ROSEBURG, Ore. — After a 111-point swing in the championship (from up 61 to down 50) due to four-straight results outside the top-10, nobody was happier than Aaron Reutzel to roll into Oregon for Monday’s one-night stand at the Douglas County Dirtrack.
Leaving the six-race swing down south with too much torn up parts and two less provisionals, Reutzel and his Ridge & Sons Racing, PowerPlus No. 87 team immediately bounced back by winning the SugarBee Apple Showdown on the River presented by Seven Feathers Casino.
His 10th win of the season with Interstate Batteries High Limit Racing didn’t come without controversy as a Lap 1 wreck with fellow front row starter Tyler Courtney changed the dynamic of the race before the field even hit the flag stand.
Fortunately for Reutzel, his No. 87 was unharmed and he maintained his spot at the front of the field, then never relinquished the lead once.
Leading all 35 laps for his 17th career win with the series, the Clute, Texas, native cut the championship deficit down to 36 points behind Rico Abreu and the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing No. 24.
Reutzel’s biggest challenger turned into last year’s Douglas County victor Brent Marks, who is still hunting for his first win aboard the Chase Briscoe Racing, Magical Vacation Planners No. 19.
“The Myerstown Missile” ran in second the entirety of the feature and had his closest call with 10 to go when he peaked underneath the No. 87 for the lead before a caution was called and ruined his momentum.
Landing on the podium at Douglas County for the second-straight year was Tanner Thorson with a 12th-to-3rd drive aboard the JST Motorsports, Chaotic No. 88.
Closing out the top five on Monday night wereAromas, California’s Justin Sanders in the Mittry Construction No. 2x and St. Helena, California’s Rico Abreu in the Waste Connections No. 24.
The finish:
Feature (35 Laps): 1. 87-Aaron Reutzel[1]; 2. 19-Brent Marks[3]; 3. 88-Tanner Thorson[12]; 4. 2X-Justin Sanders[6]; 5. 24-Rico Abreu[5]; 6. 26-Justin Peck[8]; 7. 77-Giovanni Scelzi[7]; 8. 9R-Chase Randall[16]; 9. 5-Dominic Scelzi[15]; 10. 9-Daison Pursley[10]; 11. 21L-Landon Brooks[21]; 12. 55-Kerry Madsen[13]; 13. 4-Kasey Kahne[11]; 14. 42-Sye Lynch[14]; 15. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[2]; 16. 77A-Levi Klatt[23]; 17. 7T-Tyler Thompson[18]; 18. 7-Seth Standley[20]; 19. 40-Kinzer Cox[22]; 20. 5K-Dylan Bloomfield[19]; 21. 2XM-Max Mittry[4]; 22. 10-Dominic Gorden[24]; 23. 21-James McFadden[17]; 24. 13-Tanner Holmes[9]
