PETERSEN MEDIA
Spending his weekend at the Silver Dollar Speedway, Rico Abreu had a very strong weekend at the 20th Annual Fall Nationals, though his Saturday finish was not indicative how his night went.
“Paul and my guys gave me a great car both nights, and we were in the hunt both nights, and that’s a good feeling to have,” Abreu said.
Kicking things off on Friday night, Abreu stopped the clocks with the second fastest lap of the night during qualifications putting him in the second row of the second heat.
Grabbing the heat race win from the fourth spot, Abreu would then charge from eighth to sixth in the dash, putting him in the third row for the 30-lap feature event.
Under green, the St. Helena, CA driver battled with Mason Moore and Carson Macedo as they battled for second spot for several laps. Getting passed Macedo for good, Abreu then got around Moore at the halfway point as he looked to pressure race leader, Sean Becker.
As Abreu continued to hound Becker, Jonathan Allard began to pressure him for the second spot. Battling with Allard, Becker was able to get away, and with just a few laps remaining, Abreu fell to the third spot, where he would wind up finishing.
“We were strong on Friday, and were right with Becker and JA towards the end,” he said, “They were just better than us, and we ended up third.”
Saturday night Abreu timed in 16th quick, just making the heat race inversion, earning a front row starting spot in the fourth heat, in which he would go on and win.
Starting the dash in the 10th spot, he would move up to grab a seventh place finish, putting him in the seventh spot for the feature event.
Coming from the fourth row, Abreu was able to work the top-side of the speedway like a seasoned veteran as he tracked down the early lead pack of Sean Becker, Shane Golobic, and Jonathan Allard.
At the halfway point, Abreu would charge to the lead to much of the crowds approval as the leaders raced through heavy lapped traffic. Battling in traffic, Abreu would lose the lead and be shuffled to the third spot on the 23rd, lap, and as he looked to go to the top to race his way back to the lead, contact with a lapped car sent Abreu upside down off of turn three, ending his night.
“We struggled with lapped traffic all night,” he said. “Sometimes they go your way, and sometimes, like tonight, they don’t. It’s part of it, and we will move forward.”
Rico and his team would like to thank Abreu Vineyards, Toyota, ButlerBuilt,, Outlaw Wings, and Petersen Media for their partnership.
ON TAP: Rico is now slated for USAC Midget action this weekend for the 4th Annual Gold Crown Midget Nationals in Pontoon Beach, IL.
STAY CONNECTED: Stay updated with Rico by visiting his website at www.ricoabreuracing.com, ‘liking’ him on facebook at www.facebook.com/ricoabreuracing or following him on twitter @RicoAbreu.
VIDEO: Be sure to check out http://www.youtube.com/ricoabreuracing for video of Rico, as content is constantly being uploaded!