For Aaron Reutzel, 2015 has already been the best season of his career.
His victory Thursday night and how he accomplished it only added to it.
Sprint Screamer I
Thursday night’s feature race results from the Sprint Screamer sprint car event at I-30 Speedway in Little Rock with starting positions in parentheses:
Aaron Reutzel (13), Slute, Texas, $3,000
Jac Haudenschild (12), Wooster, Ohio, $1,500
Blake Hahn, Sapulpa, Okla. (2), $1,100
Wayne Johnson, Knoxville, Iowa (1), $1,000
Tim Crawley, Benton (8), $800
Kevin Ramey, Fort Worth (16), $700
Zach Pringle, Benton (5), $600
A.G. Rains, West Memphis (7), $500
Fred Mattox, Drumright, Okla. (15), $475
Steven Russell, Springfield, Ill. (14), $450
Jason Johnson, Eunice, La. (22), $425
Glenn Styres, Ohsweken, Ontario (18), $400
Jordon Mallett, Greenbrier (21), $375
Harli White, Lindsay, Okla. (24), $350
Derek Hagar, Marion (17), $300
Tim Shaffer, Aliquippa, Pa. (11), $300
Kyle Bellm, Nixa, Mo. (9), $300
Travis Rilat, Forney, Texas (23), $300
Dustin Gates, Haughton, La. (20), $300
Shane Stewart, Bixby, Okla. (4), $300
Howard Moore, Memphis (19), $300
Seth Bergman, Snohomish, Wash. (3), $300
Joe B. Miller, Millersville, Mo. (10), $300
Brandon Hanks, Burlison, Tenn. (6), $300
LAP LEADERS W. Johnson 1-7, Hahn 8-15, J.Haudenschild 16-19, Reutzel 20-25.
HEAT WINNERS John Carney II, Stewart, Cody Gardner, Rilat, Hahn, Crawley, Sheldon Haudenschild, W. Johnson.
QUALIFYING RACE WINNERS Bellm, Hanks, Miller, Reutzel, Pringle.
B-MAIN WINNERSHagar, Styres, Moore, Gates.
Reutzel, of Clute ,Texas, passed Jac Haudenschild of Wooster, Ohio, in the closing laps to win the Sprint Screamer at Little Rock's I-30 Speedway.
Reutzel had claimed $60,000 already by winning the American Sprint Car Series national championship and had collected 11 victories at tracks around the country. But Thursday's victory, on a tacky track made quite rough by recent rains, while battling at the end against one of the sport's most recognized stars was particularly special.
"To pass Haud on the outside on a track like this doesn't happen very often," said Reutzel, who collected $3,000 with the victory.
Originally the event was scheduled to be one of two qualifying nights for the 28th annual Comp Cams Short Track Nationals, but forecasts for heavy rain today forced track officials to postpone the STN until next spring. With their first- and second-place finishes Thursday night, Reutzel and Haudenschild secured starting positions at the front of next spring's STN.
Reutzel started 13th in Thursday's feature, one spot behind Haudenschild, a veteran with 55 career World of Outlaws victories who was racing at I-30 for the first time since 1989. Polesitter Wayne Johnson of Knoxville, Iowa, took the lead at the green flag and held it until Blake Hahn of Sapulpa, Okla., worked past him in traffic on the eighth lap.
Meanwhile, Haudenschild and Reutzel were cutting through the field, reaching second and third places, respectively, by the 10th lap. Haudenschild moved the lead and Reutzel took second on the 16th lap when Hahn's car bicycled on the rough track in turns one and two. After a lap 19 caution, Reutzel charged past Haudenschild on the high side of turn four to take command.
"The track got pretty rough and made it really technical," Reutzel said. "A lot of guys were making mistakes and we were able to capitalize. I usually prefer a track that goes dead slick, so to win on this is pretty cool."
The heavy and rough track resulted in nine flips during the preliminary races, and Marion's Derek Hagar took a hard tumble in the final laps of the feature. All drivers escaped injury.
Hahn held on for third and Johnson took fourth. Benton's Tim Crawley finished fifth. Kevin Ramey was sixth and two more Arkansans, Benton's Zach Pringle and A.G. Rains of West Memphis, were seventh and eighth. Rounding out the top 10 were Fred Mattox of Drumright, Okla., and Steven Russell of Springfield, Ill. Greenbrier's Jordon Mallett finished 13th and Hagar was credited with 15th.
Sports on 10/31/2015