KILGORE, Texas — Two-time and defending Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 titlist Aaron Reutzel put on an impressive performance on Saturday evening during his visit to Lonestar Speedway, capping the Cometic Gasket Thunder Through The Plains presented by Hercules Tires program with a victory.
It was the 30th All Star victory for Reutzel, who took the lead on lap 10 and won by nearly four seconds.
“The last couple of starts have been frustrating, I’m not going to lie,” Reutzel said. “It’s really taken a toll on me. I feel like we’ve been good enough to be a podium car every night, we’ve just had a lot of dumb stuff happen. But my guys never gave up and they continue to do a phenomenal job.”
Lining up fourth on the 30-lap grid by way of dash result, it did not take long for Reutzel to battle his way toward the front, already powering into second by the time the first two laps were checked off the counter.
At the time, Cory Eliason maintained the race lead, utilizing the pole position to earn the top spot after the initial start.
By lap nine, Eliason found himself in traffic, nearly getting caught up with a slower car which allowed Reutzel to close-in on the Rudeen Racing entry. The very next circuit, Reutzel made his move, first pulling even with Eliason through turns one and two, all before driving by his fellow All Star full-timer as the pair raced off of turn four.
Reutzel sailed the remainder of the distance for his fourth victory of the season.
Although Reutzel went on to be unchallenged, Cory Eliason was not so fortunate, eventually feeling pressure from third row starter Dominic Scelzi during the closing circuits.
Despite failing to get by Eliason, Scelzi certainly made things exciting and fell short of the runner-up spot by less than a ten-thousandths of a second.
Justin Sanders finished fourth at Lonestar Speedway, followed by the Brock Zearfoss.
The finish:
Feature (30 Laps): 1. 87-Aaron Reutzel [4]; 2. 26-Cory Eliason [1]; 3. 41S-Dominic Scelzi [5]; 4. 16A-Justin Sanders [3]; 5. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [6]; 6. 11-Zeb Wise [11]; 7. 14-Tony Stewart [7]; 8. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. [12]; 9. 13-Paul McMahan [2]; 10. 99-Skylar Gee [8]; 11. 70-Roger Crockett [10]; 12. 48-Danny Dietrich [9]; 13. 17-Josh Baughman [14]; 14. 17G-Channin Tankersley [16]; 15. 23B-Brian Bell [13]; 16. W20-Greg Wilson [15]; 17. 4-Danny Smith [17]; 18. 4M-Austin Mundie [18] Lap Leaders: Cory Eliason (1-9), Aaron Reutzel (10-30)