PORT ROYAL — Aaron Reutzel probably felt right at home Monday under a blistering hot sun and driving in high humidity at the 67th annual Labor Day Fair Classic.
Reutzel, of Clute, Texas — which is situated in the southeast portion of state, near the Gulf of Mexico and directly south of Houston — picked up the sprint car win at the $4,000 top prize at Port Royal Speedway.
Tim Fedder scored a long-awaited win in the limited late models holiday event.
TJ Stutts took the early lead in the sprint car feature, followed by Reutzel, Brock Zearfoss, AJ Flick and Justin Barger.
Zearfoss used the outside to get by Reutzel for second on lap eight, then inherited the lead on the following lap when Stutts rolled to a stop in the second turn.
The restart was a scramble for position from third on back with some great racing between Joey Hershey, Mike Wagner and Greg Hodnett with Danny Dietrich soon joining the party.
Through the middle of the race, Reutzel had the fastest car on the track but encountered issues with lapped traffic while still staying in contact with Zearfoss.
Zearfoss, running the low groove, made a save as the back end of his car got out from under him on lap 20. Still, it was enough to give Reutzel an opening and the lead.
“I got tight once we got into traffic and slipped up a little,” Zearfoss said. “I got stood up and got out of it and he got by.”
Once Reutzel got the lead, he didn’t relinquish it for the rest of the race.
“We weren’t that good,” Reutzel admitted. “I thought we broke harder on the fence than anyone else and that was the difference.
“We got here at 5 a.m., got the car out and blew the dust off it.”
Reutzel finished fifth in an all-star race at Wayne County Speedway in Ohio on Sunday night.
“We learned a few things for the Tuscarora 50, but we still need to beat the 69K (Lance Dewease) and that’s another deal.”
Rounding out the top five were Zearfoss — who is the defending track champion and, like Reutzel, towed in from Wayne County — Hodnett, Dietrich and Freddie Rahmer.
Sprint car heats were won by Reutzel, Hodnett and Rahmer. Tim Dietz won the consolation.
Fedder inched ahead of Andrew Yoder to take the econo late model lead followed by Tim Krape, Devin Hart and Todd Snook.
Hart, who already had two wins on the weekend, thrilled the crowd by using the high side, and was soon in third. The caution came out on lap 10 when Jennae Pipers rolled to a stop.
Hart and Snook slid under Yoder, who drifted high, on the restart. Cory Lawler brought out the caution again on lap 14.
Fedder kept his racer stuck to the inside on the slick track and led the distance, winning over Hart, Snook, Yoder and Eric Hohol.
“I didn’t think I was ever going to get back here,” an emotional Fedder said in victory lane. “The way the track turned out, it rubbered up and my experience helped. You have to slow down to go fast. I’m an old guy but it keeps getting harder and harder.”
Krape and Yoder won the limited late model heats.
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