Rico Abreu on Saturday will look to become the 1st driver to ever win the prestigious Tribute to Gary Patterson three years in a row. The 22-year-old will also be pulling double duty at Stockton with both the King of the West 410 Sprint Car Series & Civil War 360 Sprint Car Series presented by Flowmaster.
Rico Abreu. – Bob Buffenbarger Photo
The immensely talented Rutherford, CA driver has claimed 23 wins across 11 different traveling series in 2014. Among those have been three with the King of the West 410 Sprints, including the Dave Bradway Jr. Memorial for the second year in a row. He also captured the Civil War Series sanctioned Johnny Key Classic for the second straight season in August.
In addition to his KWS win last November at the Stockton Dirt Track, Abreu also scored victory in a Winged 360 event at the 3/8 mile clay oval in March of this year aboard his Abreu Vineyards No. 24 machine.
Will Call opens & Ticket Sales begin at 2pm on Saturday at the Stockton Dirt Track, with the front gate opening at 4pm. There will also be a car show and live band during the day from noon to 4pm behind the grandstands, so make plans to arrive early and enjoy the festivities with us.
To pre-buy your tickets for Saturday contact (916) 370-9417 and to view a seating chart log onto http://stocktondirttrack.com/ to find the seats you want.
Premium reserved grandstand seats cost $30 for all ages, with general admission lower bleacher seats being $20 for ages 13 and up. Kids 6-12 in the lower bleacher seats cost $10 and 5 & under FREE. Box seats in sets of six will be sold for $180 and sets of eight for $240. There will also be a $3 convenience fee for each presale ticket purchased.
There is also currently $5500 on the line for the dashes that will be held on Saturday with the King of the West 410 Sprint Car Series & Civil War Sprint Car Series presented by Flowmaster. Thanks to Sunnyvalley Smoked Meats, Reeves Sand & Gravel, Panella Racing Engines, Don from Modesto Steel & Nascimento Motorsports for their support.
Known as the “Dancing Phantom from Stockton,” the “Preacher,” the “Hostile Hippie” or just simply “GP,” Gary Patterson was one of the most colorful characters of his time and captured a number of major wins in his career, including the Gold Cup Race of Champions, the Super Dirt Cup in Washington and the Turkey Night Grand Prix at Ascot Park among others.
Patterson lost his life in a Sprint Car crash at Calistoga Speedway on Memorial Day weekend 1983 and an event in his memory has been held every year since. “GP” moved to Stockton, California in 1957 and actually began his career at the Stockton 99 Speedway. This season will be the second time we’ve paid Tribute to Gary Patterson at the Stockton Dirt Track.
The physical address for the Stockton Dirt Track is 1658 S Airport Way, Stockton, CA 95206. For information on the speedway visit http://www.stocktondirttrack.com/
Info on the King of the West 410 Sprint Car Series can be found at www.kwssprints.com & info on the Civil War 360 Sprint Car Series can be found at www.civilwarsprints.com
