AARON REUTZEL STARTS 360 KNOXVILLE NATIONALS DEFENCE WITH THURSDAY PRELIM WIN!

Feature photo by: Paul Arch… Reutzel topped Sam Hafertepe Jr. (2nd) and Scott Bogucki (3rd) on Night #1 of the 360 Knoxville Nationals

by Bill Wright

 KNOXVILLE, Iowa (August 3, 2023) – Aaron Reutzel began where he ended last year’s event Thursday on Night #1 of the Xtream Powered by Mediacom 360 Knoxville Nationals Presented by Great Southern Bank.  The Clute, Texas driver wrestled the lead away with five to go and went on to win his ninth career 360 feature here.  The defending champion also topped the point standings after night one, followed by Kelby Watt, Ryan Timms, Kaleb Johnson and Tanner Holmes (full point results under results).

Colby Copeland led arly over Reutzel, Jamie Ball, Jason Martin and Watt.  Sam Hafertepe Jr. entered the top five by lap four, and Scott Bogucki had traveled from 15^th to sixth at the same time.  Timothy spun, bringing out the caution.

Hafertepe surged from fifth to third on the restart, and Bogucki entered the top five before Tasker Phillips tipped over in turn four.  Phillips restarted at the tail.  The restart saw Copeland leading Reutzel, Hafertepe, Ball and Bogucki back to green.

Bogucki continued his charge by passing Ball for fourth on lap nine.  Up front, Copeland was stuck to the bottom with Reutzel in tow.  On lap 14, he approached lapped traffic and struggled to get by Smith.  On lap 15, Reutzel took advantage and Hafertepe followed him, as both bested Copeland at the line.  A lap later, Bogucki moved into third.

Reutzel stayed out front to claim the $3,000 prize and 200 valuable points in the RSR #8, ahead of Hafertepe, hard-charger Bogucki, Randall and Copeland.  Ball, Jason Martin, Austin McCarl, Watt and Justin Peck rounded out the top ten.  Kaleb Johnson set quick time over the 50-car field, while Brenham Crouch, Tasker Phillips, Jason Martin, McCarl and Bogucki won heat races.  Liam Martin took the C main and Ryan Leavitt claimed the B.  Liam Martin flipped hard in the B main, but was uninjured.

“I needed (no yellows) and some lapped traffic,” said Reutzel of his pursuit of Copeland.  “The bottom was too easy to hit.  My car was great, he was just running a good race.  It seemed like every time I got there and made a mistake, he’d slide up in front of me where I had to move a little.  We got some lapped traffic, and I was finally able to seal the deal there.  I can’t thank this team enough.”

“We had a really good racecar,” said Hafertepe.  “Aaron runs here all the time and he knows where put his car in those situations.  He did exactly what he needed to do.  We had the better racecar, but he drove a really good race putting himself in the right place at the right time.  We made a little charge on him the last couple laps, but couldn’t get it done.  We salvaged a night going out as late as we did (for qualifying).”

“We’ve started on the front row of this before and run fourth,” said Bogucki.  “I buried us after qualifying.  I guess I just got pissed off and got up on the wheel.  We made whatever we needed to happen happen.  We got this thing rolling.”

Join us Friday, August 4 for Night #2 of the 33^rd Annual Xtream Powered by Mediacom 360 Knoxville Nationals Presented by Great Southern Bank!  For more information on the Knoxville Raceway, visit us online at www.KnoxvilleRaceway.com!

33^rd Annual Xtream Powered by Mediacom 360 Knoxville Nationals Presented by Great Southern Bank Night #1 Results

