Aaron Reutzel won the All Star leg of the 4-Crown at Eldora Saturday (Dan McFarland Photo)
ROSSBURG, Ohio (September 22, 2018) - Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 championship contender Aaron Reutzel made his ninth All Star victory of the season look effortless on Saturday night at The Big E, charging ahead from row four to the top spot in just 12 circuits, eventually driving on to score a first-ever Eldora Speedway victory during the 37th running of the coveted 4-Crown Nationals.
After starting from the outside-pole position and leading the first 11 circuits, Kokomo, Indiana’s Parker Price-Miller held on to finish second at the World’s Greatest Dirt Track, followed by Indy Race Parts teammate Gio Scelzi, Travis Philo, and Cole Duncan.
In response to the tragic loss of sprint car great Greg Hodnett, the All Star 4-Crown Nationals A-main was altered from 25 laps to 27 laps.
“It is unbelievable to win at Eldora,” Aaron Reutzel explained, driver of the Baughman-Reutzel Motorsports No. 87. “This win is all because of my crew chief, Grant Boyum. What a race car. We had the boss’ car out last night during the Outlaw show and we weren’t any good. We tried some things and they didn’t work, but tonight Grant did what he had to do and this car was incredible. It was going to be tough to beat Parker [Price-Miller], but luckily I had a car that could drive through the center and rotate well. This is exciting.”
A dominating performance to say the least, Reutzel’s charge to the front started right from the drop of the green flag, advancing four positions during the first three circuits of the 27-lapper. A red flag incident on lap eight involving Carson Macedo, who was battling within the top-five at the time, gave Reutzel an opportunity to capitalize. The ensuing restart resulted in Reutzel advancing two more positions, ultimately getting by Brock Zearfoss for third, then utilizing a slider in turns three and four to get by Cole Duncan to take second on lap nine.
Caution flags flew again on lap 11 once again setting up a single-file restart, this time putting Reutzel right on the back bumper of race-long leader, Parker Price Miller. When green flag action returned, Reuzel made his move, actually chasing Price-Miller back to the flagstand to complete lap 11 before getting underneath the Indy Race Parts No. 71P entry at the midpoint of turns one and two on lap 12. For the second time in four laps, a big move by Reutzel equaled success, keeping Price-Miller behind him as the duo raced back to the start/finish line to complete the circuit.
Despite caution flags reappearing on lap 15 creating another single-file restart, the field had nothing for Reutzel. The Clute, Texas, native drove on unchallenged, even manhandling a few spurts of lapped traffic during the final five circuits.
“We have one hell of a points battle going on right now and it has taken all the fun out of the racing,” Reutzel continued. “We needed this win bad. I didn’t want to go into the final round behind someone in the point chase. We want to win this championship so bad.”
With Eldora Speedway’s 4-Crown Nationals officially in the books, Aaron Reutzel will enter the final round of the 2018 All Star Circuit of Champions season in two weeks with a 64-point cushion in the All Star driver championship chase, also owning a 32-point lead in the owner title chase for car owner, Baughman-Reutzel Motorsports. The Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 will conclude the 2018 season with the #GYATKExtravaganza at Kokomo Speedway in Kokomo, Ind., on Saturday, October 6.
Contingency Awards/Results: Eldora Speedway - September 22, 2018:
37th Annual 4-Crown Nationals
EMi Driver’s Meeting: 41 entrants
State Water Heaters Warm-Ups: Trevor Baker - 13.156 seconds
