AARON REUTZEL: 360 KNOXVILLE CHAMPION!

by Bill Wright 

 KNOXVILLE, Iowa (August 6, 2022) – Aaron Reutzel wired the field top capture the 32^nd Annual 360 Knoxville Nationals Presented by Great Southern Bank Saturday night, August 6, at Knoxville.  

With a $15,000 prize, and an equal amount of lap money, the Clute, Texas native now living in Knoxville, took home $30,000 for his drive aboard the Ridge & Sons Racing #8. Reutzel bested fellow Texas driver, Sam Hafertepe Jr., who closed late. 

Reutzel started outside row one and stormed away early to lead Lynton Jeffrey, Clint Garner, Brian Brown and Terry McCarl in the 30-lapper.  Hafertepe had moved from his seventh starting spot into the top five by the fifth lap. 

Reutzel built his lead over Jeffrey as the laps ticked on.  Meanwhile, Hafertepe was also finding his stride.  A slide job by Brown gained fourth on lap 13, and a similar move in the same spot on the next circuit saw contact between Hafertepe and Garner.  Both veteran drivers managed to soldier on, with Hafertepe gaining third. 

Reutzel was into lapped traffic at the halfway point, and Hafertepe worked by Jeffrey to move into second.  The last ten laps saw furious racing between Jeffrey and Garner for the last podium spot.  They traded the position five times in the last ten laps.   

Meanwhile, Hafertepe cut a 2.5 second disadvantage to under a second in the late stages.  Reutzel would win in track record time (9:03.9) over the 30 laps.  Hafertepe settled for second, ahead of Garner, Jeffrey and McCarl.  Brown, Cory Eliason, Ayrton Gennetten, hard-charger Chase Randall and Gio Scelzi rounded out the top ten.   

Tyler Courtney won the 18-lap B main, and Kaleb Johnson claimed the C main.  The D main saw much attrition and carnage.  Seth Brahmer and Ryan Bowers were involved in a scary accident on the front stretch that required fence repair.  On the restart, a six-car pileup brought things to a stop again, with Rusty Hickman, Randy Miller, Tony Rost, Ben Brown, Clayton Christensen and Sam Henderson involved.  No one was seriously injured.  Justin Sanders emerged victorious in the D, while Jett Carney won the E main. 

Randall secured $500 from Jetco as Rookie of the Year, while Cody Hansen took $500 from DGRD for “Best Appearing Car.” 

“We were struggling at the end,” said Reutzel in Victory Lane.  “I knew probably someone was coming, but that’s how I wanted the race to play out.  I wanted to go green to checker, so I could run in lapped traffic and try to hide a little bit.  We were able to get up front and make the best of it.  It all worked out good.  By the time you get to the A main, there’s a good field of drivers, and no yellows.  That was great.  It’s been a fun year (staying close to home) and race the schedule I want to race.  It’s huge for our team to win this!” 

“We could have used a caution or anything,” said Hafertepe of his second place run.  “(Reutzel) drove a pretty good race and got through lapped traffic really well.  When you get out front at this place…sometimes clean air is the best place to be.  We had a really good racecar.  We passed a lot of good cars to get there.  I got into Clint, which I didn’t mean to.  I was hitting a little patch of moisture and I missed it and got up into him.  I didn’t want to race him like that.  Hat’s off to my guys.  They gave me a really good racecar to drive.” 

“The car was fast you know,” said Garner.  “I did my best to do what I could there.  I definitely felt like the underdog again here.  When I stood in the lineup to do introductions, there were a lot of great racecar drivers.  Most of them could be the best or one of the best in the country.  I’m privileged to be here, and I can’t thank everybody that helps me out enough.  The crowd was great and I’m glad to be up here talking to you guys.  (The incident with Sam)…the good thing is, is he’s badass.  Good drivers know what they’re doing and I knew what I was doing.  We both kept them under control.  Sammy (Swindell) told me one time a long time ago, if your right rear is spinning when you hit them, you did nothing wrong.  So he did nothing wrong.” 

