Knoxville 360 Nationals gets underway

Aug. 4—KNOXVILLE — It wasn't quite the way Aaron Reutzel envisioned the first night at Knoxville.

In the end, however, Ruetzel ended up right back where he finished last year's 360 Knoxville Nationals. In Victory Lane.

Reutzel went from the fifth-fastest qualifying lap to having to rally in the fifth and final heat race just to qualify for the A-Main on Thursday night. Starting from the second row, Reutzel surged in front and never looked back winning the first feature race of the Xtream Powered by Mediacom 360 Knoxville Nationals Presented by Great Southern Bank.

The Clute, Texas driver passed Colby Copeland with five laps to go and went on to win his ninth career 360 feature. The defending champion also topped the point standings after night one with 486 points, followed by Kelby Watt (474), Ryan Timms (472), Kaleb Johnson (472) and Tanner Holmes (469).

"I thought there was a good opportunity where Colby slipped off the bottom. I just tried to ride off his right rear (tire) and he just kind of slipped right in front of me," Ruetzel said. "I kind of had to take evasive action. That was a close call."

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 before the first of two cautions in the A-Main came out after Timothy Smith spun in the first turn.

Hafertepe surged from fifth to third on the restart while Bogucki entered the top five. Pleasantville native Tasker Phillips, the winner of the second heat race, tipped over in turn four bringing out yet another caution with Reutzel, Hafertepe, Ball and Bogucki all making their charge at Copeland at the front of the field.

"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."

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, Copeland approached lapped traffic and struggled to get by Smith. On lap 15, Reutzel took advantage with Hafertepe in tow, bringing both Texas drivers past Copeland at the start-finish line.

"Aaron knows just where to run. I think he was waiting for (Copeland) to mess up before he made his move," Hafertepe said. "The line Aaron ran was a perfect line. He runs here (at Knoxville) all the time, so he knows where to run."

Reutzel was able to keep his place in front of Hafertepe, claiming the $3,000 prize and 200 valuable points in a 1-2 repeat of last year's 360 Nationals. Bogucki, meanwhile, made the podium after starting from the eighth row in the 20-lap A-Main feature finishing 11th on the night with 448 points before losing the points hours after the racing due to failing a post-race inspection.

"I really struggled in qualifying. We just weren't carrying much speed," Bogucki said after posting the 25th-best time (16.942) to open the night. "We worked from there. I found some good speed at the bottom of the track. I was able to stay at the bottom and went straight at it. Normally, when that happens, the yellow comes out. I got fortunate I was able to make that move before the first caution. It gave us any chance to be in a good position for Saturday."

"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."

Rounding out the top five in the A-Main was Chase Randall, Copeland and Jaime Ball all three of whom finished in the top 10 in total points. Jason Martin, Austin McCarl, Kelby Watt, Justin Peck and Ryan Timms rounded out the top 10.

Kaleb Johnson set quick time over the 50-car field in 16.389 seconds. Brenham Crouch, Phillips, Martin, McCarl and Kade Higday won heat races.

Liam Martin took the C-Main race and Ryan Leavitt claimed the B-Main. Martin flipped hard in the B-Main, but was uninjured.

"We had the better race car, but Aaron drove a really good race putting himself in the right place at the right time," said Hafertepe. "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)."

The final field for Saturday's championship night of racing will be set following the second night of qualifying. Former champions Wayne Johnson, Brian Brown, Terry McCarl, Clint Garner, Kerry Madsen, Southern Iowa Speedway season champion Ben Woods and former NASCAR standout Kasey Kahne will be among the drivers taking the track on Friday.

"You never know what's going to happen. It felt like all the stars aligned for me last year," Reutzel said of his chances at defending his 360 Nationals title. "I went out fourth and got out quick. The three guys ahead of me didn't even make the show out of their heat races. Things can happen.

"I don't know where it's going to put me. I hope I'm on the second row. I don't think it'll be good enough to make the first row. I think some of those (Friday) drivers will produce some higher point totals."

