REUTZEL DOMINATES AT KNOXVILLE

(Photo) Aaron Reutzel claimed $6,000 with his win at Knoxville Saturday

Aaron Reutzel Dominates at Knoxville to the Tune of $6,000! 

by Bill Wright 

 KNOXVILLE, Iowa (July 2, 2022) – Racers and fans alike were eager to get back to racing Saturday at Knoxville Raceway for Mid-Season Championship Night and the Nolan Wren Memorial presented by Higher View Enterprises, Inc.  

With bonus laps and money on the line, the action matched the fireworks after the feature event!  Aaron Reutzel cruised to a solid win in the 410 class.  Terry McCarl held off Reutzel to win in the 360’s, and Tyler Groenendyk went wire to wire with the Pro Sprints. 

Reutzel shot out from his pole position in the non-stop 25-lap 410 main event with Cory Eliason, Austin McCarl, Brian Brown and Matt Juhl in tow. Tyler Courtney would get by Juhl to round out the top five by lap three.   

Reutzel advanced into lapped traffic on lap seven and never missed a beat despite some smoke emanating from the Ridge & Sons Racing #8.  By lap 13, his margin was up to 3.8 seconds over Eliason. 

With five laps to go, his lead had shrunk to under three seconds, but the Clute, Texas native would lap up to tenth place, taking his third 410 feature this season and the fifth in his career.  Reutzel received a $1,000 bonus for being the highest finisher in the point standings bringing his winning total to $6,000. 

Eliason was second, followed by Austin McCarl ($500 bonus), Brown ($250 bonus) and Courtney.  Davey Heskin, Buddy Kofoid, Ayrton Gennetten, JJ Hickle and Juhl completed the top ten.  Gennetten set quick time over the 32-car field, while Brown, Justin Henderson, Austin McCarl and Tasker Phillips won heats.  Riley Goodno claimed the B. 

“I may be the only driver in the field to have known Nolan Wren, so it’s really cool to win this race,” said Reutzel in Victory Lane.  “I think I won the first three they had, and I’m really happy to win it.  We’ve known the Wrens for a long time.  He’s still greatly missed today.  This one’s for him.  The car was phenomenal.  We put a different one together, and I think it made all the difference.” 

Devin Kline darted out from the pole position to lead early in the 20-lap 360 feature, trailed by Jamie Ball, Terry McCarl, Kaleb Johnson and Tony Rost.  Ball took over the lead on lap two with a pass high in turn two, while Ryan Giles entered the top five. 

McCarl used the low side to take second from Kline on lap three and set his sights on the leader  On lap five, he stuck the bottom of turns one and two to take the point from Ball.  At the same time, Johnston claimed third from Kline. 

Giles entered the top four on lap seven, and Reutzel followed him into the top five.  McCarl was into lapped traffic with 12 to go.  Reutzel was gaining momentum, passing Giles for fourth and then claiming third from Johnson on lap 11. 

Alex Vande Voort spun with a flat left rear tire with eight laps to go, bringing the only caution of the race.  McCarl shot out again over Ball, Reutzel, Johnson and Giles.  On lap 14, Reutzel passed Ball for second.  On the next circuit, he briefly passed McCarl in turn two, but McCarl came back to the line with the point. 

From there, McCarl protected the low groove to win his third feature here this year, and claimed his eleventh career 360 victory.  He earned $2,750 for his win including his bonus.  Reutzel settled for second, ahead of Ball ($375 bonus), Johnson ($190 bonus) and Giles.  Clint Garner, Chase Randall, Ryan Roberts, Joe Beaver and Rost rounded out the top ten.  Randall set quick time over the 32-car field, while Reutzel, Johnson, Rost and Riley Goodno were heat winners.  Ryan Leavitt won the B main. 

“Jamie is such a good driver, and you don’t know where to go,” said McCarl.  “We felt good on the top and the bottom.  I thought I’d play my own game.  I wanted to have fun doing this, and I had a lot of fun.  I appreciate Jamie…we raced each other clean.  That one was for the fans.” 

Tyler Groenendyk had little resistance in leading all 15 laps of the Pro Sprints feature.  Chase Young chased him in second early, follwoed by Brandon Worthington, Kade Higday and Eric Bridger.  Bridger gained fourth on lap two, and Matthew Stelzer followed him into fifth by lap three. 

