Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
Moderators: dirtonly  /  dmantx  /  hosehead

a part of this one that I don't understand..  Enlighten me please...  Back in the day when you got thrown out of one bar you could always go to another....     WOO suspended him, not the racing gods...   why is he not out running anything?  Got to be some promotors someplace that see the value here.....For positive or negative these are the kind of things that draw fans.....   Is everyone just waiting for Larson to show up or something??   Does anyone remember what Sammy could do to a crowd??  How much would it be worth to have Reuztel "storm"  Pa. this week or something....  line up, boo,cheer, drink beer, boo, cheer, drink beer..... Read something about a Jack Gunn memorial race..... He would roll over in his grave at the missed opportunities here...   You think he brought Opperman to Pa, because he was "just one of the guys"?

You once again miss the point... but I'm thinking that was your intent.   He was suspended by WOO... not put in jail.  and I would think has considerable marketing value to draw fans....  Any promotor can see that...  Example: ex-All star champ, a history with DD in Pa.   all stars coming to Pa. for like 5 or 6 races.... That is a natural promotion served up on a platter so you find him a car.. couple if you need to ..... then sell tickets, beer, etc..    There would seem to be a reason that he is not out doing anything... anyone know why ????  

Well, first, he's not only suspended by the WoO but the ASCoC are also upholding the suspension. So the two touring series are out, till at least the end of this month. I think that's when the 30 days are up.  Second, Sammy was not a cheater, people just hated the way he drove and his "tell it like it is" attitude. There is a big difference between just being hated and cheating. What other area is he going to race and make any money??? Maybe he's just enjoying the 30 day vacation with family and will be ready to roll for the month of September. He could possibly be getting his own 87 up and ready to go for the rest of the year, who knows.  Missed opportunities, don't think so.  He's not a guy who can jump in to any car and contend for wins, sorry to offend AR fans. Yes, he can jump in a damn good car and run well but again, there is a big difference between the two.

I would say believe me, but there's no reason for you to do so. But believe me when I say Reutzel was approached with multiple offers. Now, were they full ride offers or just weekend offers ? Both is my guess. I will go ahead and say that when the suspension is over, we see Reutzel in a fulltime ride for the rest of the season and very possible the next one.

As for the original question to the thread, I have no idea why he's suspended outside the sanctioning body that the infraction was committed. I agree that he's one to bring fans in, like him or not.

I get your point, but if my prediction of him already landing a fulltime ride is correct. They are working on the details as well as getting the cars set up. So they wouldn't have the time to make races where he is welcome.

i thought it was an interesting question. one i hadn't thought of. but i think the post about him putting the 87 back together is most likely the case.

either.... way... at least... you... came... up with... a new and... fun topic. lol.

doug-

Yep, he's not a guy that can just show up with his seat, bolt it in and win. Takes a hell of a driver to do that !

 Oh wait, who was it that flew into town and ran the 2015 Peter Murphy Classic for Roth and won ? Hmmm, was it Rico or Hirst ? Nope, it was the guy you said "He's not a guy who can jump in to any car and contend for wins". That was when he only had a hand full of 410 races under his belt.

Sorry to offend AR haters, but he is a driver that can jump into any car and contend for wins. The only reason you haven't seen it more is because he's had fulltime rides since he started running 410's fulltime. Being labeled a cheater is a bitch and it's something that will never change to the haters, but for the rest of us, we know to err is human and we all make mistakes and bad decisions.

I'm a huge Aaron Reutzel fan and this is just a question.  Since Aaron has been suspended what has happened to Brad Sweet.  What has been his best finish since Reutzel got suspended.  Not saying Sweet did anything illegal before but just seems odd that since Reutzel got suspended Sweet has fallen off the pace.   Maybe he is running legal now and this is the best he can do.  I don't know.  Just throwing that out there.  

Also wouldnt it be fun if the guy who just got a second chance in racing a year or two ago maybe gives Reutzel a second chance.  

Sweet fallen off!?!? His last 5 results: 3rd, 3rd, 3rd, 6th, 8th, nice try with that. And highly doubtful we will see Ruetzel driving for Larson. If I had to guess based of the rumors I've heard, he ends up with a Knoxville area based racing team next season

Maybe he just ends up back with Baughman, who's been a big Ruetzal fan on Twitter so clearly they are still on good terms.

