Reutzel Leaves No Doubt in Buckeye Cup at Sharon

Rick Rarer Photo

Hartford, OH-For Aaron Ruetzel, the party appears to be just getting started in 2018. And on Saturday night it showed now signs of slowing down. Reutzel left no doubt about who had the fastest car or who the better driver was on Saturday night at Sharon Speedway. It took approximately one and a half turns for the Texas based pilot to take command of the starting field and once in front, he was in his own zip code en route to his first career victory on the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions.

The win, coupled with a strong second place run in last week's Sprint Car World Championships at Mansfield (OH), and his previous win with the World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Cars at the Tulare Thunderbowl (CA), have cemented his status as not only a rising star, but a driver who's time has seemingly come here and now.

"What can you say about this team, it's unbelievable," Reutzel said in victory lane. "To put this team together like we did on December 20th at the last minute and you come up with a great group of guys....I'm just part of a hell of a team right now and I just can't say how proud and how lucky I am to be in this situation to be driving this race car. We're having a hell of a time, we're just having so much fun right now. I never thought we would have come out of the box and had this much speed. We've been close with the All Stars a few times and with the Outlaws I've been really close a few times. It's been pretty cool to get them both this year so that stress is out of the way and now we've got the rest of the year to enjoy and try to win some more."

Reutzel Wires Field

By virtue of his dash victory Reutzel led the field to the initial green flag and then went to work pulling the field down the back stretch with rookie of the year candidate Carl Bowser working upstairs and Carson Macedo working downstairs behind him. It took Macedo less than three laps to make his way around Bowser for second and just one more lap for fourth starting Tony Stewart to slip past him for the third spot while Reutzel started gaining separation early. Meanwhile, Jac Haudenschild and Parker Price Miller were men on a mission, picking up spots left and right in the early going in a furious charge to the front.

Rick Rarer Photo

All progress was halted with five laps in the books as contact in turn three between several cars including Josh Baughman and Cole Duncan brought out the red flag as the two cars were sent bicycling end over end. When action resumed, Reutzel not only led, he dominated, attacking the surface with precision and speed while maneuvering through heavy lapped traffic without flinching. His decisiveness and delivery of key passes was something to behond and indicated the type of performance normally seen by a driver that is on the verge of potentially great things. Reutzel owned the speedway by checking out to a full straightaway advantage and then some at certain points of the 30 lap main event.

Macedo did his part in making his way though the lapped traffic too, keeping behind Reutzel every step of the way, but he could make up no ground. Meahwhile, Haudenschild was in fact coming forward very quickly, overtaking Stewart for the third spot while behind them all, Danny Holtgraver was making an impressive charge from his 22nd starting spot to 13th.

Rick Rarer Photo

 Haudenschild looked to be reeling in Macedo, but it proved to be a mirage as he settled for third on the podium while out front, Reutzel finished the job, crossing under the checkered flag first for his first career win with the All Stars.



Locals Rise to the Occasion

The Lernerville alumni and currently weekly drivers turned in some strong performances on the night overall. The local contingent from western, PA  acquitted themselves very well on Saturday night, taking heat wins and winning dashes while making up a good portion of the starting field at the same time. Former Lernerville track champion Carl Bowser looked strong early in the night, taking a heat two victory and winning the first dash, placing him on the outside of row one in the main event. Meanwhile, two other former Lernerville track champions made an impact on Saturday night as Brandon Spithaler took the first heat of the night while winding up with a sixth place finish and Holtgraver managed to finish in the 13th spot. Sye Lynch managed to qualify for one of the two dashes on the night and in the biggest surprise of the evening, Lernerville regular George Hobaugh took the heat five victory and came home with an 11th place finish on the night while Dan Shetler wound up 16th. John Garvin Jr. clinched a dash position but was caught up in the lap five red flag situation causing him to record a 24th place run as Jack Sodeman Jr. came home 26th.

Final Results (30-Lap Inaugural Buckeye Cup- $5,000 to win; Sharon Speedway-May 6, 2018)

1. 87-Aaron Reutzel [1]; 2. 3G-Carson Macedo [4]; 3. 3-Jac Haudenschild [16]; 4. 4-Parker Price-Miller [14]; 5. 14-Tony Stewart [3]; 6. 22-Brandon Spithaler [6]; 7. 49X-Tim Shaffer [15]; 8. 24-Rico Abreu [8]; 9. 98-Carl Bowser [2]; 10. 70-Dave Blaney [17]; 11. 40-George Hobaugh [11]; 12. 13-Paul McMahan [20]; 13. D4-Danny Holtgraver [22]; 14. 45-Trevor Baker [21]; 15. 11-Max McGhee [24]; 16. 29-Dan Shetler [19]; 17. 35Z-Jared Zimbardi [12]; 18. 2L-Sye Lynch [10]; 19. 5T-Travis Philo [23]; 20. 10H-Chad Kemenah [7]; 21. 7K-Cale Conley [25]; 22. 17-Caleb Helms [26]; 23. 17B-Josh Baughman [5]; 24. 51-John Garvin [9]; 25. 22C-Cole Duncan [13]; 26. 23JR-Jack Sodeman Jr

Heat Winners:

Brandon Spithaler
Carl Bowser
Aaron Reutzel
Tony Stewart
George Hobaugh

Quick Time: 

Chad Kemenah- 14.0511

BMain Transfers: Travis Philo, Danny Holtgraver, Trevor Baker, Max McGhee
CMain Transfers: Gary Kreiss, Jim Morris

Dash 1 Winner: Aaron Reutzel
Dash 2 Winner:  Carl Bowser