PORT ROYAL, Pa. — Aaron Reutzel’s wing dance said it all Sunday night at Port Royal Speedway.
After cashing $100,000 in the richest win of his career at the Bob Weikert Memorial , Reutzel climbed atop the Ridge & Sons Racing No. 87 to a chorus of boos and promptly yelled, “I can’t hear you, I’m making too much money!”
The Clute, Texas, native has always experienced a unique relationship with the diehard fans of Central Pennsylvania, making Sunday’s score at “The Speed Palace” that much more enjoyable after beating the PA Posse’s best in Anthony Macri and Lance Dewease.
After earning high-point man honors through qualifying and heat races, Reutzel luckily spun the 0 to hold the pole position of the 40-lap A-Main. He bolted to the early lead over Brad Sweet and easily cruised to the Lap 15 fuel stop with command in hand.
The race was nearly flipped upside down when Anthony Macri passed Reutzel on the Lap-16 restart, but a red flag for a brutal flip into turn one for Zach Hampton negated the pass and allowed the No. 87 to maintain the lead.
Macri still made Reutzel work for it, passing him another time under green-flag conditions, but Reutzel was able to rally back and hold the top spot as they worked through lapped traffic.
The final restart on Lap 35 set up a dramatic finish with five-to-go, but Reutzel was ready for the moment and pulled away to hit the $100,000 jackpot at Port Royal’s Bob Weikert Memorial.
“One hundred grand. What more can I say?” said Reutzel. “I love this place. I’ve made a lot of money here. I can’t wait to keep making more and hearing some more boos.”
PA Posse members Anthony Macri and Lance Dewease closed out the podium. Defending series champions Sweet and David Gravel closed out the top five.
Trent Yoder won the sportsman feature.
The finish:
Feature (40 Laps): 1. 87-Aaron Reutzel[1]; 2. 39M-Anthony Macri[3]; 3. 12-Lance Dewease[7]; 4. 49-Brad Sweet[2]; 5. 2-David Gravel[10]; 6. 55-Logan Wagner[6]; 7. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[16]; 8. 1S-Logan Schuchart[5]; 9. 24-Rico Abreu[17]; 10. 21-Brian Brown[4]; 11. 88-Tanner Thorson[19]; 12. 27-Troy Wagaman Jr[21]; 13. 55W-Mike Wagner[9]; 14. 67-Justin Whittall[24]; 15. 26-Justin Peck[23]; 16. 19-Brent Marks[25]; 17. 5-Brenham Crouch[11]; 18. 42-Sye Lynch[15]; 19. 45-Jeff Halligan[26]; 20. 8-Brock Zearfoss[13]; 21. 29-Danny Dietrich[28]; 22. 33-Gerard McIntyre Jr[18]; 23. 77-Michael Walter[22]; 24. 20-Brady Bacon[14]; 25. 13-Daison Pursley[29]; 26. 9-Kasey Kahne[27]; 27. 24D-Danny Sams III[30]; 28. 69K-Ryan Smith[12]; 29. 6-Zach Hampton[8]; 30. 14-Spencer Bayston[20]
