Bryan Hulbert – KNOXVILLE, Iowa (August 3, 2023) Kicking off his title defense of the Xtreme powered by Mediacom 360 Knoxville Nationals presented by Great Southern Bank underway, Aaron Reutzel captured the opening night of action at Knoxville Raceway with the American Sprint Car Series presented by RacinDirt.com.
Aaron’s ninth career win in the 360cid division at Knoxville Raceway, Thursday’s triumph is the 23rd time the 2015 ASCS National Champion has topped the American Sprint Car Series presented by RacinDirt.com.
The kick-off to the 33rd running of the 360 Knoxville Nationals, Aaron made quick moves in the Ridge and Sons Racing No. 8 on the start, going three-wide for the runner-up spot from fourth. Caution on Lap 5, Aaron pursued Colby to the low side as tenth-starting Sam Hafertepe, Jr., who was up to fifth, hit the cushion to take over third before red lights came on for Tasker Phillips, following a soft rollover.
Able to fend off Aaron on the restart, the field would finally find traffic and allow Aaron a chance at the lead. Catching a break on Lap 15 as Colby slipped the line, Aaron took over with Hafertepe following to second the following lap.
“I needed (no yellows) and some lapped traffic,” said Reutzel. “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.”
Able to use traffic to his advantage, Aaron Reutzel pulled away by 0.504-seconds at the drop of the checkered flag. Sam Hafertepe, Jr., in second, was followed by KSE Hard Charger Scott Bogucki, who charged ahead 12 spots for the show position. Chase Randall ran 12th to fourth, with Colby Copeland slipping to fifth.
Jamie Ball, sixth, was followed by Jason Martin. Eighth went to Austin McCarl from 14th, with Kelby Watt and Justin Peck picking up six positions to finish tenth.
Thursday’s opener saw 50 of the 53 drivers slated to run checking in. Another 56 drivers are slated to run Friday.
Kaleb Johnson topped The Driver’s Project Qualifying with a time of 16.389-seconds. AR Dyno Specialty Heat Races were topped by Brenham Crouch, Tasker Phillips, Jason Martin, Austin McCarl, and Scott Bogucki. The Hoosier Tire C-Feature went to Laim Martin, with the BMRS B-Feature topped by Ryan Leavitt.
Points following Thursday’s preliminary night show Aaron Reutzel earning 483. Kelby Watt sits second (472), with Ryan Timms and Kaleb Johnson tied for third (470). Tanner Holmes is fifth (467).
The Xtreme powered by Mediacom 360 Knoxville Nationals presented by Great Southern Bank continues Friday, August 4, with cars on track at 6:45 P.M. (CDT) for Hot Laps.
Live coverage of Knoxville Raceway can be found at http://www.dirtvision.com.
The 2023 season will mark the 32nd year of competition for the American Sprint Car Series. Spearheaded by the American Sprint Car Series National Tour, the ASCS Nation includes Regional Tours that encompass both wing and non-wing competition.
For other news, notes, and information on any of the tours under the ASCS banner, log onto http://www.ascsracing.com, follow on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter (@ascsracing).
Race Results:
ASCS National
Knoxville Raceway (Knoxville, Iowa)
Thursday, August 3, 2023
Car Count: 50
The Driver’s Project Qualifying
