LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Deciding to head to I-30 Speedway paid off for Aaron Reutzel, as the Ridge Development No. 8 topped the slide job-filled battle at the Hammer Hill Showdown with the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network.
“The car was phenomenal,” Reutzel said. “When we left here last night, we had a game plan on what we were going to do if the track got the same, but it did kind of scare me because I thought the top would go away a lot faster, and it didn’t. This is the I-30 I remember when I first started coming here. It was a lot of fun.”
Reutzel’s first win with the series since 2017, the I-30 triumph is the 20th time the Clute, Texas, native has topped the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series.
Taking the green flag from fourth, Reutzel held that position the opening 11 circuits as Seth Bergman led the way.
As they began to catch lap traffic working lap 12, Bergman made contact with Landon Britt’s left rear tire, forcing the Evergreen Coffee Co. No. 23 around in turn four.
Handing the lead to Blake Hahn, the race went another lap before it was slowed again.
Finding himself up to second on the lap-11 restart, Reutzel set his sights on Hahn for the lead before the red lights came on for Slater Helt with 14 laps to go.
Kicking off four laps of non-stop slide jobs, Reutzel and Hahn used every inch of the I-30 Speedway surface.
Reutzel finally grabbed the lead on lap 19, but had to fend off two more attempts the following lap before getting away from Hahn’s No. 52.
“It got a little wild with him,” Reutzel said. “The sliders, the front stretch chops, it just made it wild but fun. It’s a chess match. He did what he had to do, and I did what I had to do, but the way the track was, you had to pick your battles on when and how to slide, and luckily, we got through it.”
The finish:
Feature (30 Laps): 1. Aaron Reutzel, 2. Howard Moore, 3. Matt Covington, 4. Blake Hahn, 5. Dale Howard, 6. Wayne Johnson, 7. Garet Williamson, 8. Tim Crawley, 9. Derek Hagar, 10. Brandon Anderson, 11. Jason Martin, 12. Ryan Timms, 13. Chase Howard, 14. Dylan Westbrook, 15. Ryan Bickett, 16. Landon Britt, 17. Jordon Mallett, 18. Chris Martin, 19. Kyler Johnson, 20. Kyle Bellm, 21. Slater Helt, 22. Seth Bergman, 23. Travis Reber