Reutzel charges to debut WSS victory in Toowoomba

Texan Aaron Reutzel has won on his QSS World Series Sprintcars debut with a charge from the seventh row of the grid in Toowoomba.

Reutzel could only manage 19th in a 29-car field in qualifying for Round 7 at Hi-Tec Oils Speedway but then won one heat and finished second in another to earn 13th on the starting grid for the A-Main.

Kerry Madsen claimed pole but it was Robbie Farr who took the initial lead from the other side of the front row.

As Farr worked to defend his position from Madsen, Reutzel had leapt to seventh in the first three laps, and gained another spot by the time Brent Kratzmann crashed on Lap 9 and brought about a Caution.

Shaun Dobson spun shortly after the restart, before Farr and Madsen resumed their duel over first position when the race got underway yet again.

Jock Goodyer, James McFadden, Luke Oldfield, and Reutzel were similarly fighting for third spot, and the latter moved into the podium places on Lap 17 of 35.

The leaders had to contend with traffic in the final 15 laps, before Reutzel overtook Madsen with a slider out of Turn 4 on Lap 25.

The Saller Motorsport driver pulled off the same move on Farr two laps later and went on to win by 6.2s.

“I’m just glad to win a race for the Sallers,” said Reutzel.

“They’re a family owned team and I feel like I’ve let them down a couple of times (in Australia) and I’m just happy I could finally get a win for them.

“I’m really glad we could make this overnight 12-hour trip (from Sydney) worth it for them.

“I wouldn’t even ride in the truck for 12 hours, so I got a flight, so I have to thank the team for driving all the way up here.”

The battle for the minor placings became a four-way affair when McFadden and Goodyer bought back in.

Madsen passed Farr for second on Lap 29 but blew his right rear tyre with two laps remaining and was officially classified a lap down in 10th.

That put Farr back into the runner-up position and he was able to retain it despite pressure from Goodyer, who took the chequered flag in third.

Oldfield took fourth, from Rusty Hickman, Lachlan McHugh, Lucas Wolfe, and Jack Lee.

McFadden was ninth after he too picked up a puncture, as he started the final lap.

He nevertheless continues to lead the series on 1757 points, 43 up on Madsen and another 238 ahead of Brock Hallett.

Round 8 will be held tomorrow night at Fraser Shores Maryborough Speedway, the first time that WSS has raced at the venue.

Standings

Pos	Driver	Pts
1	James McFadden	1757
2	Kerry Madsen	1714
3	Brock Hallett	1476
4	Lucas Wolfe	1434
5	Jock Goodyer	1433
6	Brooke Tatnell	1395
7	Lockie McHugh	1372
8	Rusty Hickman	1303
9	Cory Eliason	1237
10	Dave Murcott	1203
11	Jack Lee	1130
12	Randy Morgan	1021
13	Jake Tranter	879
14	Jason Pryde	869
15	Taylor Milling	827
16	Grant Anderson	784
17	Steven Lines	775
18	Glen Sutherland	751
19	Matt Egel	716
20	Aidan Hall	665
21	Tate Frost	654
22	Ricky Maiolo	634
23	Daniel Pestka	542
24	Lisa Walker	540
25	Jye O’Keeffe	526
26	Braydan Willmington	508
27	Brendan Quinn	506
28	Luke Oldfield	494
29	Ben Morris	451
30	Jordyn Charge	427
31	Luke Dillon	417
32	Andrew Scheuerle	412
33	Brayden Parr	411
34	Chace Karpenko	409
35	Corey McCullagh	400
36	Bryan Mann	394
37	Jacob Smith	391
38	Darren Mollenoyux	381
39	Kevin Titman	362
40	Brent Kratzmann	351
41	Donny Schatz	336
42	Peter Doukas	334
43	Aaron Reutzel	328
44	Adam King	326
45	Lenny Cole	322
46	Robbie Farr	310
47	Cody Maroske	308
48	John Vogels	301
49	Tim Farrell	291
50	Ryan McNamara	281
51	Mark Caruso	270
52	Craig Vanderstelt	269
53	Shaun Dobson	267
54	Nicholas Whell	265
55	Steven Caruso	261
55	Andrew Corbet	261
57	Tim Hutchins	237
58	Dennis Jones	236
58	Stephen Spark	236
60	Jai Stephenson	235
61	Robbie Paton	225
62	Grant Stansfield	224
63	Jamie Veal	205
64	Brock Dean	189
65	Mike Van Bremen	178
66	Joel Heinrich	169
67	Daniel Smith	166
68	Mike Frost	164
69	Brett Milburn	152
70	Darren Clarke	151
71	Callum Walker	150
72	Leigh Mugavin	138
73	Mark Carlin	126
73	Kristy Bonsey	126
75	Libby Ellis	111
76	Domain Ramsay	103
77	Scott Enderl	100
78	Matthew O’Shannassy	96
79	Brayden Cooley	80
80	James Aranyosi	76
81	Ricky Clarke	69
82	Bobby Daly	22
83	Robert Nicholas	20