Qualifying: 1. 22K-Kaleb Johnson, 16.389[2]; 2. 18T-Tanner Holmes, 16.401[8]; 3. 5T-Ryan Timms, 16.552[16]; 4. 1K-Kelby Watt, 16.579[13]; 5. 8-Aaron Reutzel, 16.593[4]; 6. 22-Ryan Leavitt, 16.641[7]; 7. 8M-Kade Morton, 16.714[10]; 8. 17-Tyler Groenendyk, 16.718[3]; 9. 41-Colton Hardy, 16.718[19]; 10. 24R-Rico Abreu, 16.732[32]; 11. 4W-Jamie Ball, 16.738[33]; 12. 50YR-JJ Hickle, 16.789[1]; 13. 36-Jason Martin, 16.791[12]; 14. 16A-Colby Copeland, 16.800[6]; 15. 24H-Kade Higday, 16.821[23]; 16. 7A-Jack Anderson, 16.822[5]; 17. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr, 16.824[44]; 18. 8H-Jacob Hughes, 16.836[14]; 19. 7M-Chance Morton, 16.857[37]; 20. 83H-Justin Henderson, 16.868[31]; 21. 1-Brenham Crouch, 16.881[26]; 22. 9-Chase Randall, 16.902[35]; 23. 83T-Tanner Carrick, 16.932[28]; 24. 88-Austin McCarl, 16.940[42]; 25. 84-Scott Bogucki, 16.942[38]; 26. 20-Justin Peck, 16.982[30]; 27. 7TAZ-Tasker Phillips, 16.993[40]; 28. 86-Timothy Smith, 17.031[29]; 29. 99-Tony Rost, 17.047[36]; 30. 44-Chris Martin, 17.105[49]; 31. 70-Calvin Landis, 17.124[18]; 32. 52-Blake Hahn, 17.151[45]; 33. 6-Dustin Selvage, 17.176[47]; 34. 9M-Liam Martin, 17.183[11]; 35. 35L-Cody Ledger, 17.206[9]; 36. 75X-JT Imperial, 17.228[25]; 37. 11X-Ayrton Gennetten, 17.257[22]; 38. 18-Ryan Roberts, 17.257[43]; 39. 01-Sammy Swindell, 17.270[21]; 40. 2JR-Kelly Miller, 17.400[24]; 41. 4C-Tuesday Calderwood, 17.475[48]; 42. G5-Gage Pulkrabek, 17.505[20]; 43. 6T-Christopher Townsend, 17.582[27]; 44. 55B-Brandon Anderson, 17.628[50]; 45. 33-Alan Zoutte, 17.678[46]; 46. 105-Cody Ihlen, 17.897[17]; 47. 3-Howard Moore, 18.024[39]; 48. 45X-Kyler Johnson, 18.053[41]; 49. T4-Tyler Graves, 18.399[34]; 50. 22W-Aaron Werner, 19.909[15]
AR Dyno Specialty Heat Races (6 car invert, top 4 advance):
AR Dyno Specialty Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 1-Brenham Crouch[2]; 2. 20-Justin Peck[1]; 3. 22K-Kaleb Johnson[6]; 4. 4W-Jamie Ball[4]; 5. 7A-Jack Anderson[3]; 6. 75X-JT Imperial[8]; 7. 22-Ryan Leavitt[5]; 8. 70-Calvin Landis[7]; 9. 105-Cody Ihlen[10]; 10. 4C-Tuesday Calderwood[9]
360 Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 7TAZ-Tasker Phillips[1]; 2. 9-Chase Randall[2]; 3. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[3]; 4. 18T-Tanner Holmes[6]; 5. 50YR-JJ Hickle[4]; 6. 52-Blake Hahn[7]; 7. 3-Howard Moore[10]; 8. 8M-Kade Morton[5]; 9. G5-Gage Pulkrabek[9]; 10. 11X-Ayrton Gennetten[8]
AR Dyno Specialty Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 36-Jason Martin[4]; 2. 86-Timothy Smith[1]; 3. 5T-Ryan Timms[6]; 4. 83T-Tanner Carrick[2]; 5. 6-Dustin Selvage[7]; 6. 18-Ryan Roberts[8]; 7. 17-Tyler Groenendyk[5]; 8. 45X-Kyler Johnson[10]; 9. 6T-Christopher Townsend[9]; 10. 8H-Jacob Hughes[3]
AR Dyno Specialty Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 88-Austin McCarl[2]; 2. 99-Tony Rost[1]; 3. 1K-Kelby Watt[6]; 4. 16A-Colby Copeland[4]; 5. 7M-Chance Morton[3]; 6. 41-Colton Hardy[5]; 7. 01-Sammy Swindell[8]; 8. 55B-Brandon Anderson[9]; 9. 9M-Liam Martin[7]; 10. T4-Tyler Graves[10]
AR Dyno Specialty Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 84-Scott Bogucki[2]; 2. 24H-Kade Higday[4]; 3. 44-Chris Martin[1]; 4. 8-Aaron Reutzel[6]; 5. 83H-Justin Henderson[3]; 6. 24R-Rico Abreu[5]; 7. 2JR-Kelly Miller[8]; 8. 33-Alan Zoutte[9]; 9. 22W-Aaron Werner[10]; 10. 35L-Cody Ledger[7]
Hoosier Tire C-Feature:
Hoosier Tire C Feature (10 Laps): 1. 9M-Liam Martin[2]; 2. 8H-Jacob Hughes[1]; 3. 11X-Ayrton Gennetten[4]; 4. 35L-Cody Ledger[3]; 5. 6T-Christopher Townsend[7]; 6. 4C-Tuesday Calderwood[5]; 7. G5-Gage Pulkrabek[6]; 8. 105-Cody Ihlen[8]; 9. T4-Tyler Graves[9]; 10. 22W-Aaron Werner[10]
