PETERSEN MEDIA
On the heels of a 13th place finish in Antioch with the World of Outlaws, Rico Abreu rebounded from a late race spin on Saturday night and worked his way up to a 10th place finish at the Placerville Speedway.
Having a ton of speed, but nothing to show for it at the Placerville Speedway in past visits, Abreu hoped conquer the challenging track on the hill Saturday night.
It got off to a great start for the 21-year-old driver, as he timed his Abreu Vineyards/ButlerBuilt/FK Rod Ends machine third quick in qualifications, putting him in a good spot for the night ahead.
Starting in the outside of the third row in his heat race, Abreu took advantage of a pair of drivers in front of him banging wheels, and he surged into the second spot.
Chasing down Mason Moore, Abreu attempted to steal the win from him on a pair of occasions, but settled for second.
With the 0 pill being pulled for the feature event inversion, Abreu lined his Schoenfeld Headers/Brown and Miller Racing Solutions entry up in the second row.
With the race being slowed on laps one and three, Abreu ran in the third spot, as he shadowed Andy Forsberg.
The lap three restart appeared to be the magical one, as the race would then rip off the next 16 laps with no issues.
On the super slick track, Abreu worked the low sides of turns one and two and pounded the cushion in three and four chasing Forsberg down.
On the 13th lap, Abreu was able to drive around Forsberg exiting turn four, and set his sights on race leader, and teammate, Kyle Larson.
Marred in traffic, Abreu would cut into Larson’s lead until trouble brewed on the 19th circuit.
Trying to dive under a lapped car, Abreu got hung out in the middle of the slick, and looped his machine, forcing him to the back with just six laps remaining.
Over those final few laps, Abreu would put on a charge, and score a 10th place finish by way of a last lap pass.
On Friday night, Abreu was in action against the World of Outlaws at the Antioch Speedway, and scored a 13th place finish from his 15th place starting spot on what was a non stop affair.
“Overall it was a good weekend, and I think we got our car a ton better,” he said. “At Antioch, Paul (Silva) made some changes before the feature that I liked, and we carried some of it over to Saturday. We had a great car on Saturday night, and I just made a mistake in traffic that cost us. I’ve had some horrible luck at Placerville, so it was a nice change to finish the race there.”
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-22, Wins-0, Top 5’s-2, Top 10’s-7
ON TAP: Rico and his Abreu Vineyards Racing team will be in action on Friday night against the World of Outlaws at the Kings Speedway in Hanford, CA before taking on the Rebel Cup Series at the Thunderbowl in Tulare, CA.
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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