Lincoln Electric Fast Qualifier: Cole Duncan - 12.845 seconds
Ford Performance Heat #1: Paul McMahan
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #2: Brock Zearfoss
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #3: Ryan Smith
Mobil 1 Heat #4: Carson Macedo
Kistler Racing Products #5: Brady Bacon
JE Pistons Dash #1: Brock Zearfoss
WIX Filters Dash #2: Parker Price-Miller
Classic Ink USA B-Main: Lee Jacobs
Daido Engine Bearings Main Event Winner: Aaron Reutzel
MSD Performance Hard Charger Award: Dave Blaney (+12)
(Lincoln Electric, Daido Engine Bearings, MSD Performance: Need decal to qualify for contingency award)
Qualifying
Group (A)
1. 12N-Cole Duncan, 12.845; 2. 71P-Parker Price-Miller, 12.918; 3. 71-Gio Scelzi, 12.948; 4. 13-Paul McMahan, 13.017; 5. 81-Lee Jacobs, 13.084; 6. 7K-Cale Conley, 13.144; 7. O9-Craig Mintz, 13.192; 8. O7-Jacob Wilson, 13.234; 9. 22-Brandon Spithaler, 13.481
Group (B)
1. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 12.889; 2. 10H-Chad Kemenah, 13.038; 3. 4-Brock Zearfoss, 13.047; 4. 5T-Travis Philo, 13.219; 5. 11N-Buddy Kofoid, 13.245; 6. 35b-Stuart Brubaker, 13.300; 7. 28-Brian Paulus, 13.417; 8. 35-Tyler Esh, 13.478
Group (C)
1. 11-Ryan Smith, 12.920; 2. 97G-Hunter Schuerenberg, 12.977; 3. 19-Mitch Harble, 13.440; 4. 71m-Paul May, 13.568; 5. 59N-Bryan Nuckles, 13.722; 6. 21N-Frankie Nervo, 13.754; 7. 71h-Randy Hannagan, 13.788; 8. 83-Adam Cruea, 14.025
Group (D)
1. 3G-Carson Macedo, 13.022; 2. 70-Dave Blaney, 13.125; 3. 49-Shawn Dancer, 13.133; 4. 59-Cory Eliason, 13.223; 5. 71X-Ayrton Olsen, 13.497; 6. 4L-Cap Henry, 13.509; 7. 24-Rico Abreu, 99.320; 8. 27-Cody Gallogly, 99.330
Group (E)
1. 1G-Max Stambaugh, 13.125; 2. 45-Trevor Baker, 13.227; 3. 99-Brady Bacon, 13.350; 4. 3-Jac Haudenschild, 13.467; 5. 22M-Dan McCarron, 13.545; 6. 5-Jordan Harble, 13.655; 7. 5QB-Quentin Blonde, 14.490; 8. 5B-Chad Blonde, 99.410
Heat #1 - Group (A) (8 Laps) - Top 4 Transfer
1. 13-Paul McMahan [1]; 2. 71-Gio Scelzi [2]; 3. 12N-Cole Duncan [4]; 4. 71P-Parker Price-Miller [3]; 5. 7K-Cale Conley [6]; 6. 81-Lee Jacobs [5]; 7. O7-Jacob Wilson [8]; 8. 22-Brandon Spithaler [9]; 9. O9-Craig Mintz [7]
Heat #2 - Group (B) (8 Laps) - Top 4 Transfer
1. 4-Brock Zearfoss [2]; 2. 87-Aaron Reutzel [4]; 3. 5T-Travis Philo [1]; 4. 10H-Chad Kemenah [3]; 5. 11N-Buddy Kofoid [5]; 6. 35-Tyler Esh [8]; 7. 35B-Stuart Brubaker [6]; 8. 28-Brian Paulus [7]
Heat #3 - Group (C) (8 Laps) - Top 4 Transfer
1. 11-Ryan Smith [4]; 2. 71M-Paul May [1]; 3. 97G-Hunter Schuerenberg [3]; 4. 71H-Randy Hannagan [7]; 5. 59N-Bryan Nuckles [5]; 6. 19-Mitch Harble [2]; 7. 21N-Frankie Nervo [6]; 8. 83-Adam Cruea [8]
Heat #4 - Group (D) (8 Laps) - Top 4 Transfer
1. 3G-Carson Macedo [4]; 2. 59-Cory Eliason [1]; 3. 49-Shawn Dancer [2]; 4. 70-Dave Blaney [3]; 5. 71X-Ayrton Olsen [5]; 6. 4L-Cap Henry [6]
Heat #5 - Group (E) (8 Laps) - Top 4 Transfer
1. 99-Brady Bacon [2]; 2. 1G-Max Stambaugh [4]; 3. 45-Trevor Baker [3]; 4. 22M-Dan McCarron [1]; 5. 3-Jac Haudenschild [5]; 6. 5-Jordan Harble [6]; 7. 5QB-Quentin Blonde [7]
Dash #1 (4 Laps)
1. 4-Brock Zearfoss [2]; 2. 71M-Paul May [1]; 3. 99-Brady Bacon [4]; 4. 13-Paul McMahan [3]; 5. 59-Cory Eliason [6]; 6. 71-Gio Scelzi [5]
Dash #2 (4 Laps)
1. 71P-Parker Price-Miller [2]; 2. 12N-Cole Duncan [1]; 3. 3G-Carson Macedo [4]; 4. 87-Aaron Reutzel [3]; 5. 11-Ryan Smith [5]; 6. 1G-Max Stambaugh [6]
B-Main (12 Laps) - Top 4 Transfer
1. 81-Lee Jacobs [1]; 2. 7K-Cale Conley [2]; 3. 11N-Buddy Kofoid [3]; 4. 59N-Bryan Nuckles [6]; 5. 3-Jac Haudenschild [4]; 6. 4L-Cap Henry [9]; 7. 28-Brian Paulus [15]; 8. 71X-Ayrton Olsen [5]; 9. O7-Jacob Wilson [11]; 10. 5-Jordan Harble [10]; 11. 22-Brandon Spithaler [16]; 12. 35-Tyler Esh [8]; 13. O9-Craig Mintz [19]; 14. 5QB-Quentin Blonde [14]; 15. 19-Mitch Harble [7]; 16. 35B-Stuart Brubaker [12]; 17. 83-Adam Cruea [17]; 18. 21N-Frankie Nervo [13]
