results at http://www.kylebellm.com/, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/KyleBellmRacing?fref=ts or on Twitter at @kylebellmracing.

If you would like Kyle Bellm 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 www.sprintcarmania.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.