Five is Fine for Abreu During Wednesdays at the Chili Bowl Nationals

Blake Hahn, Rico Abreu, and Kevin Thomas Jr (Serena Dalhamer photo)

By T.J. Buffenbarger

TULSA, OK (January 12, 2022) — TULSA, OK (January 12, 2022) – For the fifth consecutive time Rico Abreu found his way to victory lane during Hard Rock Casino Qualifying Night Wednesday night at the Chili Bowl Nationals. Abreu, from St. Helena California, was able to hold off Kevin Thomas Jr. driving off the bottom of the Tulsa Expo Raceway to pull alongside Abreu on the final laps by driving to the bottom of the track through turns three and four.

The victory was the third of the week for Keith Kunz Motorsports after Abreu’s teammates Tanner Carrick and Buddy Kofoid picked up victories on Monday and Tuesday.

Abreu was running the top of the racetrack with a very treacherous cushion, biding his time to make a move to the low side of the track at the proper moment.

“There at the end my pace slowed down. I didn’t want to make mistakes and I knew I could sense Kevin behind me on the bottom,” said Abreu of the final laps. “I just was kind of waiting to make that last second move down there. I saw him just off a turn to where I could get that extra little launch and clear him and then just block his run.”

Thomas second place finish locked him into the Saturday final, but he had a shot at the victory on the final lap after cutting one of the best laps he had driven in the 30-lap affair.

“Rolling through one and two on the last lap was probably the best I got through it all race and I felt like it was the closest I was to you know, maybe his left rear but, you know, he had a good head of steam going down the backstretch,” said Thomas of his near pass of Abreu. “The car did the old Keith Kunz hop getting into three, stuck right there on the bottom, and he won the race.”

Jason McDougal and Colby Copeland started on the front row with McDougal taking the lead early on. Thomas pressured Copeland for the lead through the early laps with Abreu joining that battle on lap seven.

After a caution for a flip by Jake Neal, McDougal pulled away from the field while Thomas tried to pass Copeland for second off turn two on lap 11 but was unsuccessful. One lap later Abreu drove by both Thomas and Copeland to take the runner up position. Copeland battled back to swap the position with Abreu but was unable to hold the position.

On lap 15 Chase Randall was making his presence felt moving up to third position by Copeland right before a caution for Parker Price-Miller ending up backwards in turn four.

After the restart Randall was able to drive by Thomas on lap 18 for the second position. Following a caution for Travis Berryhill with five laps to go, Randall appeared to have the speed to challenge Abreu for the lead. Unfortunately for Randall his storybook run from the seventh starting position ended when he tripped on the cushion after sliding Abreu for the lead in turns one and two followed by jumping the cushion at the other end of the racetrack, losing several positions in the process.

Following the final caution for R.J. Johnson with four laps to go Thomas kept Abreu in his sights patiently wheeling the bottom of the track while Abreu blasted around the top. On the final lap Thomas was able to get a run through turns one and two and pull alongside Abreu briefly, but Abreu cut the car down at the right moment to the bottom while still leading Thomas to drive to the victory. Thomas held on for the runner up position with Blake Hahn, Copeland, and McDougal rounding out the top five.

Abreu was quick to credit the Keith Kunz Racing team in victory lane.

“Thank you to my guys keep Keith Kunz, Pete Willoughby, Kaz, Grady everybody does an unbelievable job on these race cars they just you know they just they show the winning three in a row this week so far.”

36th Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals presented by General Tire
Hard Rock Casino Qualifying Night
Tulsa Expo Raceway
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tuesday, January 12, 2022

Heat Race #1 (8 Laps)
1. 27W-Colby Copeland[4]
2. 44-Eric Wilkins[8]
3. 25V-Billy VanInwegen Jr[6]
4. M1-Colby Stubblefield[9]
5. 15Z-Jeff Zelinski[3]
6. 77J-John Klabunde[1]
7. 55K-Todd Kluever[2]
8. 2C-JR Ewing[5]
9. 45J-Shon Deskins[7]

Heat Race #2 (8 Laps)
1. 8K-Jake Neal[2]
2. 21S-Karter Sarff[6]
3. 67K-Jonathan Shafer[3]
4. 2W-Tony Bruce Jr[5]
5. 4D-Robert Dalby[9]
6. 22C-Charlie Crumpton[1]
7. 56X-Mark Chisholm[7]
8. 22X-Steven Shebester[8]
9. 99K-Robert Carson[4]

Heat Race #3 (8 Laps)
1. 51-RJ Johnson[5]
2. 31X-Carson Hocevar[2]
3. 25K-Taylor Reimer[6]
4. 26C-Chance Crum[9]
5. 22L-Lucas Scherb[4]
6. 75U-Brooke Tatnell[8]
7. 15C-Carter Chevalier[1]
8. 91X-Danny Wood[3]
9. 1-Sammy Swindell[7]

