Story By: BRAD STRAWSER / PORT ROYAL SPEEDWAY – PORT ROYAL, PA – July 30th, 2021 was the last time that Aaron Reutzel was able to pick up a win against a national touring series, and he was able to put that drought to an end on Friday night’s Night Before the 50 at Port Royal Speedway against Kubota High Limit Racing.
2023’s winner of the Tuscarora 50 Brian Brown and 2022’s winner Anthony Macri would make up the front row for the 25-lap A-main event.
Brown would take the early lead over the first 2 laps, but Reutzel would get by him off of turn 2 and would begin to run away with the lead.
With 11 laps remaining, Logan Wagner was charging through the field and was up into 3rd from his original 6th starting spot. While running the topside of turns 1 and 2, Wagner jumped the cushion and rode on two wheels against the outside wheel. When the 69K returned all four tires to the track, the front end was broken on the 5-time track champions ride and would end his night.
The restart would see Macri go to battle with Justin Whittall for the runner-up while Reutzel would again begin to open up his lead.
2 laps after the restart, Macri would face the same fate as Logan Wagner, except he would go flipping down the back straightaway ending his night.
Reutzel would restart with the lead and 9 laps remaining and would hold on for his first Kubota High Limit Racing win.
“It’s been a while since I’ve won on a big stage,” said Reutzel in victory lane. “This place is so much fun. There’s no other place like it in the country. I love this place.”
Reutzel has locked himself in to Saturday’s A-main event that pays $2,000 to start and $57,000 to win.
Justin Whittall and Chase Dietz would round out the top 3.
With Logan Wagner not being able to finish the A-main, Mike Wagner would claim the 2024 track championship making it the 3rd in his career.
Port Royal Speedway and Kubota High Limit Racing will be back in competition on Saturday for the 57th Annual Tuscarora 50 presented by Packer’s Concessions and Ramsey’s Car Wash.
A Feature (25 Laps): 1. 87-Aaron Reutzel[4]; 2. 67-Justin Whittall[3]; 3. 1Z-Chase Dietz[11]; 4. 49-Brad Sweet[10]; 5. 21-Brian Brown[1]; 6. 5-Spencer Bayston[9]; 7. 8-Cory Eliason[7]; 8. 83-James McFadden[13]; 9. 27-Troy Wagaman Jr[8]; 10. 14-Corey Day[21]; 11. 13-Justin Peck[16]; 12. 1A-Jacob Allen[12]; 13. 12-Lance Dewease[22]; 14. 24-Rico Abreu[17]; 15. 26-Zeb Wise[15]; 16. 9P-Parker Price Miller[18]; 17. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[25]; 18. 88-Sye Lynch[5]; 19. 19-Brent Marks[20]; 20. 2KS-Hunter Schuerenberg[23]; 21. 55-Chris Windom[29]; 22. 55W-Mike Wagner[26]; 23. 99-Skylar Gee[19]; 24. 35-Austin Bishop[28]; 25. 9-Kasey Kahne[27]; 26. 39M-Anthony Macri[2]; 27. 48-Danny Dietrich[24]; 28. 51-Freddie Rahmer[14]; 29. 69K-Logan Wagner[6]
