From Bill Wright | Knoxville Raceway
Aaron Reutzel Starts 360 Nationals Defense with Thursday Prelim Win!
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 early over Reutzel, Jamie Ball, Jason Martin and Watt. Sam Hafertepe Jr. entered the top five by lap four, and Scott Bogucki had traveled from 15th 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 33rd 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!
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.
33rd 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
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Photo's: Knoxville Raceway | Paul Arch