Aaron Reutzel may not have won his first Knoxville 360 Nationals Saturday night had the race lasted another five or 10 laps, but that’s not in anyone’s head after the performance the No. 8 car laid down.
Reutzel used his P2 starting position to build a big lead on the field that Sam Haftertepe Jr. couldn’t overcome, streaking to victory lane while leading every lap and collecting $30,000.
“It played out just the way I wanted it to,” Retuzel said. “I just wanted to get the jump and go green-to-checkered with no cautions.”
“You know, we were really good early,” Reutzel said. “When the cushion started getting a little treacherous and our fuel load was coming up, I was just getting a little too loose for some reason. I knew we were starting to really struggle when I couldn’t even pass a lapped car hardly.”
Reutzel looked up at the scoreboard and noticed Sam Hafertepe Jr. had made it up to second from seventh.
Hafertepe Jr. was nearly three seconds behind Reutzel when he got into the spot, but that’s where Reutzel’s gamble paid off.
The Ridge & Sons Racing team put a setup together that would hone down the early part of the race when there was more fuel sitting in the tail tank. It got Reutzel his first career 360 Nationals championship.
“It would be huge, just to win the 410 (Nationals),” Reutzel said. “We’ve put ourselves in position to win that race before and kind of let the race get to us. I think I’m in a better place as a driver to put myself in position again.”
How will the celebration be for him and the team Saturday night?
“A lot of, a lot of alcohol,” Reutzel said.
The next on-track action at Knoxville will come Sunday night with the annual Capitani Classic exhibition race – a 410 sprint car event that features a bracket match of racing to set the first four rows of the main event. It can be seen on DirtVision.
32nd Knoxville 360 Nationals
Knoxville Raceway
Sat. August 6, 2022
1. Aaron Reutzel
2. Sam Hafertepe Jr.
3. Clint Garner
4. Lynton Jeffrey
5. Terry McCarl
6. Brian Brown
7. Cory Eliason
8. Ayrton Gennetten
9. Chase Randall
10. Gio Scelzi
11. Kyle Larson
12. Justin Henderson
13. Parker Price-Miller
14. Garret Williamson
15. Matt Juhl
16. Thomas Kennedy
17. Tasker Phillips
18. Cale Thomas
19. Brady Forbrook
20. Blake Hahn
21. Christopher Thram
22. Kelby Watt
23. Wayne Johnson
24. Tyler Courtney
