7/30/2011
Aaron Reutzel
Reutzel Gets Career High Finish of Second at Placerville!
PLACERVILLE, Calif. — It had been more than 20 years since a premier National touring Sprint Car series had taken to Placerville Speedway at California’s El Dorado County Fairgrounds.
That changed when the Lucas Oil ASCS presented by K&N Filters National series took to the high-banked quarter-mile clay oval on Friday night, and the fans didn’t leave disappointed as Wayne Johnson raced to his first ASCS National win of the year aboard Bryan Sundby’s Parker-powered No. 38 Maxim in the hotly-contested 30-lap Bullring Nationals preliminary main event.
While the Oklahoma City native officially led all 30 circuits for his 29th career ASCS National triumph, he had his hands full throughout with 21-year-old Brodix Rookie of the Year contender Aaron Reutzel of Clute, Texas, who slid into the lead on at least a couple of occasions only to have the crafty veteran recapture the point.
Gridding the feature field outside pole starter Jonathan Allard, Johnson gunned into the lead at the drop of the green flag and led the opening circuit ahead of third-starter Brady Bacon and Allard before the red flag flew for Tim Crawley, who got upside down entering turn one.
With Johnson leading the way on the restart and working the lower portion of the track, Reutzel took to the upper reaches of the clay oval and rallied from sixth past Gary Wright, Colby Wiesz and Allard into third by the time Mason Moore came to a stop to bring out a caution after five laps.
Reutzel raced past Bacon soon after action resumed and began pressuring Johnson for the point. However, with the rookie contender tipping his hand on the top of the track, Johnson took to the high line in turns three and four.
Reutzel kept the heat on in the Allan Murray-sponsored No. 87 Triple X, sliding into the lead in turns three and four on the 12th round only to have Johnson dive back underneath exiting the fourth corner to retain command.
After sixth-runner Gary Wright slid to a stop off turn one at the midway point, Reutzel kept the pressure on as he tried to track down his first ASCS National win. Reutzel pulled alongside Johnson on both the 21st and 23rd rounds, only to have Johnson fend off the advances.
Just as traffic came into play in the final circuits, a final caution waved when Moore and Nicole Miller got together in turn three.
Johnson took off on the restart and delivered Sundby his first win as a car owner by six car lengths, with past ASCS Gulf South champ Reutzel settling for a career-best ASCS National finish in second.
Bacon settled for the show position in the Wesmar-powered Fatheadz Eyewear No. 99 Triple-X, outlasting the challenges of current Lucas Oil Sprint Car point-leader Shane Stewart in Paul Silva’s Wesmar-powered Rockstar Energy Drink No. 57 A.R.T.
Sean Becker was the top Golden State driver with a fifth-place run, just ahead of the Cali sibling duo of pole-starter Jonathan Allard and Stephen Allard, who raced from 19th to seventh.
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