Six laps in, Josh Jones spun, bringing caution.  Stelzer, who was running fifth suffered from a stuck throttle and pitched his car sideways on the frontstretch backing it into the guardrail.  He was done for the night, but uninjured.   

While Higday and Worthington traded third behind him, Groenendyk cruised the last nine laps to victory and a $500 bonus, making his winning haul $1,150.  Young ($250 bonus) was second, followed by Worthington ($125 bonus), Higday and Bridger.  Jeff Wilke, Mike Mayberry, Scotty Johnson, Ryan Navritil and Jones completed the top ten.  Stelzer set quick time, while Johnson and Groenendyk won their heats. 

“I have to thank my guys first and foremost,” said Groenendyk.  “We’ve had a lot of marginal and decent results, but man have we struggled behind the scenes.  It’s taken a tremendous amount of work.  It feels like we’re finally getting on the right side of things again.  It’s been a tough year, but it feels good to be back on top here.” 

Join us next weekend, for the Clean Harbors 150 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series presented by Premier Chevy Dealers!  Friday, June 17 will be practice, with the main event on Saturday.  For more information, visit or check Knoxville Raceway’s website at www.KnoxvilleRaceway.com or on Facebook and Twitter. 

 410 Results 

 Time Trials (Qualifying Order), 2 laps: 1. 3, Ayrton Gennetten, Gravois Mills, MO (8), 16.139 ($100 from OpenWheel101.com); 2. 8, Aaron Reutzel, Clute, TX (25), 16.223; 3. 88, Austin McCarl, Altoona, IA (2), 16.271; 4. 71, Cory Eliason, Visalia, CA (20), 16.287; 5. 09, Matt Juhl, Tea, SD (1), 16.302; 6. 11, Parker Price-Miller, Kokomo, IN (5), 16.312; 7. 2, Lynton Jeffrey, Sydney, NSW, Aust. (22), 16.373; 8. 7BC, Tyler Courtney, Indianapolis, IN (16), 16.381; 9. 21, Brian Brown, Grain Valley, MO (27), 16.390; 10. 11X, Buddy Kofoid, Penngrove, CA (7), 16.447; 11. 2M, Davey Heskin, St. Michael, MN (13), 16.511; 12. 17, Carson Short, Marion, IL (4), 16.548; 13. 3P, Sawyer Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (11), 16.550; 14. 22, Riley Goodno, Knoxville, IA (21), 16.551; 15. 25, JJ Hickle, Quilcene, WA (9), 16.566; 16. 2KS, Ian Madsen, St. Mary’s, NSW, Aust. (15), 16.583; 17. 27, Carson McCarl, Altoona, IA (32), 16.592; 18. 7, Justin Henderson, Tea, SD (29), 16.691; 19. 15, Bobby Mincer, Burlington, IA (6), 16.720; 20. 20, AJ Moeller, Rockwell City, IA (31), 16.727; 21. 44, Chris Martin, Ankeny, IA (23), 16.781; 22. 55T, McKenna Haase, Des Moines, IA (19), 16.800; 23. 7W, Dustin Selvage, Indianola, IA (17), 16.845; 24. 7TAZ, Tasker Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (18), 16.887; 25. 14T, Tim Estenson, Fargo, ND (30), 16.929; 26. 12, Tyler Drueke, Eagle, NE (28), 16.941; 27. 65, Jordan Goldesberry, Springfield, IL (12), 16.949; 28. 6, Brandon Wimmer, Fairmount, IN (14), 16.958; 29. 3N, Jake Neuman, New Berlin, IL (10), 17.086; 30. 5, Brady Forbrook, Morgan, MN (26), 17.231; 31. 76, Nathan Mills, Bondurant, IA (24), 17.381; 32. 9H, Landon Hansen, Newton, IA (3), 18.764 

 B main, 12 Laps, 3:31.4: 1. Riley Goodno (1); 2. McKenna Haase (2); 3. Chris Martin (3); 4. Tyler Drueke (4) / 5. Tim Estenson (5); 6. Jordan Goldesberry (7); 7. Nathan Mills (11); 8. Brandon Wimmer (6); 9. Jake Neuman (9); 10. Brady Forbrook (8); 11. Landon Hansen (10) DNS – Bobby Mincer 

