MANDAN, N.D. — After missing the podium in three consecutive races — for the first time all year — Aaron Reutzel made sure to land on the top step Saturday night as Interstate Batteries High Limit Racing debuted in North Dakota.
Fans who showed up to Mandan’s first national sprint car race in 17 years were treated to a great battle as Aaron Reutzel and Brent Marks swapped the lead on multiple occasions and decided the win racing through lapped traffic during the closing laps.
Earning the pole with his 10th dash win of the year, Reutzel easily controlled the opening stages of the 30-lapper before back markers slowed his pace and allowed Marks to close in a hurry. The No. 19 flew past on Lap 19 and led the next five circuits before Reutzel came roaring back and snatched the lead right away on Lap 25.
It appeared as if we were going to get one last ditch effort from Marks on the final lap before a caution flew and set up a green-white-checkered finish, which Reutzel handled with care as he crossed the line with a 0.991-second margin of victory.
The win marked Reutzel’s 14th of his career with Interstate Batteries High Limit Racing – tied for second-most in HLR history. It was the seventh trip to Whiskey Myers Victory Lane this season for the Ridge & Sons Racing No. 87.
Settling for his fourth-runner-up finish in the past week, Brent Marks extended his hot streak with a fifth-consecutive podium result. The Myerstown, Pennsylvania native now has the third longest streak in series history — trailing only Rico Abreu (8) and Kyle Larson (6).
On the final step of the podium was Tanner Thorson and Rod Gross Motorsports as the No. 88 team made their first frontstretch visit since the middle of April.
Closing out the top five were Rico Abreu and Tyler Courtney.
The finish:
Feature (30 Laps): 1. 87-Aaron Reutzel[1]; 2. 19-Brent Marks[4]; 3. 88-Tanner Thorson[8]; 4. 24-Rico Abreu[7]; 5. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[9]; 6. 13-Tanner Holmes[5]; 7. 77-Giovanni Scelzi[15]; 8. 9-Daison Pursley[3]; 9. 9R-Chase Randall[12]; 10. 42-Sye Lynch[2]; 11. 5-Brenham Crouch[11]; 12. 55-Kerry Madsen[14]; 13. 26-Justin Peck[10]; 14. 13JT-Mark Dobmeier[17]; 15. 17GP-Ayrton Gennetten[13]; 16. 27-Weston Olson[21]; 17. 6N-Greg Nikitenko[19]; 18. 24D-Danny Sams III[6]; 19. 4-Colton Young[20]; 20. 8H-Jade Hastings[18]; 21. G5-Gage Pulkrabek[16]; 22. 17M-Todd Mickelson[24]; 23. 17-Tyler Hewitt[23]; 24. 3-Ace Bodenhamer[22]