Time Trials (Qualifying Order), 2 laps: 1. 22K, Kaleb Johnson, Sioux Falls, SD (2), 16.389; 2. 18T, Tanner Holmes, Jacksonville, OR (8), 16.401; 3. 5T, Ryan Timms, Oklahoma City, OK (16), 16.552; 4. 1K, Kelby Watt, Adel, IA (13), 16.579; 5. 8, Aaron Reutzel, Clute, TX (4), 16.593; 6. 22, Ryan Leavitt, Knoxville, IA (7), 16.641; 7. 8M, Kade Morton, Coweta, OK (10), 16.714; 8. 17, Tyler Groenendyk, Oskaloosa, IA (3), 16.718; 9. 41, Colton Hardy, Phoenix, AZ (19), 16.718; 10. 24R, Rico Abreu, St. Helena, CA (32), 16.732; 11. 4W, Jamie Ball, Knoxville, IA (33), 16.738; 12. 50YR, JJ Hickle, Quilcene, WA (1), 16.789; 13. 36, Jason Martin, Liberal, KS (12), 16.791; 14. 16A, Colby Copeland, Roseville, CA (6), 16.800; 15. 24H, Kade Higday, Pleasant Hill, IA (23), 16.821; 16. 7A, Jack Anderson, Newton, IA (5), 16.822; 17. 15H, Sam Hafertepe Jr., Sunnyvale, TX (44), 16.824; 18. 8H, Jacob Hughes, Hartford, SD (14), 16.836; 19. 7M, Chance Morton, Coweta, OK (37), 16.857; 20. 83H, Justin Henderson, Tea, SD (31), 16.868; 21. 1, Brenham Crouch, Lubbock, TX (26), 16.881; 22. 9, Chase Randall, Waco, TX (35), 16.902; 23. 83T, Tanner Carrick, Lincoln, CA (28), 16.932; 24. 88, Austin McCarl, Altoona, IA (42), 16.940; 25. 84, Scott Bogucki, McLaren Vale, SA, Au (38), 16.942; 26. 20, Justin Peck, Monrovia, IN (30), 16.982; 27. 7TAZ, Tasker Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (40), 16.993; 28. 86, Timothy Smith, Rocheport, MO (29), 17.031; 29. 99, Tony Rost, Omaha, NE (36), 17.047; 30. 44, Chris Martin, Ankeny, IA (49), 17.105; 31. 70, Calvin Landis, Knoxville, IA (18), 17.124; 32. 52, Blake Hahn, Sapulpa, OK (45), 17.151; 33. 6, Dustin Selvage, Indianola, IA (47), 17.176; 34. 9M, Liam Martin, Binbrook, ONT, Can. (11), 17.183; 35. 35L, Cody Ledger, Omaha, NE (9), 17.206; 36. 75X, JT Imperial, Mesa, AZ (25), 17.228; 37. 11X, Ayrton Gennetten, Gravois Mills, MO (22), 17.257; 38. 18, Ryan Roberts, Aurora, NE (43), 17.257; 39. 01, Sammy Swindell, Lakeland, TN (21), 17.270; 40. 2JR, Kelly Miller, Coaldale, ALB, Can. (24), 17.400; 41. 4C, Tuesday Calderwood, Goodyear, AZ (48), 17.475; 42. G5, Gage Pulkrabek, East Grand Forks, MN (20), 17.505; 43. 6T, Christopher Townsend, La Porte, TX (27), 17.582; 44. 55B, Brandon Anderson, Glenpool, OK (50), 17.628; 45. 33, Alan Zoutte, Knoxville, IA (46), 17.678; 46. 105, Cody Ihlen, Pipestone, MN (17), 17.897; 47. 3, Howard Moore, Memphis, TN (39), 18.024; 48. 45X, Kyler Johnson, Quinter, KS (41), 18.053; 49. T4, Tyler Graves, Chariton, IA (34), 18.399; 50. 22W, Aaron Werner, Colman, SD (15), 19.909

Heat one (started), 8 Laps, 2:19.9: 1. Brenham Crouch (2); 2. Justin Peck (1); 3. Kaleb Johnson (6); 4. Jamie Ball (4) / 5. Jack Anderson (3); 6. JT Imperial (8); 7. Ryan Leavitt (5); 8. Calvin Landis (7) / 9. Cody Ihlen (10); 10. Tuesday Calderwood (9)

Heat two (started), 8 Laps, NT: 1. Tasker Phillips (1); 2. Chase Randall (2); 3. Sam Hafertepe Jr. (3); 4. Tanner Holmes (6) / 5. JJ Hickle (4); 6. Blake Hahn (7); 7. Howard Moore (10); 8. Kade Morton (5) / 9. Gage Pulkrabek (9); 10. Ayrton Gennetten (8)

Heat three (started), 8 Laps, 2:18.6: 1. Jason Martin (4); 2. Timothy Smith (1); 3. Ryan Timms (6); 4. Tanner Carrick (2) / 5. Dustin Selvage (7); 6. Ryan Roberts (8); 7. Tyler Groenendyk (5); 8. Kyler Johnson (10) / 9. Christopher Townsend (9); 10. Jacob Hughes (3)

Heat four (started), 8 Laps, 2:17.5: 1. Austin McCarl (2); 2. Tony Rost (1); 3. Kelby Watt (6); 4. Colby Copeland (4) / 5. Chance Morton (3); 6. Colton Hardy (5); 7. Sammy Swindell (8); 8. Brandon Anderson (9) / 9. Liam Martin (7); 10. Tyler Graves (10)

