PORT ROYAL, Pa. – Aaron Reutzel is among the national leaders in 410 winged sprint car wins this year with seven, so when he rolled into Pennsylvania Speedweek on Monday at Lincoln Speedway, the expectation was that he’d add to that total.
After three races, Reutzel hadn’t found victory lane, but still added to his 2020 success with finishes of second at Lincoln, eighth at Grandview, and most recently third at Port Royal Speedway on Wednesday.
“I thought we were good,” Reutzel said. “We were really good at Lincoln. I just felt like that was track position. I felt like we were really, really good [at Port Royal].”
While Reutzel, a two-time reigning champion with the All Star Circuit of Champions, wasn’t in the picture to win at Grandview, he contended at Lincoln and Port Royal.
Even though Rico Abreu led all 30 laps in the win at Lincoln, Reutzel stayed within striking distance. He just couldn’t do much because of the hammer-down conditions.
On Wednesday at Port Royal, Reutzel raced from eighth to second in the closing laps, hounding eventual race winner Anthony Macri for the win before Lance Dewease got by him for the runner-up spot.
“We were really good,” Reutzel said. “Macri, we ran him down in clean air. I wasn’t good enough to get behind him like I needed to and move around. I had to stay where he was. When I got to that lapped car I just kind of stalled out.”
Even though this is Baughman/Reutzel Racing’s third year, Reutzel has established himself as one of the nation’s best. This year he has new crew chief Dylan Buswell calling the mechanical shots, and Reutzel sees things trending upward.
“I think things are only getting better,” Reutzel said. “We get along really good and we see eye-to-eye on almost everything we do. I think there’s only good things to come from me and him.”
Reutzel now sets his sights on Ohio Speedweek with the All Star Circuit of Champions, which starts Friday, July 3 at Attica Raceway Park.
“All in all, we were really good,” Reutzel said. “I’m looking forward to [Ohio Speedweek] but hopefully with everything going on right now we can get it all in.”
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