PETERSEN MEDIA
In action for a pair of events over the weekend, Rutherford, CA driver, Rico Abreu, scored a sixth place finish with the California Civil War Series a night after finishing seventh in the B with the World of Outlaws in Merced, CA.
Making an engine swap Saturday morning, Abreu and his team headed to the Antioch Speedway hoping to learn a few things in preparations for next weeks World of Outlaw race at the same track.
With a stout 30 car field on hand, Abreu opened the night up by timing his Abreu Vineyards/Butlerbuilt/FK Rod Ends backed entry in with quick time, putting him in the sixth starting spot for the first heat.
The heat did not go as he had hoped, as he had hoped as he got spun around on the second lap, and ended up finishing in the seventh spot, and made a quick stop in the B main.
Starting on the pole of the B, Abreu would not be challenged as his picked up the win aboard his Schoenfield/Brown and Miller/FK Shocks entry, and transferred to the feature event, where he would start behind the inversion, and roll off in the ninth spot.
With the track sticky all night long, rain began to fall at the beginning of the feature event, but the race went on, and the track became a mix of sticky, greasy and rough.
Working with a racecar that seemed to change every lap to track conditions, Abreu would work his way up to the fifth spot towards the end of the feature as rain began to fall harder.
With just a few laps to go, Abreu got too tight, pushed up the track, and fell back to the seventh spot when the checkered flag flew.
“Saturday was wild,” Abreu said. “We had a very fast racecar, the track just changed a lot during the feature with the rain. It was a good finish for us, for sure.”
Friday night Abreu was at the Merced Speedway in Merced, CA taking on the World of Outlaws.
Timing in 26th fastest, Abreu’s eighth place finish put him in the B where he would start ninth.
On a very narrow track, Abreu would make a late charge toward a transfer spot as he got past Kraig Kinser, and Austin Wheatley, but he came up just one spot short of the A.
“We were a little off in time trials on Friday night, and that pretty much solidified our fate for the rest of the night,” he said. “Starting in the back on that track was doomsday.”
Rico and his team would like to thank Abreu Vineyards, ButlerBuilt, FK Rod Ends, Schoenfeld, Keith Kunz Motorsports, Brown and Miller Racing Solutions, and Factory Kahne Shocks for their support.
2013 BY THE NUMBERS: Starts-20, Wins-0, Top 5’s-2, Top 10’s-6
ON TAP: Rico will be in action on Friday night back at the Antioch Speedway before heading to his home track, the Calistoga Speedway on Saturday night, both against the World of Outlaws.
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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