FK Rod Ends B Feature (12 Laps): 1. 14-Corey Day[4]; 2. 12-Lance Dewease[3]; 3. 2KS-Hunter Schuerenberg[2]; 4. 48-Danny Dietrich[8]; 5. 1-Brenham Crouch[7]; 6. 6-Ryan Smith[1]; 7. 27H-Ryan Timms[6]; 8. 33-Gerard McIntyre Jr[10]; 9. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[15]; 10. 55W-Mike Wagner[5]; 11. 27S-Robbie Kendall[9]; 12. 55-Chris Windom[16]; 13. 9-Kasey Kahne[11]; 14. 17B-Steve Buckwalter[13]; 15. 11-TJ Stutts[14]; 16. 2-Lynton Jeffrey[20]; 17. 35-Austin Bishop[17]; 18. 99A-Devin Adams[18]; 19. 91-Kyle Reinhardt[12]; 20. 47K-Kody Lehman[19]
C Feature (10 Laps): 1. 35-Austin Bishop[3]; 2. 99A-Devin Adams[7]; 3. 47K-Kody Lehman[8]; 4. 2-Lynton Jeffrey[9]; 5. 5C-Dylan Cisney[1]; 6. 23-Devon Borden[2]; 7. 39-Kody Hartlaub[4]; 8. 77-Michael Walter[5]; 9. 55S-Dallas Schott[6]; 10. 35K-Jake Karklin[10]; 11. 95-Garrett Bard[11]; 12. 5W-Lucas Wolfe[12]; 13. 12W-Troy Fraker[13]
FK Rod Ends Dash (7 Laps): 1. 21-Brian Brown[3]; 2. 39M-Anthony Macri[1]; 3. 67-Justin Whittall[4]; 4. 87-Aaron Reutzel[7]; 5. 88-Sye Lynch[6]; 6. 69K-Logan Wagner[5]; 7. 8-Cory Eliason[2]; 8. 27-Troy Wagaman Jr[8]
TJ Forged Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 88-Sye Lynch[2]; 2. 5-Spencer Bayston[1]; 3. 83-James McFadden[5]; 4. 24-Rico Abreu[3]; 5. 87-Aaron Reutzel[4]; 6. 6-Ryan Smith[6]; 7. 55W-Mike Wagner[9]; 8. 27S-Robbie Kendall[7]; 9. 17B-Steve Buckwalter[8]; 10. 5C-Dylan Cisney[10]; 11. 77-Michael Walter[12]; 12. 2-Lynton Jeffrey[11]; 13. 12W-Troy Fraker[13]
DMI Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 27-Troy Wagaman Jr[2]; 2. 1Z-Chase Dietz[1]; 3. 26-Zeb Wise[3]; 4. 99-Skylar Gee[5]; 5. 69K-Logan Wagner[4]; 6. 12-Lance Dewease[9]; 7. 1-Brenham Crouch[6]; 8. 9-Kasey Kahne[8]; 9. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[11]; 10. 35-Austin Bishop[10]; 11. 99A-Devin Adams[12]; 12. 95-Garrett Bard[7]
BR Motorsports Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 21-Brian Brown[2]; 2. 49-Brad Sweet[1]; 3. 39M-Anthony Macri[4]; 4. 13-Justin Peck[6]; 5. 9P-Parker Price Miller[7]; 6. 14-Corey Day[5]; 7. 2KS-Hunter Schuerenberg[3]; 8. 33-Gerard McIntyre Jr[12]; 9. 11-TJ Stutts[9]; 10. 23-Devon Borden[10]; 11. 55S-Dallas Schott[11]; 12. 35K-Jake Karklin[8]
Winters Performance Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 67-Justin Whittall[1]; 2. 1A-Jacob Allen[3]; 3. 51-Freddie Rahmer[2]; 4. 8-Cory Eliason[4]; 5. 19-Brent Marks[5]; 6. 27H-Ryan Timms[8]; 7. 48-Danny Dietrich[7]; 8. 91-Kyle Reinhardt[9]; 9. 55-Chris Windom[6]; 10. 39-Kody Hartlaub[11]; 11. 47K-Kody Lehman[10]; 12. 5W-Lucas Wolfe[12]
Capital Custom Trailers Qualifying A (2 Laps): 1. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 00:15.581[18]; 2. 69K-Logan Wagner, 00:15.635[15]; 3. 5-Spencer Bayston, 00:15.686[13]; 4. 1Z-Chase Dietz, 00:15.725[23]; 5. 88-Sye Lynch, 00:15.727[9]; 6. 27-Troy Wagaman Jr, 00:15.732[22]; 7. 24-Rico Abreu, 00:15.744[7]; 8. 26-Zeb Wise, 00:15.762[11]; 9. 83-James McFadden, 00:15.781[21]; 10. 99-Skylar Gee, 00:15.782[8]; 11. 6-Ryan Smith, 00:15.783[17]; 12. 1-Brenham Crouch, 00:15.865[16]; 13. 27S-Robbie Kendall, 00:15.877[10]; 14. 95-Garrett Bard, 00:15.888[14]; 15. 17B-Steve Buckwalter, 00:15.903[5]; 16. 9-Kasey Kahne, 00:15.905[3]; 17. 55W-Mike Wagner, 00:15.962[19]; 18. 12-Lance Dewease, 00:15.989[2]; 19. 5C-Dylan Cisney, 00:16.004[1]; 20. 35-Austin Bishop, 00:16.031[25]; 21. 2-Lynton Jeffrey, 00:16.063[12]; 22. 7BC-Tyler Courtney, 00:16.213[6]; 23. 77-Michael Walter, 00:16.221[20]; 24. 99A-Devin Adams, 00:16.254[24]; 25. 12W-Troy Fraker[4]
