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Abreu Backs Up Power Rankings With Hot Finish To April
Saint Helena, California. April 30, 2014. With the April edition of the National Speed Sport News Power Rankings showing Rico Abreu atop a list that includes Moto GP champion Marc Marquez, NASCAR hotshoe Kyle Busch, and Supercross champion Ryan Villopoto, the pressure was on for “The Little Giant” to back it up. And that he did, as he recently scored a sweep of the prestigious Kokomo Grand Prix for USAC and POWRi midgets, while also winning with the King of the West 410 sprint cars at Placerville Speedway. Along with that, Abreu closed out the month with a second place finish in a thrilling battle at Jacksonville Speedway in Illinois.
With an impressive 46 cars signed in at the inaugural Kokomo Grand Prix Abreu timed in fourth quick and finished third in his heat, earning the fourth starting spot in the talent laden feature event. From there he blasted to the outside on the first lap and took a lead he would never relinquished. Driving the Keith Kunz Motorsports Toyota #97 Abreu was never seriously challenged. Despite several yellow flag periods he fended off Dave Darland and teammate Christopher Bell to garner his first ever win at the Kokomo Speedway.
“It’s really nice to get a win here because the last time I was here I left the track in an ambulance,” said the St. Helena, California resident. “I thought they might leave a lane up high on the start, so I just ran it off in there and hoped it would stick. I knew Dave was behind me, so I just kept going as hard as I could.”
On the final night of competition Abreu once again turned third fast time of the 45 entries, and transferred directly to the A-main with a fourth place finish in his heat. Tyler Courtney jumped from the second row to lead the initial lap only to be overtaken two laps later by Kevin Thomas Jr. On lap nine defending USAC midget champ Bell captured the lead and held it until lap 14, when he hit a hole and broke a suspension piece. Under the yellow, Thomas Jr. went pitside to replace a flat tire. Both returned to the race at the back of the pack.
Bryan Clauson inherited the lead on the restart but Abreu used the top once again to lead off turn two. Although Clauson flashed under Abreu a couple of times in the middle stages, his night did not end well. Trying to keep pace with about 10 laps to go Clauson bounced through turn one and two and collected Michael Pickens and Darren Hagen, ending the night for all three. Abreu then led untouched to the lap 40 finish, completing a Keith Kunz Motorsports sweep of the podium, as Tanner Thorson finished second and Bell earned a hard fought third. It was Abreu’s sixth USAC national midget feature win.
“What a great weekend and great team to be associated with,” the USAC midget point leader said. “This is definitely the best midget team in the country, and they deserve it. Midget Week last year was a big confidence booster for me, and ever since then we’ve been running up front a lot. It’s not easy to do that with this group. What a great track to win at, and to sweep the weekend.”
Back home, Abreu had a rare miscue hamper what looked to be another sure win. At Chico’s Silver Dollar Speedway for the Bill Brownell Memorial Abreu stopped the clocks with fourth fast time, transferred to the main with a second in his heat, and earned the pole for the feature. However, cruising to a possible third straight win Abreu allowed his car to just miss the slight cushion in turn three of lap eight. By the time he gathered it up from the backside of the turn four banking he found himself running mid-pack. The recipient of the misfortune, Keith Bloom Jr., held the lead to the lap 25 checkered, while Abreu recovered to finish sixth.
Abreu’s third win of the month came at the tiny bull ring at Placerville Speedway. Before a capacity crowd Abreu timed in fifth quick, placed third in his heat, and drew the pole for the dash. A runnerup finish put the Abreu Vineyards Paul Silva tuned #24 on the outside of the front row for the start of the 30 lap feature. Taking the lead at the outset, Abreu was unchallenged throughout the entire distance. The win was also his sixth in King of the West competition and first on the red clay of the foothill track affectionately known as “Knoxville on the Hill.”
“I’ve always wanted to get a win here at Placerville so to finally do it is pretty special,” Abreu said to the huge throng. “I can’t thank Paul Silva and all my guys enough for giving me a great car as always. We’ve had an awesome start to the year and hopefully we can come back here soon and do it again. We always love racing Placerville and I’m pretty pumped to come out of here with a win tonight.”
Abreu closed out the month as he returned to the Midwest to compete in POWRi events in Illinois. The first came at Jacksonville Speedway where 39 cars were assembled. A heat race win in the passing points draw format placed Abreu ninth on the grid for the 30 lap headliner. Abreu’s KKM teammates Thorson and Bell started on the front row, with Thorson outdistancing Bell in the early going. As Abreu gradually moved forward to battle Tyler Thomas for third the race up front held steady as Thorson held a commanding lead.
Once Abreu got by Thomas he set sail for Bell. After a few laps of the duo trading slide jobs Abreu began to close on Thorson. Thomas then reasserted himself back to second for a few laps as Abreu temporarily lost third to Bell. Abreu eventually got second back and closed on Thorson, who was into heavy traffic. While the pair fought each other Bell took advantage of both and snuck by for the lead with less than 10 laps to go. As Bell led, Abreu and Thorson performed an amazing slidefest at both ends of the track, all while closing in on the leader. However, when the checkered flag fell Bell held on for the win as Abreu aced out Thorson for another Keith Kunz Motorsports podium sweep.
“Man that was a fun race,” Abreu told assembled onlookers. “Tanner and I got to battling there in the middle stages of the race and Bell just kind of snuck by us. But this is just such a fun track to race on, and Tanner and I really had a great bunch of slide jobs there. Congratulations to Christopher, and Keith for his awesome cars. At least if I couldn’t win, one of us could.”
Unfortunately, the event at Macon Speedway the next night was rained out after preliminaries.
Abreu’s racing efforts are sponsored by Abreu Vineyards, ButlerBuilt Professional Seat Systems, Stadelhofer Construction, Alpinestars, FK Rod Ends, Schoenfeld Headers, Brown & Miller Plumbing, BR Motorsports, All Star Performance, Lucas Oil, Wilwood Disc Brakes and XYZ Machining, Inc.
For more information, photos and videos on Abreu please visit www.ricoabreuracing.com.
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