The Xtreme powered by Mediacom Capitani Classic presented by Great Southern Bank on Sunday provides the last tune-up for the 61^st NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s!  For more information, visit or check Knoxville Raceway’s website at www.KnoxvilleRaceway.com or on Facebook and Twitter. 

 32^nd Annual 360 Knoxville Nationals Presented by Great Southern Bank Championship Results 

E main (started), 8 Laps, No Time: 1. 6J, Jett Carney, El Paso, TX (2); 2. 1cc, Clayton Christensen, Spencer, IA (1); 3. 42, Sye Lynch, Apollo, PA (4); 4. 5T, Ryan Timms, Oklahoma City, OK (6); 5. 19, Wes Wofford, Alamogordo, NM (5); 6. 83JR, Sam Henderson, Sioux Falls, SD (10); 7. 6c, Logan Calderwood, Goodyear, AZ (3); 8. 199, Ryan Bowers, Nowthen, MN (8); 9. 1A, John Anderson, Des Moines, IA (7) / 10. 4D, Charles Davis Jr., Buckeye, AZ (9); 11. 3M, Michael Pinnel, Rapid City, SD (13); 12. 4s, Adam Speckman, Sioux Falls, SD (12); 13. 4H Cody Hansen, Nunda, SD (11) DNS – 8H, Jacob Hughes, Hartford, SD; 17B, Ryan Bickett, Ramona, SD; 24N, Nate Mills, Bondurant, IA; 15, Bobby Mincer, Burlington, IA; 2, Alex Pettas, Tempe, AZ; 17, Matt Allen, Adel, IA; 9m, Ricky Montgomery, Denver, CO; 10, Landon Britt, Memphis, TN; 41, Chase Moran, Fultonville, NY 

D main (started), 10 Laps, NT: 1. 16A, Colby Copeland, Roseville, CA (1); 2. 26H, Scott Bogucki, McLaren Vale, SA, Aust. (8); 3. 5m, Collin Moyle, Knoxville, IA (4); 4. 21G, Gunner Ramey, Sedalia, MO (2); 5. 53, Joe Beaver, Knoxville, IA (14); 6. 50z, Zach Chappell, Talala, OK (12); 7. 55B, Brandon Anderson, Glenpool, OK (10); 8. Sye Lynch (18); 9. 28, Luke Verardi, Taylorville, IL (13) / 10. Ryan Timms (19); 11. John Anderson (24); 12. Logan Calderwood (22); 13. 22w, Aaron Werner, Colman, SD (15); 14. Jett Carney (16); 15. Wes Wofford (20); 16. 45, Rusty Hickman, Bendigo, VIC, Aust. (3); 17. 2JR, Kelly Miller, Coaldale, ALB, Can. (5); 18. 99, Tony Rost, Omaha, NE (6); 19. 7B, Ben Brown, Marshall, MO (9); 20. Clayton Christensen (17); 21. Sam Henderson (21); 22. 22, Ryan Leavitt, Knoxville, IA (11); 23. 13v, Seth Brahmer, Wisner, NE (7); 24. Ryan Bowers (23) DNS – 1x, Tim Crawley, Benton, AR; 9G, Ryan Giles, Grimes, IA; 70, Calvin Landis, Knoxville, IA; 27H, Daryn Pittman, Owasso, OK; 9MB, JJ Beaver, Knoxville, IA 