Capital Custom Trailers Qualifying B (2 Laps): 1. 39M-Anthony Macri, 00:15.537[9]; 2. 8-Cory Eliason, 00:15.689[6]; 3. 49-Brad Sweet, 00:15.702[3]; 4. 67-Justin Whittall, 00:15.808[15]; 5. 21-Brian Brown, 00:15.821[20]; 6. 51-Freddie Rahmer, 00:15.832[18]; 7. 2KS-Hunter Schuerenberg, 00:15.842[1]; 8. 1A-Jacob Allen, 00:15.862[22]; 9. 14-Corey Day, 00:15.871[24]; 10. 19-Brent Marks, 00:15.934[2]; 11. 13-Justin Peck, 00:15.975[21]; 12. 55-Chris Windom, 00:15.983[8]; 13. 9P-Parker Price Miller, 00:16.035[14]; 14. 48-Danny Dietrich, 00:16.057[23]; 15. 35K-Jake Karklin, 00:16.115[4]; 16. 27H-Ryan Timms, 00:16.117[12]; 17. 11-TJ Stutts, 00:16.181[7]; 18. 91-Kyle Reinhardt, 00:16.194[5]; 19. 23-Devon Borden, 00:16.209[10]; 20. 47K-Kody Lehman, 00:16.251[16]; 21. 55S-Dallas Schott, 00:16.254[11]; 22. 39-Kody Hartlaub, 00:16.270[13]; 23. 33-Gerard McIntyre Jr, 00:16.272[19]; 24. 5W-Lucas Wolfe[17]
Dirt Draft Hot Laps: 1. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 00:15.531[18]; 2. 49-Brad Sweet, 00:15.541[28]; 3. 39M-Anthony Macri, 00:15.597[34]; 4. 83-James McFadden, 00:15.605[21]; 5. 8-Cory Eliason, 00:15.667[31]; 6. 67-Justin Whittall, 00:15.669[40]; 7. 69K-Logan Wagner, 00:15.680[15]; 8. 2KS-Hunter Schuerenberg, 00:15.740[26]; 9. 27-Troy Wagaman Jr, 00:15.744[22]; 10. 1Z-Chase Dietz, 00:15.763[23]; 11. 9P-Parker Price Miller, 00:15.810[39]; 12. 24-Rico Abreu, 00:15.821[7]; 13. 35-Austin Bishop, 00:15.827[25]; 14. 1-Brenham Crouch, 00:15.883[16]; 15. 51-Freddie Rahmer, 00:15.886[43]; 16. 1A-Jacob Allen, 00:15.891[47]; 17. 19-Brent Marks, 00:15.914[27]; 18. 26-Zeb Wise, 00:15.916[11]; 19. 55W-Mike Wagner, 00:15.918[19]; 20. 55-Chris Windom, 00:15.919[33]; 21. 88-Sye Lynch, 00:15.920[9]; 22. 35K-Jake Karklin, 00:15.920[29]; 23. 13-Justin Peck, 00:15.931[46]; 24. 91-Kyle Reinhardt, 00:15.934[30]; 25. 5-Spencer Bayston, 00:15.941[13]; 26. 77-Michael Walter, 00:15.962[20]; 27. 48-Danny Dietrich, 00:15.987[48]; 28. 5W-Lucas Wolfe, 00:15.987[42]; 29. 6-Ryan Smith, 00:16.006[17]; 30. 95-Garrett Bard, 00:16.017[14]; 31. 21-Brian Brown, 00:16.020[45]; 32. 47K-Kody Lehman, 00:16.023[41]; 33. 9-Kasey Kahne, 00:16.039[3]; 34. 23-Devon Borden, 00:16.061[35]; 35. 39-Kody Hartlaub, 00:16.071[38]; 36. 27H-Ryan Timms, 00:16.076[37]; 37. 55S-Dallas Schott, 00:16.091[36]; 38. 2-Lynton Jeffrey, 00:16.102[12]; 39. 99-Skylar Gee, 00:16.109[8]; 40. 99A-Devin Adams, 00:16.116[24]; 41. 7BC-Tyler Courtney, 00:16.119[6]; 42. 14-Corey Day, 00:16.126[49]; 43. 33-Gerard McIntyre Jr, 00:16.136[44]; 44. 11-TJ Stutts, 00:16.194[32]; 45. 27S-Robbie Kendall, 00:16.199[10]; 46. 5C-Dylan Cisney, 00:16.227[1]; 47. 17B-Steve Buckwalter, 00:16.276[5]; 48. 12-Lance Dewease, 00:16.292[2]; 49. 12W-Troy Fraker, 00:17.722[4]