POCOLA, Okla. — Aaron Reutzel reigned supreme at Tri-State Speedway on Saturday night to gain the $12,000 grand prize on night two of the Salute to Service with the POWRi 410 Bandit Outlaw Sprint Series.
It was Reutzel’s second career victory at the 30-lap feature event.
Cruising onto the refreshed racing surface with 26 entrants of the POWRi 410 BOSS would see Reutzel set a new track record with a quick qualifying time of 12.966 seconds, reaching speeds of 130 mph.
Sam Hafertepe Jr, Cory Eliason and Paul Nienhiser each earned heat race victories.
Reutzel and Brenham Crouch lined up in the front row.
Reutzel would speed into the early racing advantage by throwing a slider for the lead on the opening lap as Crouch, Hafertepe, Landon Crawley and Noah Gass all battled within the top five.
Setting a blistering pace around a finely prepared topside of Tri-State Speedway, Reutzel appeared to be on a rail by dealing with lap traffic within the first five laps of the main event. Crouch was right in his leading tire tracks as Hafertepe closed in on the top two.
Reutzel changed his line to the low side as Hafertepe moved into second. Overtaking the lead briefly, Hafertepe took the advantage for about 90 feet before Reutzel charged back using a slide job in turns one and two for the event-winning maneuver.
Lapping all the way into the top-10 positions, Reutzel continued to lead the laps as they ticked off at a rapid rate. The lone caution of the feature appearing as the white flag was about to be displayed. The field bunched back together for a two-lap shootout for the major $12,000 payday.
Guarding the front of the field for the final restart of the main event, Reutzel would earn his second career POWRi 410 BOSS feature victory leading 29 of 30 laps.
“Get after it, that was my plan. I thought I was setting a good pace but when I started getting slid I knew I had to go and get after it,” said Reutzel. “I had a great restart after the caution coming to white when a lap car wanted to race. Phenomenal car this whole weekend and I can’t thank this team enough, I’m pumped about next year”.
Night one winner Hafertepe finished runner-up from starting fourth, while Eliason flew forward to place on the final podium after starting sixth on the initial green flag.
Crouch finished fourth while Gass would move forward four spots to round out the top-five finishers for the POWRi 410 Bandit Outlaw Sprint Series at Tri-State Speedway.
Feature Results (30 Laps)
1. 8X-Aaron Reutzel[1]; 2. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[4]; 3. 8-Cory Eliason[5]; 4. 1-Brenham Crouch[2]; 5. 20G-Noah Gass[9]; 6. 7S-Landon Crawley[3]; 7. 87J-Jace Park[11]; 8. 19-Ayrton Gennetten[7]; 9. 6Z-Zane DeVault[16]; 10. 22X-JJ Hickle[20]; 11. 52-Blake Hahn[12]; 12. 17GP-Cole Duncan[13]; 13. 22-Riley Goodno[18]; 14. 84-Brandon Hanks[15]; 15. 51B-Joe B Miller[14]; 16. 95-Matt Covington[6]; 17. 79-Gage Montgomery[17]; 18. 37-Bryce Norris[19]; 19. 9X-Paul Nienhiser[8]; 20. 16TH-Kevin Newton[22]; 21. 11-Roger Crockett[10]; 22. G6-Cody Gardner[21]