KNOXVILLE: REUTZEL’S 410 FEATURE WIN, MADSON SECURES 360 VICTORY

Photo: Saturday’s winners at Knoxville: Tyler Groenendyk (Pro), Aaron Reutzel (410), Ian Madsen (360)

by Bill Wright 

 KNOXVILLE, Iowa (July 16, 2022) – Aaron Reutzel and the Ridge and Sons Racing #8 team made good on their decision to return to Knoxville Raceway from Eldora, winning the 410 feature on Van Wall Equipment/Marion County Fair Night Saturday.  The win was not only worth $5,500, thanks to a $500 bonus from Pennsylvania’s Mike and Penny Cleck, who contributed to each class tonight, but also included a half a beef courtesy of the Marion County Fairboard. 

Ian Madsen took home $3,500 and a half a hog for his Midwest Power Series 360 feature win, and Tyler Groenendyk won $1,100 and a quarter hog for his seventh career win with the Pro Sprints.  Shawn Cooney and Todd Cooney won features for the DTRA Dirt Trucks. 

Before a lap could be completed in the 20-lap 410 feature, Tyler Drueke got into the turn four wall.  He was uninjured but sidelined.  Things went non-stop from there, with Tasker Phillips shooting out from the pole to lead early over Lynton Jeffrey, Reutzel, Davey Heskin and Austin McCarl. 

Reutzel slid into Jeffrey’s left front ti\yre on lap five, taking over second.  Though he lost a great deal of momentum, Jeffrey maintained a third place standing.  The leader entered traffic on lap six, and maneuvered it well. 

Reutzel never lost sight of Phillips, however, and with four laps to go, he slid in front to take the point in turn four.  Reutzel pulled away from there to win for the fourth time this year, and the sixth time in his career here.  Phillips held onto second, ahead of Heskin, Austin McCarl and Jeffrey.  JJ Hickle, Scotty Thiel, Carson McCarl, Justin Henderson and Matt Juhl rounded out the top ten.  AJ Moeller set quick time over the 29-car field, while Sawyer Phillips, Josh Higday and Hickle won heats.  Nate Mills won the B main. 

“Tasker was setting a really good pace,” said Reutzel in Victory Lane.  “I’m glad we had that restart (at the beginning) or we would have been in trouble.  He was hard to catch in clean air.  I’m worn out. 

The thing was a handful.  All in all, it was a good run.  It was a good points night, and that’s why we’re back there.  We had a plan going to Eldora.  We weren’t bad fast unloading, and I think we were a tenth place car there.  After the wreck, we decided to come home and finish this deal out.

 This was a phenomenal racetrack again.  That’s why I love coming here every week, and why I love living here.  It pays good to run here, and I can’t thank the fans enough for coming out and supporting it…making sure we can race for five or six thousand dollars every week.” 

Joe Beaver led early in the 20-lap 360 main event over Ian Madsen, Matt Covington, Skylar Prochaska and Chase Randall.  Madsen and Beaver battled side by side, lap after lap, before Madsen gained the advantage in turn two on lap six.  The leaders entered lapped traffic on lap seven. 

A circuit later, Ricky Montgomery spun, bringing the first caution.  Madsen retained his lead ahead of Beaver, and Covington, while Randall and Prochaska traded fourth in good action.  Riley Goodno slowed after contacting the frontstretch wall with eight laps to go, to bring the final yellow.  Prochaska claimed third from Covington on that restart, while Justin Henderson moved into the top five.   

Up front, Madsen was undeterred in winning his third career 360 feature here aboard the Seidenkranz #64.  Beaver held onto second, ahead of Covington, Prochaska and Henderson.  Randall, Clint Garner, Ryan Giles, Terry McCarl and Ryan Leavitt completed the top ten.  Randall set quick time over the 38-car field, while Prochaska, Leavitt, Chase Porter and Madsen won heats.  Collin Moyle won the B.  James Broty had something break in qualifying and took a scary ride in turn three.  He was uninjured but destroyed his car. 

“We struggled to take off, and Joe got a really good run on the start,” said Madsen.  “He was kind of committed to the top, and I was able to sneak by him on the bottom.  From there on out, the car was just awesome.  I could go anywhere I wanted.  I can’t thank these guys enough.  They’re just a small budget operation on an open trailer.  It was great to see.  This feels like home.  We’ve been on the road racing for a couple of years now, so it’s good to find some stability back here.” 

Matthew Stelzer led early in the 15-lap Pro Sprints feature ahead of Tyler Groenendyk, Josh Jones, Mike Mayberry and Ryan Navritil.  Josh Jones would get sideways on lap two, collecting Chase Young, who got upside down.  Young was o.k., but both drivers were done. 

The rains began to fall at that juncture, but things got back underway after a brief delay.  Groenendyk stormed to the high side of four after the restart to take the point and never looked back.  Stelzer retained second, ahead of Mayberry, Scotty Johnson and Navritil.  Brandon Worthington, Mike Johnston, Eric Bridger, Kade Higday and Jeff Wilke rounded out the top ten.  Johnson set quick time, while Johnston and Stelzer won heats. 

“It was definitely a unique night in our class with the rain coming down,” said Groenendyk.  “It kind of threw a curveball at us, but thankfully, the red opened up and we were able to make a few adjustments according to what we thought the racetrack was going to be.  That ended up being the right decision.  We had a restart to give us a shot there to win the race.  I honestly think we would have ran second without the rain.  The bottom was so good, and Stelzer looked good down there.” 