 A main, 25 Laps, 7:42.3: 1. Aaron Reutzel (1) ($1,000 bonus); 2. Cory Eliason (2); 3. Austin McCarl (4) ($500 bonus); 4. Brian Brown (5) ($250 bonus); 5. Tyler Courtney (10); 6. Davey Heskin (11); 7. Buddy Kofoid (9); 8. Ayrton Gennetten (3); 9. JJ Hickle (20); 10. Matt Juhl (7); 11. Parker Price-Miller (6); 12. Justin Henderson (13); 13. Carson McCarl (14); 14. Sawyer Phillips (12); 15. Tasker Phillips (16); 16. Chris Martin (23); 17. Ian Madsen (17); 18. AJ Moeller (15); 19. Riley Goodno (21); 20. Dustin Selvage (19); 21. McKenna Haase (22); 22. Carson Short (18); 23. Tyler Drueke (24); 24. Lynton Jeffrey (8). Lap Leader: Reutzel 1-25. Hard-charger: Hickle. 

 360 Results: 

 B main, 10 Laps, 3:03.3: 1. Ryan Leavitt (2); 2. Ben Brown (3); 3. Ricky Montgomery (1); 4. Slater Helt (6) / 5. Matt Allen (9); 6. Kyle Jones (11); 7. Collin Moyle (5); 8. Clayton Christensen (4); 9. Tyler Barrick (10); 10. Aaron Werner (7); 11. John Anderson (8) DNS – Jason Billups 

 A main, 20 Laps, NT: 1. Terry McCarl (4) ($750 bonus); 2. Aaron Reutzel (15); 3. Jamie Ball (2) ($375 bonus); 4. Kaleb Johnson (3) ($190 bonus); 5. Ryan Giles (8); 6. Clint Garner (11); 7. Chase Randall (5); 8. Ryan Roberts (9); 9. Joe Beaver (12); 10. Tony Rost (6); 11. Devin Kline (1); 12. Ryan Leavitt (21); 13. Nathan Mills (7); 14. Riley Goodno (14); 15. Ben Brown (22); 16. Brenham Crouch (13); 17. Timothy Smith (17); 18. Alan Zoutte (20); 19. Slater Helt (24); 20. Chase Porter (19); 21. Alex Vande Voort (10); 22. Ricky Montgomery (23); 23. Chris Martin (16); 24. Calvin Landis (18). Lap Leaders: Kline 1, Ball 2-4, T. McCarl 5-20. Hard-charger: Reutzel. 

Pro Series Results 

 Time Trials (Group Qualifying): 1. 99, Matthew Stelzer, Papillion, NE (7), 17.672; 2. 81E, Eric Bridger, Winterset, IA (3), 17.902; 3. 71, Brandon Worthington, Indianola, IA (5), 18.011; 4. 26, Chase Young, Des Moines, IA (10), 18.056; 5. 42J, Kade Higday, Pleasant Hill, IA (4), 18.058; 6. 12P, Ryan Navratil, Des Moines, IA (8), 18.074; 7. 0, Mike Mayberry, Fremont, IA (1), 18.128; 8. 17X, Tyler Groenendyk, Oskaloosa, IA (9), 18.13; 9. 44, Scotty Johnson, Dallas, IA (12), 18.209; 10. 14J, Mike Johnston, Des Moines, IA (6), 18.236; 11. 41, Jeff Wilke, Knoxville, IA (11), 18.277; 12. 02S, Josh Jones, Knoxville, IA (2), NT 

Heat one (started), 6 Laps, 1:50.6: 1. Scotty Johnson (2); 2. Mike Mayberry (3); 3. Jeff Wilke (1); 4. Brandon Worthington (5); 5. Kade Higday (4); 6. Matthew Stelzer (6) 

 Heat two (started), 6 Laps, 1:50.3: 1. Tyler Groenendyk (2); 2. Chase Young (4); 3. Mike Johnston (1); 4. Eric Bridger (5); 5. Josh Jones (6); 6. Ryan Navratil (3) 

 A main (started), 15 Laps, NT: 1. Tyler Groenendyk (1) ($500 bonus); 2. Chase Young (4) ($250 bonus); 3. Brandon Worthington (2) ($125 bonus); 4. Kade Higday (8); 5. Eric Bridger (3); 6. Jeff Wilke (11); 7. Mike Mayberry (6); 8. Scotty Johnson (7); 9. Ryan Navratil (10); 10. Josh Jones (12); 11. Mike Johnston (9); 12. Matthew Stelzer (5). Lap Leader: Groenendyk 1-15. Hard-charger: Wilke.