I can't speak for A-aron.  I can speak for myself, however.  If I had been caught cheating the way he did, I would crawl under a rock and change my identity.  I would be embarrassed to show my face for quite a while.  But that's just me.  

To the OP.  I would not be surprised if the WoO and ASCoC put out a word to the tracks they run at asking them to honor the suspension and not let Reutzel run there.  The sanctionaing bodies have that kind of clout and hold a lot of cards that were not even in play in the time of Jack Gunn.

Sorry, but I'm not buying that Reutzel is a fan draw.   Yes he's got talent and can contend for a win, but he's not going to draw a crowd like Sammy, Larson, or even Opperman if you wanna go back to the 70s.   

I'm only half joking here...

     Would anyone really show up at a race track just because the promoter brought in an outlawed outlaw to race? How do you promote that? " Step right up ladies and gentlemen! See the guy who's on a 30 day suspension form the WoO take on all comers!" How much would it be worth to have Reutzel "storm" Pa. this week? You tell me. How much more would you be willing to pay to see Reutzel take on the locals?

I am not an AR fan, but I am a little tired of the all of the holier than thou attitudes about him cheating.  Race car drivers and mechanics have been cheating since the very beginning.   

It is part of the sport.   In my mind there are three types of people:

1. The people that are currently cheating and not getting caught.

2. The people that got caught cheating so bad that they can never cheat again.

3.  The people that are running so poorly that they need to start cheating.

He needs to serve his suspension, and after his suspension I am fairly confident that he will get a new ride.   If you have a Checkers or Wreckers owner, do you think that he really cares about whether or not you cheat?

If that is falling off then about 90% of the teams would take that for a fall off. I'm with you, nice try with that. I think FORD97 actually made a valid point. A lot of people do not really have equipment, trailer, engines, etc just laying around. Takes a little time to secure things especially with the timing of when the suspension came which was Knoxville time so most teams were focused on that. 

Personally I don't care or worry if he finds a ride this weekend, next, or a month from now or if other tracks and sanctioning bodies uphold the Outlaws suspension and have aligned views on the punishment. He has the talent to where a ride will come and he will do good in whatever ride that is and he will most likely win again this year. From what he is saying he has been approached by offers so appears life will go on so hopefully some of the conspiracy theories that seem to grow within the sprint car world will start to fade. Well, at least from this matter anyway.

Kind of agree.  But, there are multiple layers and degrees of cheating.

For example: 

1. David Gravel was caught "cheating" last month after he weighed in 6 lbs. under weight.  The rule is the car and the driver must weight 1400 lbs. at the end of the race.  Simple penalty with loss of points/purse, end of story.  No malicious intent, was simply gambling on fuel and weight and lost the gamble.  No reason for suspension.

2. A guy who reads the rule book from front to back and then says "if it's not in the book, it can't get me a penalty" will try anything on a car that there isn't yet a rule about.  Officials see it, outlaw it, and it's not done again.  Examples Sammy Swindell with his independent suspension and Ray Evernham on about every car he built at Hendrick Motorsports.  Sammy and Ray weren't cheating, they just found loopholes in the rules and pushed those loopholes until the rule was re-written.  No cause for suspension here either.  

3.  A guy who attempts to pass a chassis in pre-race inspection at Knoxville in June.  Chassis fails inspection due to thinner than allowed tubing.  At this point, this is not a huge deal.  Chassis is rejected, and driver competes in events using a previously inspected/ok'd chassis.  No reason for suspension.

4.  The guy from example 3 takes that previously rejected chassis out of storage, paints it to hide its true identity, carefully removes a sticker from another accepted chassis, and knowingly places sticker on said rejected chassis-------this is grounds for suspension. 

Cheating is not cheating.  There are many different levels.  

Definition of deception

1a: the act of causing someone to accept as true or valid what is false or invalid : the act of deceiving

The only part I can disagree with you on is where you said he carefully removed the sticker.

Embarrassed to show his face... Aaron Reutzel will continue to make a lot of money racing sprint cars.