BMRS B-Feature
BMRS B Feature (12 Laps): 1. 22-Ryan Leavitt[1]; 2. 83H-Justin Henderson[9]; 3. 24R-Rico Abreu[5]; 4. 8M-Kade Morton[2]; 5. 17-Tyler Groenendyk[3]; 6. 52-Blake Hahn[11]; 7. 70-Calvin Landis[10]; 8. 50YR-JJ Hickle[6]; 9. 6-Dustin Selvage[12]; 10. 41-Colton Hardy[4]; 11. 75X-JT Imperial[13]; 12. 11X-Ayrton Gennetten[23]; 13. 18-Ryan Roberts[14]; 14. 01-Sammy Swindell[15]; 15. 55B-Brandon Anderson[17]; 16. 8H-Jacob Hughes[22]; 17. 2JR-Kelly Miller[16]; 18. 35L-Cody Ledger[24]; 19. 45X-Kyler Johnson[20]; 20. 33-Alan Zoutte[18]; 21. 3-Howard Moore[19]; 22. 9M-Liam Martin[21]; 23. 7M-Chance Morton[8]; 24. 7A-Jack Anderson[7]
A-Feature
A Feature (20 Laps): 1. 8-Aaron Reutzel[4]; 2. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[10]; 3. 84-Scott Bogucki[15]; 4. 9-Chase Randall[12]; 5. 16A-Colby Copeland[1]; 6. 4W-Jamie Ball[3]; 7. 36-Jason Martin[2]; 8. 88-Austin McCarl[14]; 9. 1K-Kelby Watt[5]; 10. 20-Justin Peck[16]; 11. 5T-Ryan Timms[6]; 12. 18T-Tanner Holmes[7]; 13. 22K-Kaleb Johnson[8]; 14. 44-Chris Martin[20]; 15. 7TAZ-Tasker Phillips[17]; 16. 1-Brenham Crouch[11]; 17. 22-Ryan Leavitt[21]; 18. 24R-Rico Abreu[23]; 19. 83H-Justin Henderson[22]; 20. 83T-Tanner Carrick[13]; 21. 24H-Kade Higday[9]; 22. 99-Tony Rost[19]; 23. 8M-Kade Morton[24]; 24. 86-Timothy Smith[18]
Lap Leader(s): Colby Copeland 1-14; Aaron Reutzel 15-20
KSE Hard Charger: Scott Bogucki +12
Driver’s Project Quick Time: Kaleb Johnson 16.389-seconds
High Point Driver:
Provisional(s): N/A
ASCS Online:
American Sprint Car Series: http://www.ascsracing.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/americansprintcarseries
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/ascsracing [@ascsracing]
Broadcast: http://www.racindirt.com
Live-Scoring: My Race Pass App
ASCS Drivers Online:
3 Howard Moore (Memphis, TN) R
6 Christopher Townsend (La Porte, TX) R
10 Landon Britt (Memphis, TN)
13 Elijah Gile (Phoenix, AZ) R
14 Jordon Mallett (Greenbrier, AR)
23 Seth Bergman (Snohomish, WA)
36 Jason Martin (Liberal, KS)
45X Kyler Johnson (Quinter, KS)
55B Brandon Anderson (Glenpool, OK)
71 Brady Baker (Alexander, AR) R
91 Michael Day (Farmersville, TX) R
95 Matt Covington (Glenpool, OK)
R denotes a driver running for the Brodix National Rookie of the Year
2023 Race Winners: Jason Martin – 7 (4/20 – Jackson Motor Speedway; 4/22 – Boothill Speedway; 5/20 – Longdale Speedway; 5/28 – Lake Ozark Speedway; 6/17 – 81 Speedway; 7/7 – Dodge City Raceway Park; 7/22 – 81 Speedway); Seth Bergman – 2 (4/21 – Longdale Speedway; 6/2 – Outlaw Motor Speedway); Matt Covington – 2 (6/16 – Humboldt Speedway; 7/8 – Dodge City Raceway Park); Austin McCarl – 1 (5/26 – Lakeside Speedway); Joe B. Miller – 1 (5/17 – Lake Ozark Speedway); Sean McClelland – 1 (6/15 – Creek County Speedway); Jeffrey Newell – 1 (6/22 – Lawton Speedway); Alex Sewell – 1 (6/24 – Caney Valley Speedway); Blake Hahn – 1 (6/30 – Boone County Raceway); Jake Bubak – 1 (7/1 – WaKeeney Speedway); Aaron Reutzel – 1 (8/3 – Knoxville Raceway);
2023 Driver Points (Top 10): 1. Jason Martin 2,468; 2. Matt Covington 2,402; 3. Jordon Mallett 2,251; 4. Howard Moore 2,241; 5. Brandon Anderson 2,184; 6. Kyler Johnson 2,061; 7. Christopher Townsend 1,923; 8. Landon Britt 1,888; 9. Michael Day 1,740; 10. Seth Bergman 1,237;