FREMONT, Ohio — Aaron Reutzel romped from 11thstarting position to win Sunday night’s Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 feature at Fremont Speedway.
Reutzel’s impressive charge to the top of the podium did not require all 40 main event circuits, as the defending All Star champion took the lead for the first time on lap 12, utilizing a restart on lap 11 to drive around Tim Shaffer for the runner-up spot, soon followed by a second slingshot move in turns one and two to drive around race leader, Paul McMahan, the following circuit.
Impressive enough, the $5,000 victory bumped Reutzel’s career win total with Tony Stewart’s All Star Circuit of Champions to 11, each of those occurring at a different race track.
McMahan held on to maintain second at the final checkers, followed by rookie-of-the-year contender Skylar Gee, a fast closing Christopher Bell from 12th, and local standout Craig Mintz.
“This isn’t Ohio racing. This is a night when a guy can drive really hard & make a difference,” Ruetzel said. “A big thanks going out to the track and fans for sticking this one out and making this happen for us. We just want to race! Oh, and for the guy booing me, stop down when we’re done here and I’ll sign you an autograph.”
Despite starting 11th on the grid, Reutzel wasted little time powering his way toward the front of the field. By lap five, with the added help of a caution, Reutzel was able to advance his way to fifth, eventually battling his way around Brock Zearfoss for the fourth position with only nine laps recorded.
A slowing Tyler Esh, who was racing just ahead of Reutzel, soon pulled to a stop on the speedway, not only allowing Reutzel the opportunity to restart in the third position, but it also gave the Texan a clear takeover attempt on the restart.
When green flags flew again, Reutzel pounced, this time utilizing an impressive slingshot move through turns one and two to drive around Shaffer for the runner-up position. It was just one circuit later when Reutzel repeated his power move through the first and second corners, skimming the narrow cushion to blast by McMahan to officially lead lap 12.
From that point forward, it was all Aaron Reutzel at the front of the field, and although the Texan was forced to deal with periods of heavy traffic during the later stages of the 40-lap program, as well as two more stoppages in the form of cautions – one of which a red flag incident involving Brock Zearfoss, Tim Shaffer and Buddy Kofoid.
“He’s a champion for a reason,” McMahan said. “They have a solid team, so hats off to those guys for what they are able to do. [Aaron Reutzel] just about sucked my tear-offs off when he blew by me coming out of [turn two]. He showed me the top, so I was able to move up there and hang with him. I can’t thank my group of misfits enough. They work hard and I appreciate what they do.”
The finish:
Feature (40 laps): 1. 87-Aaron Reutzel [11]; 2. 13-Paul McMahan [1]; 3. 99-Skylar Gee [10]; 4. 39-Christopher Bell [12]; 5. O9-Craig Mintz [9]; 6. W20-Greg Wilson [15]; 7. 49X-Tim Shaffer [4]; 8. 70X-Spencer Bayston [7]; 9. 22-Brandon Spithaler [13]; 10. 11-Dale Blaney [14]; 11. 35B-Stuart Brubaker [6]; 12. 26-Cory Eliason [21]; 13. 16-DJ Foos [16]; 14. 9-Dean Jacobs [20]; 15. 19-Paige Polyak [18]; 16. O7-Gerard McIntyre [17]; 17. 97-Caleb Helms [22]; 18. 40-George Hobaugh [19]; 19. 3J-Trey Jacobs [24]; 20. 11N-Buddy Kofoid [5]; 21. 70-Brock Zearfoss [3]; 22. 35-Tyler Esh [2]; 23. 57X-Andrew Palker [23]; 24. 1-Nate Dussel [8] Lap Leaders: Paul McMahan (1-11), Aaron Reutzel (12-40)