PETERSEN MEDIA
Spending his second consecutive weekend at the Canyon Speedway Park in Peoria, AZ, Rico Abreu climbed aboard his Abreu Vineyards No.89 sprint car and took on the stars of the Lucas Oil ASCS National Series.
Abreu was in action on Friday night, and it seemed to get off to a great start for the St. Helena, CA pilot as he laid down the fastest lap during hot laps on the 1/3 mile facility in preparation for the very important opening heat races.
Starting fourth in his heat, Abreu was working for the third spot early in his heat, when he got a little out-of-shape in the first and second turns, and slipped back to the sixth spot where he would eventually finish.
Following the heat, Abreu reported that he was getting fumed out in the cockpit, and his crew went to work hoping to rectify the problem.
Starting ninth in his qualifier, Abreu hit the track and tried working is way forward to earn points for the feature but wasn’t able to gain any ground as he continued struggle to see with fumes, and ended up ninth.
Starting the 30-lap feature in the 17th spot, Abreu ultimately called it a night just a few laps into the feature as the fumes were too much for him and he struggled to see at all.
Spending much of Friday night after the races working on the Abreu Vineyards No.89 machine, the team returned to action on Saturday night hoping to make a big run into the feature event.
Starting in the fifth spot of his Saturday night heat, Abreu made a couple of bold moves to get up to the third spot at the stripe, in a last ditch effort to earn points for his B main starting position.
With the top four from the B advancing to the feature, Abreu had his work cut out for him as he rolled on to the speedway and lined up in the eight spot.
From the waving of the green flag, Abreu put on quite the show, as the youngster dazzled the crowd with some exciting moves, as he worked his way up to the third spot to earn a transfer to the 30-lap feature event.
Starting the 30-lap feature in the 21st spot, Abreu did what he could to save his tires as the track took rubber very early, as he raced his way through the field.
Staying smooth, and keeping his tires under him, Abreu was able to score a 12th place finish as the checkered flag waved on his 2012 US season.
“I have to thank Paul Silva and my entire team for working so hard on our car Friday night to get it right for Saturday,” he said. “Friday it was tough to see and even breathe at times, so I was glad we could make the situation better on Saturday though it wasn’t perfect. I also can’t thank my sponsors enough for all of their support this year.”
Rico and his team would like to thank Abreu Vineyards, Toyota, ButlerBuilt,, Outlaw Wings, and Petersen Media for their partnership.
ON TAP: Rico will now return to Australia in December. Please stand by for a press release announcing his plans in the coming weeks.
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!