Heat Race #4 (8 Laps)
1. 52-Blake Hahn[5]
2. 47M-Jake Hagopian[4]
3. 21T-Tommy Kunsman[7]
4. 42-Garth Kasiner[9]
5. 17L-Cody Trammell[8]
6. 91T-Tyler Thomas[2]
7. 73B-Robby Josett[3]
8. 17H-Harli White[6]
9. 71J-Jeff Wheeler[1]

Heat Race #5 (8 Laps)
1. 1R-Brad Sweet[2]
2. 77W-Joey Wirth[6]
3. 7-Shannon McQueen[1]
4. 2U-Slater Helt[7]
5. 85T-Ryan Timms[8]
6. 16C-David Camfield Jr[4]
7. 22G-Troy Morris III[9]
8. 14E-Dillon Osborne[3]
9. 4F-Chad Frewaldt[5]

Heat Race #6 (8 Laps)
1. 11C-Mike Woodruff[2]
2. 7M-Brody Roa[3]
3. 50-Daniel Adler[5]
4. 35R-Tyler Robbins[1]
5. 5C-Chase Howard[6]
6. 46X-Jacob Perry[4]
7. 20C-CJ Sarna[7]
8. 29K-Brian Harvey[8]
9. 1EM-Tanner Ridge[9]

Heat Race #7 (8 Laps)
1. 4B-Jason McDougal[7]
2. 19-Parker Price Miller[4]
3. 55D-Nick Drake[6]
4. 83-Dominic Gorden[3]
5. 5LK-Jordan Kinser[5]
6. 17-Tanner Berryhill[9]
7. 75-Mario Clouser[8]
8. 21P-Daylin Perreira[1]
9. 7E-Jarrad Warhurst[2]

Heat Race #8 (8 Laps)
1. 19A-Chase Randall[4]
2. 1N-Ryan Padgett[2]
3. 1G-Justin Peck[7]
4. 99-Anthony Macri[3]
5. 79S-Landon Simon[8]
6. 21K-Caleb Saiz[5]
7. 77S-Travis Berryhill[6]
8. 3T-Taylor Peterson[1]

Heat Race #9 (8 Laps)
1. 97-Rico Abreu[2]
2. 47Z-Corey Day[4]
3. 5T-Kevin Thomas Jr[6]
4. 0G-Glenn Styres[1]
5. 72W-Tye Wilke[3]
6. 8X-Thomas Esberg[7]
7. 9M-Ricky Montgomery[5]
DNS: 50K-Patrick Kop

Qualifier #1 (10 Laps)
1. 4B-Jason McDougal[6]
2. 27W-Colby Copeland[5]
3. 25V-Billy VanInwegen Jr[1]
4. 17-Tanner Berryhill[10]
5. 21T-Tommy Kunsman[4]
6. 42-Garth Kasiner[2]
7. 7M-Brody Roa[7]
8. 79S-Landon Simon[9]
9. 1N-Ryan Padgett[8]
10. 11C-Mike Woodruff[3]

Qualifier #2 (10 Laps)
1. 97-Rico Abreu[3]
2. 25K-Taylor Reimer[1]
3. 4D-Robert Dalby[8]
4. 19A-Chase Randall[5]
5. 83-Dominic Gorden[10]
6. 50-Daniel Adler[7]
7. 47M-Jake Hagopian[2]
8. 67K-Jonathan Shafer[9]
9. 44-Eric Wilkins[6]
10. 1G-Justin Peck[4]

Qualifier #3 (10 Laps)
1. 55D-Nick Drake[1]
2. 19-Parker Price Miller[2]
3. M1-Colby Stubblefield[3]
4. 8K-Jake Neal[4]
5. 21S-Karter Sarff[5]
6. 2W-Tony Bruce Jr[9]
7. 51-RJ Johnson[6]
8. 99-Anthony Macri[10]
9. 17L-Cody Trammell[8]
10. 2U-Slater Helt[7]

Qualifier #4 (10 Laps)
1. 5T-Kevin Thomas Jr[1]
2. 47Z-Corey Day[2]
3. 1R-Brad Sweet[4]
4. 26C-Chance Crum[3]
5. 52-Blake Hahn[6]
6. 77W-Joey Wirth[5]
7. 7-Shannon McQueen[9]
8. 31X-Carson Hocevar[7]
9. 85T-Ryan Timms[8]
10. 5C-Chase Howard[10]

D-Main #1 (10 Laps)
1. 91X-Danny Wood[5]
2. 15C-Carter Chevalier[3]
3. 45J-Shon Deskins[6]
4. 4F-Chad Frewaldt[8]
5. 29K-Brian Harvey[2]
6. 7E-Jarrad Warhurst[9]
7. 73B-Robby Josett[1]
8. 21P-Daylin Perreira[7]
9. 2C-JR Ewing[4]
DNS: 50K-Patrick Kop