AUTO RACING

33rd Annual Xtream Powered by Mediacom 360 Knoxville Nationals Presented by Great Southern Bank Night 1 Results

Time Trials (Qualifying Order), 2 laps: 1. 22K, Kaleb Johnson, Sioux Falls, SD (2), 16.389; 2. 18T, Tanner Holmes, Jacksonville, OR (8), 16.401; 3. 5T, Ryan Timms, Oklahoma City, OK (16), 16.552; 4. 1K, Kelby Watt, Adel, IA (13), 16.579; 5. 8, Aaron Reutzel, Clute, TX (4), 16.593; 6. 22, Ryan Leavitt, Knoxville, IA (7), 16.641; 7. 8M, Kade Morton, Coweta, OK (10), 16.714; 8. 17, Tyler Groenendyk, Oskaloosa, IA (3), 16.718; 9. 41, Colton Hardy, Phoenix, AZ (19), 16.718; 10. 24R, Rico Abreu, St. Helena, CA (32), 16.732; 11. 4W, Jamie Ball, Knoxville, IA (33), 16.738; 12. 50YR, JJ Hickle, Quilcene, WA (1), 16.789; 13. 36, Jason Martin, Liberal, KS (12), 16.791; 14. 16A, Colby Copeland, Roseville, CA (6), 16.800; 15. 24H, Kade Higday, Pleasant Hill, IA (23), 16.821; 16. 7A, Jack Anderson, Newton, IA (5), 16.822; 17. 15H, Sam Hafertepe Jr., Sunnyvale, TX (44), 16.824; 18. 8H, Jacob Hughes, Hartford, SD (14), 16.836; 19. 7M, Chance Morton, Coweta, OK (37), 16.857; 20. 83H, Justin Henderson, Tea, SD (31), 16.868; 21. 1, Brenham Crouch, Lubbock, TX (26), 16.881; 22. 9, Chase Randall, Waco, TX (35), 16.902; 23. 83T, Tanner Carrick, Lincoln, CA (28), 16.932; 24. 88, Austin McCarl, Altoona, IA (42), 16.940; 25. 20, Justin Peck, Monrovia, IN (30), 16.982; 26. 7TAZ, Tasker Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (40), 16.993; 27. 86, Timothy Smith, Rocheport, MO (29), 17.031; 28. 99, Tony Rost, Omaha, NE (36), 17.047; 29. 44, Chris Martin, Ankeny, IA (49), 17.105; 30. 70, Calvin Landis, Knoxville, IA (18), 17.124; 31. 52, Blake Hahn, Sapulpa, OK (45), 17.151; 32. 6, Dustin Selvage, Indianola, IA (47), 17.176; 33. 9M, Liam Martin, Binbrook, ONT, Can. (11), 17.183; 34. 35L, Cody Ledger, Omaha, NE (9), 17.206; 35. 75X, JT Imperial, Mesa, AZ (25), 17.228; 36. 11X, Ayrton Gennetten, Gravois Mills, MO (22), 17.257; 37. 18, Ryan Roberts, Aurora, NE (43), 17.257; 38. 01, Sammy Swindell, Lakeland, TN (21), 17.270; 39. 2JR, Kelly Miller, Coaldale, ALB, Can. (24), 17.400; 40. 4C, Tuesday Calderwood, Goodyear, AZ (48), 17.475; 41. G5, Gage Pulkrabek, East Grand Forks, MN (20), 17.505; 42. 6T, Christopher Townsend, La Porte, TX (27), 17.582; 43. 55B, Brandon Anderson, Glenpool, OK (50), 17.628; 44. 33, Alan Zoutte, Knoxville, IA (46), 17.678; 45. 105, Cody Ihlen, Pipestone, MN (17), 17.897; 46. 3, Howard Moore, Memphis, TN (39), 18.024; 47. 45X, Kyler Johnson, Quinter, KS (41), 18.053; 48. T4, Tyler Graves, Chariton, IA (34), 18.399; 49. 22W, Aaron Werner, Colman, SD (15), 19.909; DQ — 84, Scott Bogucki, McLaren Vale, SA, Au (38)

