A year after an injury kept Aaron Reutzel from High Limit Racing’s summertime West Coast swing, he couldn’t have started this year’s trip much better.

Reutzel overcame losing the lead twice Thursday at Santa Maria Speedway, eventually taking command for good on lap 22 and leading the final 14 circuits for a 1.907-second victory over James McFadden in the 35-lap feature.

His ninth High Limit victory of the season came in the first of 10 races over 17 days across California, Oregon and Washington, a stretch Reutzel believes can define a season.

“When you struggle in California, it’s really miserable,” Reutzel said. “I’m glad we showed up here and started off this way. We got some good notes tonight and now I’m really excited for California because I feel like this trip makes or breaks your season.”

The opening night certainly made a difference in the High Limit title race. Reutzel arrived at Santa Maria eight points behind Rico Abreu, but Abreu’s 17th-place finish coupled with Reutzel’s victory produced a 38-point swing and sent Reutzel to the next stop with a 30-point advantage.

Reutzel won just once in California last season, taking High Limit’s March event at Perris Auto Speedway. A fractured right foot suffered July 18 at Eldora Speedway then kept him from competing during the summertime trip west.

His return Thursday wasn’t flawless.

Starting from the pole, Reutzel committed to the bottom entering the first turn while second-starting Tanner Holmes attacked the outside and powered around him.

“I was definitely mad at myself,” Reutzel said. “I told myself, this is going to be won or lost in traffic, I felt like. Just stay calm, don’t lose anymore spots. Be there in traffic, let him make a mistake and we’ll be there to pounce.”

Holmes knew immediately where his opportunity was.

“I had to go where Aaron was not,” Holmes said. “He went low in the dash and I was just kind of looking at the top. My only hope to get to the lead was kind of get up there and make speed.”

Holmes reached traffic by lap five with Reutzel, McFadden and Kaleb Montgomery closing behind him. A pair of stoppages interrupted the chase near lap 11, first for D.J. Netto’s flat tire and then when Corey Day flipped on the ensuing restart. Day walked away under his own power, while fourth-running Montgomery also dropped out.

Once racing settled into a longer green-flag stretch, traffic provided the opportunity Reutzel had been waiting for.

“I just felt myself searching in three and four,” Holmes said. “When I was by myself, I felt real comfortable and could do what I needed to do. Obviously lapped traffic was difficult here. Maybe sometimes being the guy leading is more challenging.”

After Holmes led the opening 18 laps, Reutzel slipped underneath him through turns three and four on lap 19.

McFadden quickly joined the battle. Nearly a second behind Reutzel on lap 18, he erased the deficit and maneuvered past Reutzel to lead lap 21 before Reutzel countered one circuit later.

“I felt like we could pace them really, really good,” McFadden said. “I just probably slowed the bottom down a little bit too much to let Aaron back by.”

Reutzel never relinquished the lead again, building an advantage of 1.7 seconds by lap 27 and leading the final 14 laps — and 16 overall.

“It started to get good there at the end, where you really had to hit your marks leaving two or you’d slip down the whole straightaway,” Reutzel said. “Really wasn’t sure where to be. I knew we got to going slow on the bottom I needed to get back up, make the wing work and do its job. Our car just got better and better throughout the race.”

And after leaving the Knoxville Nationals one spot shy of a transfer into the Championship Saturday A-main — finishing fifth in the B-main — Reutzel couldn’t have asked for a better response to begin a critical West Coast stretch.

“As I said, Knoxville sucked. I was really, really disappointed — depressed,” Reutzel said. “To come out here and start this way, it’s awesome.”