There are drivers at I-30 Speedway this week who are better known on the national sprint car scene and bring more impressive credentials into the 27th annual Short Track Nationals, but Aaron Reutzel of Clute, Texas, may have a better handle on the Little Rock quarter-mile oval than anyone else.
Reutzel, 24, kicked off the event Wednesday night by winning the Short Nationals Open, giving him three victories in as many starts at I-30 this season.
STN Open
• Results from Wednesday night’s feature race at the second annual Short Track Nationals Open at I-30 Speedway in Little Rock:
DRIVER;HOMETOWN;START;EARNINGS
Aaron Reutzel;Clute, Texas; 3;$2,000
Stevie Smith; New Oxford, Pa.; 7;$1,000
Dalton Davis; Millington, Tenn.; 5;$750
Derek Hagar;Marion; 12;$700
Zach Pringle;Benton; 11;$650
Kevin Swindell;Bartlett, Tenn.; 18;$600
A.J. Bruns; Athens, Ill.; 4;$550
Ray Allen Kulhanek; Danbury, Texas; 13;$500
Johnny Herrera;Albuquerque, N.M.; 17;$450
Brian Brown; Grain Valley, Mo. ;20;$400
A.G. Rains;West Memphis; 16;$375
Wayne Johnson;Knoxville, Iowa; 15;$350
Gary Taylor;Snohomish, Wash.; 21;$325
Dustin Morgan; Tulsa;6;$300
Josh Baughman; Odessa, Texas;9;$250
Tim Crawley; Benton;22;$200
Jason Johnson;Eunice, La.;10;$200
Morgan Turpen;Oakland, Tenn.;8;$200
Brandon Hanks;Burlison, Tenn.;19;$200
Eric Lutz;Sioux Falls, S.D.;14;$200
Shawn Dancer; Delphos, Ohio;2;$200
Eric Riggins Jr.;Charlotte, N.C.;1; $200
LAP LEADERS Riggins 1-2, Reutzel 3-25. HEAT WINNERS Baughman, J.Johnson, Morgan, Pringle, Hagar, Kulhanek, Lutz, Smith. C-MAIN WINNERS Shane Golobic, Ryan Bickett. B-MAIN WINNERS Herrera, Swindell.
He earned his first Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series national event April 12 by taking a wire-to-wire victory at I-30, and returned to the track May 10 and won the weekly sprint feature.
He earned the third starting position Wednesday night and quickly moved to the front of the field.
"I can't believe it," Reutzel said. "To win three in a row here and win this one is awesome."
The event has turned into the most popular $2,000-to-win race in the country as drivers use it to prepare for the $15,000-to-win Short Track Nationals, which began Thursday and continues through Saturday night. Wednesday night's event drew 66 drivers, and around 80 are expected for the rest of the weekend.
Eric Riggins Jr. of Charlotte, N.C., earned the pole position through heat race qualifiers and led the first two laps of Wednesday night's main event. Reutzel quickly moved past No. 2 starter, Shawn Dancer of Delphos, Ohio, and was closing in on Riggins when the leader spun on the third lap.
"We were fortunate he didn't take us out when he was spinning," Reutzel said.
Reutzel led the rest of the way, but not without a late challenge. Stevie Smith of New Oxford, Pa., who started seventh, closed in on Reutzel's rear bumper in lapped traffic during the closing laps, but Reutzel split two lapped cars coming to the white flag and pulled away for his seventh victory of the season.
"I was too tight to roll the bottom the way I needed to those last few laps, but we made it work," he said.
Smith took second and Dalton Davis of Millington, Tenn., was third.
Arkansans racing from deeper in the field rounded out the top five. Marion's Derek Hagar, who started 12th, finished fourth and I-30 regular Zach Pringle of Benton started 11th and finished fifth.
Kevin Swindell of Bartlett, Tenn., started 18th and was just nipped by Pringle for fifth. Swindell, the four-time winner of the Chili Bowl Midget Nationals, is the son of three-time Short Track Nationals winner Sammy Swindell, who retired from racing this summer.
Rounding out the top 10 were A.J. Bruns of Athens, Ill., Ray Allen Kulhanek of Danbury, Texas, Johnny Herrera of Albuquerque, N.M., and Brian Brown of Grain Valley, Mo.
Sports on 10/24/2014