C main (started), 12 Laps, 3:33.3: 1. 22K, Kaleb Johnson, Sioux Falls, SD (1); 2. 4, Cam Martin, Ankeny, IA (2); 3. 91, Kyle Reinhardt, Neptune City, NJ (4); 4. 55T, McKenna Haase, Des Moines, IA (3) / 5. 27B, Jake Bubak, Arvada, CO (8); 6. 14T, Brooke Tatnell, Sans Souci, NSW, Aust. (10); 7. 35, Skylar Prochaska, Lakefield, MN (15); 8. Colby Copeland (16); 9. 7M, Chance Morton, Coweta, OK (13); 10. Scott Bogucki (17); 11. 94, Jeff Swindell, Bartlett, TN (6); 12. Joe Beaver (20); 13. 45x, Kyler Johnson, Quinter, KS (9); 14. Zach Chappell (21); 15. 10P, Dylan Postier, Stillwater, OK (14); 16. Sye Lynch (23); 17. Brandon Anderson (22); 18. 23, Devon Dobie, Wapakoneta, OH (12); 19. Gunner Ramey (19); 20. Luke Verardi (24); 21. Collin Moyle (18); 22. 5A, Alex Vande Voort, Knoxville, IA (7); 23. 83, Austin Miller, Lacona, IA (5); 24. 8M, Kade Morton, Coweta, OK (11) DNS – 53D, Jack Dover, Springfield, NE; 7c, Devin Kline, Knoxville, IA; 4w, Jamie Ball, Knoxville, IA; 17w, Shane Golobic, Fremont, CA; 3P, Sawyer Phillips, Pleasantville, IA 

B main (started), 18 Laps, 5:22.8: 1. 7BC, Tyler Courtney, Indianapolis, IN (1); 2. 11M, Parker Price-Miller, Kokomo, IN (8); 3. 5, Brady Forbrook, Morgan, MN (2); 4. 49x, Cale Thomas, Fairland, IN (5) / 5. 18R, Ryan Roberts, Aurora, NE (3); 6. 20, Anthony Macri, Dillsburg, PA (13); 7. 27, Carson McCarl, Altoona, IA (4); 8. 88, Austin McCarl, Altoona, IA (6); 9. 14, Corey Day, Clovis, CA (10); 10. 95, Matt Covington, Glenpool, OK (7); 11. 39, Justin Sanders, Aromas, CA (9); 12. 64, Ian Madsen, St. Mary’s, NSW, Aust. (16); 13. 26, Zeb Wise, Angola, IN (14); 14. 21H, Brady Bacon, Broken Arrow, OK (15); 15. 2m, Davey Heskin, St. Michael, MN (19); 16. 36, Jason Martin, Lincoln, NE (11); 17. Kaleb Johnson (21); 18. 44, Chris Martin, Ankeny, IA (20); 19. 11N, Harli White, Lindsay, OK (17); 20. Cam Martin (22); 21. Kyle Reinhardt (23); 22. 75AU, Tyler Blank, California, MO (18); 23. 22x, Riley Goodno, Knoxville, IA (12); 24. McKenna Haase (24) 

A main, 30 Laps, 9:03.9 (NTR): 1. 8, Aaron Reutzel, Clute, TX (2); 2. 15H, Sam Hafertepe Jr., Sunnyvale, TX (7); 3. 40, Clint Garner, Sioux Falls, SD (3); 4. 2K, Lynton Jeffrey, Prairie City, IA (1); 5. 24, Terry McCarl, Altoona, IA (4); 6. 21, Brian Brown, Grain Valley, MO (5); 7. 71, Cory Eliason, Visalia, CA (12); 8. 3, Ayrton Gennetten, Gravois Mills, MO (6); 9. 9, Chase Randall, Waco, TX (18); 10. 18, Gio Scelzi, Fresno, CA (8); 11. 57, Kyle Larson, Elk Grove, CA (16); 12. 83H, Justin Henderson, Tea, SD (14); 13. Parker Price-Miller (22); 14. 24w, Garet Williamson, Kingdom City, MO (13); 15. 09, Matt Juhl, Tea, SD (19); 16. 21K, Thomas Kennedy, Winnipeg, MB, Can. (11); 17. 7TAZ, Tasker Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (15); 18. Cale Thomas (24); 19. Brady Forbrook (23); 20. 52, Blake Hahn, Sapulpa, OK (17); 21. 24T, Christopher Thram, Sanborn, MN (9); 22. 6, Kelby Watt, Adel, IA (20); 23. 2c, Wayne Johnson, Tuttle, OK (10); 24. Tyler Courtney (21). Lap Leader: Reutzel 1-30.

Hard-charger: Randall. $500 Jetco Rookie of the Year: Randall.  $500 DGRD Best Appearing Car: Hansen.