Heat five (started), 8 Laps, 2:15.9: 1. Scott Bogucki (2); 2. Kade Higday (4); 3. Chris Martin (1); 4. Aaron Reutzel (6) / 5. Justin Henderson (3); 6. Rico Abreu (5); 7. Kelly Miller (8); 8. Alan Zoutte (9) / 9. Aaron Werner (10); 10. Cody Ledger (7)

C main (started), 10 Laps, 2:55.0: 1. Liam Martin (2); 2. Jacob Hughes (1); 3. Ayrton Gennetten (4); 4. Cody Ledger (3) / 5. Christopher Townsend (7); 6. Tuesday Calderwood (5); 7. Gage Pulkrabek (6); 8. Cody Ihlen (8); 9. Tyler Graves (9); 10. Aaron Werner (10)

B main (started), 12 Laps, 6:21.0: 1. Ryan Leavitt (1); 2. Justin Henderson (9); 3. Rico Abreu (5); 4. Kade Morton (2) / 5. Tyler Groenendyk (3); 6. Blake Hahn (11); 7. Calvin Landis (10); 8. JJ Hickle (6); 9. Dustin Selvage (12); 10. Colton Hardy (4); 11. JT Imperial (13); 12. Ayrton Gennetten (23); 13. Ryan Roberts (14); 14. Sammy Swindell (15); 15. Brandon Anderson (17); 16. Jacob Hughes (22); 17. Kelly Miller (16); 18. Cody Ledger (24); 19. Kyler Johnson (20); 20. Alan Zoutte (18); 21. Howard Moore (19); 22. Liam Martin (21); 23. Chance Morton (8); 24. Jack Anderson (7)

A main (started), 20 Laps, NT: 1. Aaron Reutzel (4); 2. Sam Hafertepe Jr. (10); 3. Scott Bogucki (15); 4. Chase Randall (12); 5. Colby Copeland (1); 6. Jamie Ball (3); 7. Jason Martin (2); 8. Austin McCarl (14); 9. Kelby Watt (5); 10. Justin Peck (16); 11. Ryan Timms (6); 12. Tanner Holmes (7); 13. Kaleb Johnson (8); 14. Chris Martin (20); 15. Tasker Phillips (17); 16. Brenham Crouch (11); 17. Ryan Leavitt (21); 18. Rico Abreu (23); 19. Justin Henderson (22); 20. Tanner Carrick (13); 21. Kade Higday (9); 22. Tony Rost (19); 23. Kade Morton (24); 24. Timothy Smith (18). Lap Leaders: Copeland 1-14, Reutzel 15-20. Hard-charger: Bogucki.

33^rd Annual Xtream Powered by Mediacom 360 Knoxville Nationals Presented by Great Southern Bank Night #1 Points

 1.     Aaron Reutzel 483

2.     Kelby Watt 472

3.     Ryan Timms 470

4.     Kaleb Johnson 470

5.     Tanner Holmes 467

6.     Jason Martin 464

7.     Jamie Ball 461

8.     Sam Hafertepe Jr. 460

9.     Colby Copeland 457

10.  Chase Randall 449

11.  Scott Bogucki 448

12.  Austin McCarl 440

13.  Ryan Leavitt 440

14.  Rico Abreu 433

15.  Brenham Crouch 430

16.  Justin Peck 429

17.  Kade Higday 429

18.  Kade Morton 423

19.  Tasker Phillips 420

20.  Justin Henderson 414

21.  Chris Martin 410

22.  Tyler Groenendyk 410

23.  Tanner Carrick 409

24.  JJ Hickle 402

25.  Colton Hardy 401

26.  Tony Rost 399

27.  Timothy Smith 397

28.  Blake Hahn 363

29.  Jack Anderson 362

30.  Jacob Hughes 359

31.  Dustin Selvage 358

32.  Chance Morton 358

33.  Calvin Landis 357

34.  JT Imperial 345

35.  Ryan Roberts 337

36.  Sammy Swindell 330

37.  Ayrton Gennetten 329

38.  Kelly Miller 322

39.  Cody Ledger 321

40.  Liam Martin 318

41.  Brandon Anderson 315

42.  Alan Zoutte 303

43.  Howard Moore 300

44.  Kyler Johnson 299

45.  Christopher Townsend 284

46.  Tuesday Calderwood 283

47.  Gage Pulkrabek 282

48.  Cody Ihlen 272

49.  Tyler Graves 261

50.  Aaron Werner 260