— Aaron Reutzel kicked off the final Short Track Nationals weekend at I-30 Speedway by racing to victory lane in Thursday night’s 25-lap 15th annual Ralph Henson Memorial. Johnson got the better of Reutzel on the second start only to have Reutzel slide back into the lead in turns three and four on the opening lap. Johnson slid back around Reutzel in the next pair of corners only to have Reutzel counter the move again a half-lap later. Reutzel fought off Johnson for several rounds and began to extend his lead when he reached traffic after just seven laps. With three lapped cars separating himself from Hafertepe and Johnson on the restart, Reutzel stretched out a near straightaway lead by the time Hafertepe finally navigated his way through traffic and held the advantage to the stripe. “That cushion was wild, it was pretty tricky,” Reutzel said.

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