Gordy Gundaker defended Aaron Reutzel’s move on the restart during the High Limit race at Lakeside Speedway last Saturday.

On a single file restart with 23 laps to go, Aaron Reutzel, who was running in sixth, darted to the outside lane and tried to drive around Tanner Holmes, who restarted in fourth. However, Holmes moved up the track just as Reutzel had gotten to his outside. The two made contact and it sent Reutzel’s car spinning like a helicopter. As he got airborne, Joel Myers Jr. had nowhere to go and drove underneath him resulting in a huge impact. That sent Myers’ car tumbling down the front stretch and into the entry of the corner. He then got slammed into by Chris Martin. That impact sent Myers into another set of flips and rolls while Martin also went rolling up the top of the track. Myers ended up upside down after the impact from Martin.

While all that was happening, Reutzel got tagged again by Kerry Madsen in the 17GP sending him into another couple of flips and barrel rolls. As his car was coming to a stop from the Madsen impact, he also got clipped by Rico Abreu. 

🚨 All drivers are out of their cars and okay after a HORRIBLE crash in the @HighLimitRacing feature at @Lakeside_Spdwy!

#HighLimitRacing | October 9-10 | Live on FloRacing 📺 https://t.co/bImMHdqg1c

— FloRacing (@FloRacing) October 11, 2026

Gundaker defended the move in the most recent episode of The Dirt Parlor Podcast especially after reading a number of comments of social media that were negative toward Reutzel.

First, Gundaker explained the logic behind Reutzel’s move to dart toward the outside, “When you’re first, second, third in line, you’re pretty much following the leader there. The first guy that can probably step out is the fourth place, but he’s running a pretty big risk there because as Gio’s turning down the race track there getting into three, you’re already kind of in that slick. Whereas Aaron being in sixth he’s still kind of at the top of the race track. So when the leader fires, he’s 60/70 feet further back than where the leader’s tail tank is. He’s still towards the top of the race track. So when he goes fourth and fifth are kinda stalled. They’re spinning a little bit waiting to get to the brown. And that’s where you see him get that big run. … Aaron is shooting a hole there.”

A little bit later he addressed the negative comments he saw about Reutzel following the move and wreck, “The stuff that I read on social media that just drove me nuts is like, ‘Aw, Aaron goes in there and crashes a whole bunch of cars again.’ The guy is racing for a championship. There’s a lot of people who can’t do a millionth of what he can do in a race car. So that’s where the line for me—.”

“Sprint Car drivers are high risk racers at all times,” Gundaker continued. “They run these things on the ragged edge as close to hurting themselves as possible every week. Aaron sees an opportunity to put himself in a better spot. He’s always done that. That’s what makes him great. That’s what all these guys do. We’ve seen Rico do it. We saw Tanner Holmes do it when Chase Randall tried to slide him at Kokomo. Is there room? Not really. Did he lift? [Freaking] no!”

“That part I don’t understand. You don’t have time to think about it. Once you go—. And when you’re upper echelon of any of our sports at Sprint Car racing, at Late Model racing, at Modfiied racing, when you’re a guy that goes for it like that, if you hesitate, you’re screwed anyways. You’re not going to win this race. You don’t have time to hesitate any more,” he concluded.

High Limit Racing is back in action on Friday October 16th and Saturday October 17th at Texas Motor Speedway as it concludes its 2026 season and crowns its champion. Rico Abreu currently has a 45 point lead over Giovanni Scelzi.

Reutzel, who is third in the points and 77 points behind Abreu, will not be competing in either race after he was not cleared for competition by medical professionals. Ridge & Sons Racing Team Manager Ryan Wyant shared, “Aaron’s health is our number one priority, and since he is unable to compete in the High Limit Racing season finale, our season at Ridge & Sons Racing is complete. It was a great year and we have much to be proud of. But for now, our focus is on Aaron and giving him the support that he needs. We’ll see everyone in 2027.”

No details on what type of injury Reutzel suffered from was announced.

NEXT: Tanner Holmes To Return To Buch Motorsports For The 2027 High Limit Racing Season