FREMONT, Ohio — Prevalent wisdom surrounding the Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions trailer Sunday at Fremont Speedway was that Aaron Reutzel might go to battle with a new race car.
After all, he’d finished second at the third-mile dirt track the previous evening, but that was after Reutzel ran third in his dash and slammed the wall just past the finish line with his familiar No. 87 sprint car.
Rather than go directly to a backup, the Baughman-Reutzel Motorsports crew thrashed on the car they already had in the game, getting it repaired in time to roll out for the main event.
After that, the driver did the work, with Reutzel charging from fifth to second behind Buddy Kofoid Saturday night before following up with a dominant victory Sunday night.
While the victory was reward in itself, there was another reason Reutzel and company were insistent on making sure their primary car was repaired.
“Why? Because this one was working well before we crashed it,” Reutzel noted. “We had a little mishap in the dash (Saturday) night and tore it up pretty good. We barely got it back out, just good enough, for the feature. We can’t thank BITCH Slapped and Tony Beaber enough for everything he does for our race team. He delivered a front pan arm bar early this morning … I think he was up until 2 a.m. fixing another car and building some stuff for us to weld in today.
“We can’t thank him enough for what he does for our race cars; it’s part of the reason we won this one.”
Reutzel has finishes of third, second and first during the first three nights of Cometic Gasket Ohio Sprint Speedweek, giving him a two-point edge over Buddy Kofoid.
But it was the win Sunday night — earned with Reutzel’s current “old faithful” steed — that may mark his most impressive Buckeye State performance so far.
At the very least, it was a reminder to the competition that it doesn’t matter how the chips fall against Reutzel and his team, they continue to find ways to overcome obstacles en route to success.
That should strike fear into more than a few hearts, too, considering that Reutzel now leads the Ohio Sprint Speedweek standings and has expanded his All Star Circuit of Champions lead to 130 points.
Reutzel, who has won the All Star title the past two seasons, will have a shot to grow both of those margins Monday night at Wayne County Speedway, site of the fourth round of nine on the Cometic Gasket Ohio Sprint Speedweek schedule.
SPEED SPORT’s Ohio Sprint Speedweek coverage is presented by Cometic Gasket Inc., a leading worldwide supplier of gaskets and engine sealing solutions for the automotive performance, powersports, original equipment and remanufactured engine industries. No matter what you ride, Cometic Gasket can seal your machine so you can focus on the finish line.
Since 1989, Cometic has been living, breathing, and eating powersports. As a proud supporters of GNCC, AMA, NASCAR, and other race-teams across the country, Cometic understands what it takes to put everything on the line with one goal in mind. When you earn your living racing at the highest level against the best in the country, engine failures simply aren’t an option. Champions across the world continue to use Cometic Gasket for their engine-sealing solutions. Whether they’re driving a Gen-6 stock car or riding a top fuel motorcycle, Cometic Gaskets are the reliable source in extreme conditions.
For more information on Cometic Gasket Inc., visit www.cometic.com.
