KNOXVILLE, Iowa — Aaron Reutzel and the Ridge and Sons Racing No. 8 team made good on their decision to return to Knoxville Raceway from Eldora Speedway, winning the 410 feature on 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.
Before a lap could be completed in the 20-lap 410 feature, Tyler Drueke got into the turn four wall.
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 tire 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
“Tasker was setting a really good pace,” said Reutzel. “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 10th-place car there. After the wreck, we decided to come home and finish this deal out. This was a phenomenal race track 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.”
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.
The finish:
Feature (20 Laps): 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).