D-Main #2 (10 Laps)
1. 22X-Steven Shebester[1]
2. 1-Sammy Swindell[6]
3. 17H-Harli White[3]
4. 55K-Todd Kluever[2]
5. 14E-Dillon Osborne[5]
6. 3T-Taylor Peterson[7]
7. 71J-Jeff Wheeler[9]
8. 99K-Robert Carson[8]
9. 1EM-Tanner Ridge[4]

C-Main #1 (12 Laps)
1. 22L-Lucas Scherb[3]
2. 77J-John Klabunde[9]
3. 22G-Troy Morris III[5]
4. 75U-Brooke Tatnell[1]
5. 15Z-Jeff Zelinski[4]
6. 56X-Mark Chisholm[8]
7. 75-Mario Clouser[6]
8. 77S-Travis Berryhill[10]
9. 91X-Danny Wood[11]
10. 15C-Carter Chevalier[12]
11. 0G-Glenn Styres[2]
12. 46X-Jacob Perry[7]

C-Main #2 (12 Laps)
1. 5LK-Jordan Kinser[2]
2. 16C-David Camfield Jr[6]
3. 91T-Tyler Thomas[7]
4. 22X-Steven Shebester[11]
5. 35R-Tyler Robbins[1]
6. 20C-CJ Sarna[8]
7. 8X-Thomas Esberg[3]
8. 22C-Charlie Crumpton[9]
9. 72W-Tye Wilke[4]
10. 9M-Ricky Montgomery[10]
11. 21K-Caleb Saiz[5]
12. (DQ) 1-Sammy Swindell[12]

B-Main #1 (15 Laps)
1. 8K-Jake Neal[1]
2. 7M-Brody Roa[6]
3. 1G-Justin Peck[8]
4. 21T-Tommy Kunsman[2]
5. 2U-Slater Helt[10]
6. 50-Daniel Adler[4]
7. 99-Anthony Macri[9]
8. 42-Garth Kasiner[5]
9. 77W-Joey Wirth[3]
10. 7-Shannon McQueen[7]
11. 75U-Brooke Tatnell[14]
12. 22G-Troy Morris III[15]
13. 22L-Lucas Scherb[13]
14. 17L-Cody Trammell[11]
15. 77J-John Klabunde[12]
DNS: 31X-Carson Hocevar

B-Main #2 (15 Laps)
1. 26C-Chance Crum[1]
2. 83-Dominic Gorden[3]
3. 51-RJ Johnson[2]
4. 2W-Tony Bruce Jr[4]
5. 5LK-Jordan Kinser[13]
6. 85T-Ryan Timms[11]
7. 22X-Steven Shebester[16]
8. 91T-Tyler Thomas[15]
9. 16C-David Camfield Jr[14]
10. 44-Eric Wilkins[5]
11. 67K-Jonathan Shafer[8]
12. 1N-Ryan Padgett[9]
13. 5C-Chase Howard[12]
14. 11C-Mike Woodruff[10]
15. 47M-Jake Hagopian[6]
16. 79S-Landon Simon[7]

A-Main (30 Laps)
1. 97-Rico Abreu[3]
2. 5T-Kevin Thomas Jr[4]
3. 52-Blake Hahn[6]
4. 27W-Colby Copeland[2]
5. 4B-Jason McDougal[1]
6. 1R-Brad Sweet[9]
7. 19A-Chase Randall[7]
8. 26C-Chance Crum[16]
9. 47Z-Corey Day[8]
10. 55D-Nick Drake[5]
11. M1-Colby Stubblefield[11]
12. 83-Dominic Gorden[18]
13. 21S-Karter Sarff[13]
14. 25V-Billy VanInwegen Jr[14]
15. 7M-Brody Roa[17]
16. 21T-Tommy Kunsman[21]
17. 2W-Tony Bruce Jr[22]
18. 25K-Taylor Reimer[10]
19. 17-Tanner Berryhill[12]
20. 51-RJ Johnson[20]
21. 1G-Justin Peck[19]
22. 19-Parker Price Miller[24]
23. 4D-Robert Dalby[23]
24. 8K-Jake Neal[15]

36th Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals presented by General Tire
Hard Rock Casino Qualifying Night
Tulsa Expo Raceway
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tuesday, January 12, 2022

Heat Race #9 (8 Laps)
1. 97-Rico Abreu[2]
2. 47Z-Corey Day[4]
3. 5T-Kevin Thomas Jr[6]
4. 0G-Glenn Styres[1]
5. 72W-Tye Wilke[3]
6. 8X-Thomas Esberg[7]
7. 9M-Ricky Montgomery[5]
DNS: 50K-Patrick Kop