Heat one (started), 8 Laps, 2:19.9: 1. Brenham Crouch (2); 2. Justin Peck (1); 3. Kaleb Johnson (6); 4. Jamie Ball (4) / 5. Jack Anderson (3); 6. JT Imperial (8); 7. Ryan Leavitt (5); 8. Calvin Landis (7) / 9. Cody Ihlen (10); 10. Tuesday Calderwood (9)

Heat two (started), 8 Laps, NT: 1. Tasker Phillips (1); 2. Chase Randall (2); 3. Sam Hafertepe Jr. (3); 4. Tanner Holmes (6) / 5. JJ Hickle (4); 6. Blake Hahn (7); 7. Howard Moore (10); 8. Kade Morton (5) / 9. Gage Pulkrabek (9); 10. Ayrton Gennetten (8)

Heat three (started), 8 Laps, 2:18.6: 1. Jason Martin (4); 2. Timothy Smith (1); 3. Ryan Timms (6); 4. Tanner Carrick (2) / 5. Dustin Selvage (7); 6. Ryan Roberts (8); 7. Tyler Groenendyk (5); 8. Kyler Johnson (10) / 9. Christopher Townsend (9); 10. Jacob Hughes (3)

Heat four (started), 8 Laps, 2:17.5: 1. Austin McCarl (2); 2. Tony Rost (1); 3. Kelby Watt (6); 4. Colby Copeland (4) / 5. Chance Morton (3); 6. Colton Hardy (5); 7. Sammy Swindell (8); 8. Brandon Anderson (9) / 9. Liam Martin (7); 10. Tyler Graves (10)

Heat five (started), 8 Laps, 2:15.9: 1. Kade Higday (4); 2. Chris Martin (1); 3. Aaron Reutzel (6) / 4. Justin Henderson (3); 5. Rico Abreu (5); 6. Kelly Miller (8); 7. Alan Zoutte (9) / 8. Aaron Werner (10); 9. Cody Ledger (7) DQ — Scott Bogucki (2)

C main (started), 10 Laps, 2:55.0: 1. Liam Martin (2); 2. Jacob Hughes (1); 3. Ayrton Gennetten (4); 4. Cody Ledger (3) / 5. Christopher Townsend (7); 6. Tuesday Calderwood (5); 7. Gage Pulkrabek (6); 8. Cody Ihlen (8); 9. Tyler Graves (9); 10. Aaron Werner (10)

B main (started), 12 Laps, 6:21.0: 1. Ryan Leavitt (1); 2. Justin Henderson (9); 3. Rico Abreu (5); 4. Kade Morton (2) / 5. Tyler Groenendyk (3); 6. Blake Hahn (11); 7. Calvin Landis (10); 8. JJ Hickle (6); 9. Dustin Selvage (12); 10. Colton Hardy (4); 11. JT Imperial (13); 12. Ayrton Gennetten (23); 13. Ryan Roberts (14); 14. Sammy Swindell (15); 15. Brandon Anderson (17); 16. Jacob Hughes (22); 17. Kelly Miller (16); 18. Cody Ledger (24); 19. Kyler Johnson (20); 20. Alan Zoutte (18); 21. Howard Moore (19); 22. Liam Martin (21); 23. Chance Morton (8); 24. Jack Anderson (7)

A main (started), 20 Laps, NT: 1. Aaron Reutzel (4); 2. Sam Hafertepe Jr. (10); 3. Chase Randall (12); 4. Colby Copeland (1); 5. Jamie Ball (3); 6. Jason Martin (2); 7. Austin McCarl (14); 8. Kelby Watt (5); 9. Justin Peck (16); 10. Ryan Timms (6); 11. Tanner Holmes (7); 12. Kaleb Johnson (8); 13. Chris Martin (20); 14. Tasker Phillips (17); 15. Brenham Crouch (11); 16. Ryan Leavitt (21); 17. Rico Abreu (23); 18. Justin Henderson (22); 19. Tanner Carrick (13); 20. Kade Higday (9); 21. Tony Rost (19); 22. Kade Morton (24); 23. Timothy Smith (18); DQ (crossed third) — Scott Bogucki (15).

Lap Leaders: Copeland 1-14, Reutzel 15-20.

— Scott Jackson can be reached at sjackson@ottumwacourier.com. Follow him on Twitter@CourierScott.