The DTRA Dirt Trucks ran a pair of 12-lap features as well.  It was all about the Cooney’s.  Shawn Cooney led every lap of the first main event to take his first ever win here.  Bill Davis Jr., Todd Cooney, Dave Safill and Dennis Elliott completed the top five. 

Todd Cooney won the second main event, giving him four wins here in the last five Dirt Truck features contested.  He took the lead from Dennis Plain on the second lap.  Rick Clark, Elliott, Jeff Johnson and Davis completed the top five. 

On Sunday, join us for the Twin States Pulling Association Truck and Tractor Pull.  Next Saturday, July 23 will be 3M Night!  All three sprint car classes will be in action.  For more information, visit or check Knoxville Raceway’s website at www.KnoxvilleRaceway.com or on Facebook and Twitter. 

 410 Results 

B main (started), 8 Laps, 2:17.0: 1. Nathan Mills (1); 2. Bobby Mincer (2); 3. Riley Goodno (6); 4. Tyler Drueke (4) / 5. Ryan Roberts (5); 6. Chris Martin (3); 7. Ben Brown (7); 8. Landon Hansen (8) 

 A main (started), 20 Laps, 5:52.1: 1. Aaron Reutzel (3); 2. Tasker Phillips (1); 3. Davey Heskin (5); 4. Austin McCarl (6); 5. Lynton Jeffrey (2); 6. JJ Hickle (9); 7. Scotty Thiel (8); 8. Carson McCarl (11); 9. Justin Henderson (10); 10. Matt Juhl (12); 11. Sawyer Phillips (7); 12. Dustin Selvage (20); 13. Ian Madsen (16); 14. Tim Estenson (18); 15. Carson Short (17); 16. Brady Forbrook (15); 17. Riley Goodno (23); 18. Brandon Wimmer (14); 19. Ryan Bunton (19); 20. Bobby Mincer (22); 21. Josh Higday (13); 22. Nathan Mills (21); 23. AJ Moeller (4); 24. Tyler Drueke (24). Lap Leaders: T. Phillips 1-15, Reutzel 16-20. Hard-charger: Selvage. 

 360 Results 

B main (started), 10 Laps, NT: 1. Collin Moyle (2); 2. Scotty Thiel (6); 3. Timothy Smith (3); 4. John Anderson (12) / 5. Tyler Blank (7); 6. Sam Henderson (10); 7. Kade Morton (13); 8. Alan Zoutte (4); 9. Devin Kline (9); 10. Javen Ostermann (8); 11. Austin Miller (1); 12. Corey Day (5); 13. Gunner Ramey (11) DNS – Scott Broty, Slater Helt, Chris Morgan, James Broty 

A main (started), 20 Laps, NT: 1. Ian Madsen (1); 2. Joe Beaver (2); 3. Matt Covington (4); 4. Skylar Prochaska (3); 5. Justin Henderson (8); 6. Chase Randall (7); 7. Clint Garner (5); 8. Ryan Giles (13); 9. Terry McCarl (15); 10. Ryan Leavitt (12); 11. Matt Juhl (10); 12. Kaleb Johnson (19); 13. Tony Rost (11); 14. Nathan Mills (6); 15. Jamie Ball (17); 16. Chase Porter (18); 17. Chance Morton (16); 18. Alex Vande Voort (14); 19. Ricky Montgomery (20); 20. Scotty Thiel (22); 21. Collin Moyle (21); 22. Timothy Smith (23); 23. John Anderson (24); 24. Riley Goodno (9). Lap Leaders: Beaver 1-5, I. Madsen 6-20.

Hard-charger: Johnson. 

Pro Series Results 

A main (started), 15 Laps, NT: 1. Tyler Groenendyk (4); 2. Matthew Stelzer (2); 3. Mike Mayberry (3); 4. Scotty Johnson (6); 5. Ryan Navratil (8); 6. Brandon Worthington (9); 7. Mike Johnston (10); 8. Eric Bridger (12); 9. Kade Higday (11); 10. Jeff Wilke (5); 11. Toby Mosher (13); 12. Josh Jones (1); 13. Chase Young (7). Lap Leaders: Stelzer 1, Groenendyk 2-15.

Hard-charger: Bridger. 

 Dirt Trucks Results 

 A main #1 (started), 12 Laps, 4:48.5: 1. 30, Shawn Cooney, Des Moines, IA (2); 2. 10G, Bill Davis Jr., Des Moines, IA (3); 3. 17, Todd Cooney, Des Moines, IA (8); 4. 40, David Safill, Des Moines, IA (10); 5. 79x, Dennis Elliott, Mt. Ayr, IA (11); 6. 9, Jeff Johnson, Indianola, IA (1); 7. 7x, Rick Clark, Des Moines, IA (4); 8. 43, Shaun Clinger, Waukee, IA (6); 9. 57, Dennis Plain, Fort Dodge, IA (5); 10. 5, Brandon Bach, Des Moines, IA (9); 11. 2, Del Enos, Des Moines, IA (7). Lap Leader: S. Cooney 1-12.

Hard-charger: Saffill.  

A main #2 (started), 12 Laps, 4:53.2: 1. Todd Cooney (6); 2. Rick Clark (4); 3. Dennis Elliott (10); 4. Jeff Johnson (5); 5. Bill Davis Jr. (7); 6. David Safill (9); 7. Shawn Cooney (8); 8. Dennis Plain (2); 9. Del Enos (1); 10. Brandon Bach (11); 11. Shaun Clinger (3). Lap Leaders: Plain 1, T. Cooney 2-12. Hard-charger: Elliott.