A-Main (27 Laps)
1. 87-Aaron Reutzel [8]; 2. 71P-Parker Price-Miller [2]; 3. 71-Gio Scelzi [11]; 4. 5T-Travis Philo [15]; 5. 12N-Cole Duncan [4]; 6. 70-Dave Blaney [18]; 7. 99-Brady Bacon [5]; 8. 11-Ryan Smith [10]; 9. 1G-Max Stambaugh [12]; 10. 49-Shawn Dancer [14]; 11. 11N-Buddy Kofoid [23]; 12. 13-Paul McMahan [7]; 13. 71H-Randy Hannagan [20]; 14. 81-Lee Jacobs [21]; 15. 10H-Chad Kemenah [17]; 16. 45-Trevor Baker [16]; 17. 7K-Cale Conley [22]; 18. 97G-Hunter Schuerenberg [13]; 19. 22M-Dan McCarron [19]; 20. 71M-Paul May [3]; 21. 35-Tyler Esh [25]; 22. 59N-Bryan Nuckles [24]; 23. 4-Brock Zearfoss [1]; 24. 59-Cory Eliason [9]; 25. 3G-Carson Macedo [6] Lap Leaders: Parker Price-Miller (1-11), Aaron Reutzel (12-27)
All Star Circuit of Champions Driver Standings: (after Eldora Speedway on 9/22/2018)
1. Aaron Reutzel - 5462
2. Carson Macedo - 5398
3. Chad Kemenah - 5318
4. Paul McMahan - 5174
5. Dave Blaney - 5016
6. Cale Conley - 4736
7. Brandon Spithaler - 4410
8. Tyler Esh - 4164
9. Jac Haudenschild - 4042
10. Parker Price-Miller - 3994
About the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1:
All Star Enterprises, LLC, wholly owned by Tony Stewart, d/b/a the All Star Circuit of Champions, is a winged sprint car series. The All-Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Car Series is one of the oldest traveling 410 sprint car organizations and is a staple of grassroots, open-wheel racing. Formed in 1970 by Bud Miller, the series has largely been considered the first 'outlaw' Sprint Car organization of the modern era. Motorsports entrepreneur Tony Stewart agreed to terms with Guy Webb to become the sole owner of the original winged sprint car tour in January of 2015. In 2018, MAVTV Motorsports Network will be the official television home of the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 and will broadcast eight high-profile events.
About Arctic Cat:
For more than 50 years, the Arctic Cat snowmobile brand has stood as one of the most widely recognized and respected in the industry. Today Arctic Cat’s snowmobile product lines span more than 50 different models, with offerings for every style of riding, from trail-riding with the family, to long-distance touring with friends, to mountain sleds to handle the most severe backcountry conditions. For more information, visit: www.arcticcat.com.
About Textron Specialized Vehicles Inc:
Textron Specialized Vehicles Inc. is a leading global manufacturer of golf cars, utility and personal transportation vehicles, snowmobiles, side-by-sides, all-terrain vehicles, professional turf-care equipment, and ground support equipment. Textron Specialized Vehicles markets products under the E-Z-GO®, Cushman®, Arctic Cat®, Textron Off Road™, Jacobsen®, Dixie Chopper®, Ransomes®, TUG™, Douglas™, Premier™ and Safeaero™ brands. Its vehicles are found in environments ranging from golf courses to factories, airports to planned communities, and theme parks to hunting preserves.
About Mobil 1:
The world's leading synthetic motor oil brand, Mobil 1™ features anti-wear technology that provides performance beyond our conventional motor oils. This technology allows Mobil 1 to meet or exceed the toughest standards of car builders and to provide exceptional protection against engine wear, under normal or even some of the most extreme conditions. Mobil 1 flows quickly in extreme temperatures to protect critical engine parts and is designed to maximize engine performance and help extend engine life.
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#Photo Credit: Dan McFarland
Contact: Tyler Altmeyer
Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1
(724) 954-4915, pr@tonystewart.com