From Peterson Media
Heading out for a two month tour in the Midwest, Rico Abreu kicked it off by making his debut at the Knoxville Raceway on Saturday night, and rallied to tally an 11th place finish.
“We had a lot of speed at Knoxville, but got caught up in someone else’s wreck on the start of the race, and had to come from the back,” he said.
With 23 cars on hand, Abreu got off to a nice start at the famed speedway, as he timed in ninth fastest.
Starting fourth in his heat race, the St. Helena driver slipped back to a fifth place finish in his heat, but found himself on the pole for the 20-lap main event.
When the race went green, fellow front row starter, Jason Johnson, spun out, and Abreu got hit, and was forced to the work area.
Making repairs to his Abreu Vineyards/ButlerBuilt/FK Rod Ends machine, Abreu would restart at the tail of the field.
When the race got underway, Abreu showed his speed, as he was up inside the top-10, in just 10 laps.
Battling with Lynton Jeffery late in the race, Abreu would slip back to an 11th place finish at the stripe.
“I loved racing at Knoxville, and wish we could of kept our front row starting spot,” he said. “Paul Silva gave me a great car, and it was a lot of fun.”
Sunday night, Abreu and his team headed to the Cedar Lake Speedway in New Richmond, WI to take on the World of Outlaw series.
Timing in 12th fastest, Abreu went on to run second in his dash, and earn a spot in the Dash, where he started and finished in the 10th position.
Lining up 10th in the feature, Abreu was fast early, as he worked his way up into the top five, when the caution flew on the fifth lap.
On the ensuing restart, Abreu got into Paul McMahan, and cut his tire, and headed to the work area, to make some adjustments.
Restarting form the tail, Abreu was a rocket ship, as he carved his way back up to the 11th spot, with 10 to go, and he hit a spun out Craig Dollansky, and cut another tire, ending his night.
“We had a fast racecar on Sunday night, I just made a couple of mistakes, that knocked us out. Ill get better, and work on putting complete night’s together,” he said.
Rico and his team would like to thank Abreu Vineyards, ButlerBuilt, FK Rod Ends, Schoenfeld, Keith Kunz Motorsports, Brown and Miller Racing Solutions, and Willwood for their support.
2013 BY THE NUMBERS: Starts-49, Wins-3, Top 5’s-21, Top 10’s-29
ON TAP: Abreu will now hop in a Keith Kunz midget for the Hut-100 on Wednesday night before hopping back into his Abreu Vineyards Racing sprint car on Saturday night at the Knoxville Raceway.
STAY CONNECTED: Stay updated with Rico by visiting his website at www.ricoabreuracing.com, ‘liking’ him on facebook at www.facebook.com/
VIDEO: Be sure to check out http://www.youtube.com/