PETERSEN MEDIA
With 81 cars on hand at the Trophy Cup in Tulare, CA time trials proved treacherous for cars pulling a late pill, but Rico Abreu charged from the back in every event he was in, and wound up finishing third in the Trophy Cup standings.
“We really got behind the eight ball after time-trials, but my guys gave me a great car, and we did what this race is designed for, and passed cars all weekend,” Abreu said.
Lining up last in his heat race after timing in 47th fastest and narrowly making it into the heat, Abreu put on a show as he charged from eighth to third to earn the transfer into the feature event.
With his point total, the Rutherford, CA driver lined up 24th in the feature event, and continued to show his stuff in front of the jam packed crowd.
Running the ragged edge in the feature event, Abreu found himself up in the 12th spot when the crossed flags were given to the field, indicating the race was half over.
Over the final 15 laps, Abreu took advantage of a pair of cautions as he Terry McCarl, Jonathan Cornell, to take the sixth spot at the finish, putting him in great position heading into Saturday night’s finale.
Jumping up to 10th in points after the feature, Abreu lined up seventh in his Saturday night heat, and marched his way to the top spot, earning the win, and earning maximum points heading into the feature event.
Sitting seventh in points heading into the 50-lap feature event, Abreu lined his Abreu Vineyards/ButlerBuilt/FK Rod Ends backed entry up in the ninth row.
Starting 18th, Abreu got off to a bit of a slow start, as he was only able to get into the 16th spot when there was a red on the 11th lap.
With heavy damage to the fence, officials elected to open the red, and Abreu’s crew made a few changes to his machine.
With a lengthy green flag run following the red, Abreu was able to crack the top 10 by the 37th lap, as he raced wheel to wheels with some of the best in the business.
Getting up into the eighth spot with just three to go, Abreu was able to end his night with a sixth place finish, but wound up third in the standings.
“What a weekend,” Abreu said. “We pulled a terrible pill in qualifying, and in our heat race, I took advantage of a late caution to jump into the transfer spot, and save our weekend. We started last in the feature and ran well, and then did it all again on Saturday. Paul Silva worked his tail off all weekend, and I’m pumped he won the deal wit his car, and we ran third.”
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-96, Wins-11, Top 5’s-42, Top 10’s-59
ON TAP: Abreu will run both a 360 and 410 winged sprint car at the Stockton Dirt Track on November 2nd.
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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