PETERSEN MEDIA
Spending another weekend competing with Keith Kunz Motorsports, Rico Abreu picked up another big time win, as he conquered the Eldora Speedway to win the Midget portion of the Four Crown Nationals on Saturday night in Rossburg, OH.
“Wow!,” Abreu exclaimed. “To win at Belleville and Eldora in the same year is huge.”
Taking on the 20 midgets that invaded the Eldora Speedway, Rico Abreu led the way in time trials, as he was quick time aboard his Abreu Vineyards/ButlerBuilt/Toyota TRD entry.
Scoring a second place finish in his heat, the Rutherford, CA driver lined up in the third row for the 25-lap $5K to win feature event.
When the race went green, Abreu showed he would be a tough man to beat, as he carved his way up to the second spot in just five laps, and began applying heavy pressure to Bryan Clauson.
On the seventh lap, Abreu disposed of Clauson, and found comfort running against the always-intimidating Eldora wall.
Behind Abreu, his teammate Christopher Bell, was too charging to the front, and before long the crowd was treated to a slide-job exhibition between the two young wheel-men.
On the 12th lap, Bell threw a huge slider on Abreu, but Abreu was not rattled by it, and simply turned back under Bell to keep the top-spot, and motor away.
On the 15th lap the yellow waived, and the ensuing restart again saw Bell slide in front of Abreu, but he remained cool under the collar, and negated a few more attempts from Bell, and kept him at bay.
Bell’s final attempt at the lead came on the 23rd lap, but he came up short, and Abreu was able to pull away, and become the 100th different driver to win a USAC event at the famed ½ mile speedway.
Racing Christopher was so much fun. I saw him coming on the board, and I knew I had to get up on the wheel to hold on. I didn’t want to take the chance of driving around the outside of him when he slid in, so I was trying to be patient and turn back down under him each time. After he didn’t clear me all the way on his last try, and I knew that kinda sealed the deal,” Abreu 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-86, Wins-10, Top 5’s-35, Top 10’s-49
ON TAP: Abreu will be in action on Wednesday night at the Placerville Speedway in Placerville, CA before heading to the Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico, CA for a weekend double header.
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/