From Peterson Media
In one of the biggest USAC National Midget races of the year, Rico Abreu scored a fifth place finish at the Gold Crown Nationals after an early race battle for the lead with his teammate, Kyle Larson.
With the USAC National midgets invading the Tri-City Speedway in Pontoon Beach, IL, Abreu and his Keith Kunz Racing team were hungry for their first USAC National triumph.
Action got kicked off on Thursday night with 48 midgets checked in for action. Lining up sixth in the third heat by draw, Abreu got going late in the race, as he powered his Kunz/Bullet/Speedway Toyota to a fourth place finish, putting him in the fifth row for the feature event.
As he raced inside the top-10 during the entire 25-lap feature event, Abreu to score a seventh place finish setting him up nicely for Saturday’s feature as Friday’s event was cancelled due to rain.
With 40 cars on hand for Saturday, Abreu’s pill draw saw put him scratch on the field in the third heat. Though it wasn’t the worst thing to happen as passing points helped through the duration of the night, and the St. Helena, CA driver was able to charge from 10th to fifth in his heat.
In qualifying races, Rico would line his KKR No.67K up in the third spot looking to earn a spot in the night’s dash. Gunning into second on the start of his qualifier, Abreu would chase Jerry Coons, Jr across the stripe, and get a berth in the night’s dash by way of being in the top-eight positions of event points.
Starting on the pole of the dash, the series rookie would wire the field, and earn the right to start the Gold Crown Nationals 50-lap feature event on the pole.
Abreu didn’t get the start he was looking for as he found himself in the fifth spot on lap three after an early caution. In between cautions, Abreu was able to work his way up to the third spot in five laps as he was on the tail of Brad Sweet and Larson.
Continuing to run in the third spot, Abreu moved into the second spot, and would begin challenging Larson for the lead on the 17th lap. With Abreu win second, him and Larson began to thrill the crowd as they exchanged slide-jobs, corner after to corner wrestling for the lead until the caution waved on the 28th lap.
The ensuing restart saw Abreu slip back to the fifth spot, and he wouldn’t be able to charge back forward, and his Gold Crown would end with a fifth place finish.
“It was an awesome weekend for us,” Abreu said. “We have struggled at times with the USAC series, but the more races I get under my belt the more competitive I am with some of the best in the business, and I really owe it all to my Keith Kunz team.”
Rico and his team would like to thank Abreu Vineyards, Toyota, ButlerBuilt,, Outlaw Wings, and Petersen Media for their partnership.
ON TAP: Abreu will now travel out to California to compete in the Watsonville season finale on October 12th, before taking part in the King of the West season finale at the Kings Speedway in Hanford, CA on October 13th.
STAY CONNECTED: Stay updated with Rico by visiting his website at www.ricoabreuracing.com, ‘liking’ him on facebook at www.facebook.com/
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