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Tulare, CA – April 30, 2011. Running a sprint car for only the fourth time in his brief two month career, St. Helena, California’s Rico Abreu continues to display veteran skills as he drove to a ninth place feature finish in the Taco Bravo 360 Sprint Car Series Saturday night at Tulare’s Thunderbowl Raceway. The series, based primarily at Watsonville’s Ocean Speedway, made its only appearance of the season at the Thunberbowl, where Abreu ran competitively with the World of Outlaws last month, finishing one spot shy of a transfer to the main event.
On this occasion Abreu was right in the thick of things all night long as he first timed in 10th quick of the 19 cars pitted. A pole start in the first heat translated into a solid third place finish behind long time veterans Mike Faria and two time defending Taco Bravo champion Tommy Tarlton. The effort sent the 19 year old to the 10th starting slot in the night’s 30 lap headline event.
Abreu, one of the hottest outlaw sprint kart drivers in the country last year, drove a heady race from the outset in the Abreu Vineyards/Stadelhofer Construction/Kaeding Performance number 89 Shaver powered Maxim. Getting valuable laps and seat time the St Helena High School senior negotiated the full 30 lap distance trouble free, except for a quick 360 in turn one late in the race as the track glazed over and became exceptionally slick. As high as eighth in the order and never worse than 13th, Abreu rolled his mount unscathed into the trailer as Tarlton celebrated the victory.
“I’m glad to get my first top ten tonight,” Abreu stated after the race. “Right now, it’s important for me to get experience and laps, and the speed and finishes will come. I’m going to compete for Rookie of the Year in the Taco Bravo series and finishing races means a lot towards accomplishing that. Tonight I had my teammate Kyle Larson’s regular crew of Clark Riolo, Matt Britt, and Colby Copeland helping me. They had the car as good as they always do. I appreciate everything they did to make me feel comfortable. I can’t wait to get back at it at Ocean Speedway next Friday.”
Abreu’s racing efforts are sponsored by Abreu Vineyards, Stadelhofer Construction, Kaeding Performance and Swift Metals.
Visit www.ricoabreuracing.com for more information and news on Rico Abreu.
 
Photos Courtesy of Abreu Racing
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