By T.J. Buffenbarger
ROSSBURG, Ohio (July 19, 2024) –Rico Abreu used some late race heroics to win the Knight Before the Kings Royal Friday night at Eldora Speedway. Abreu lost the lead during the 30-lap main event to David Gravel but rallied back while racing through slower traffic to catch Gravel and pass him for the lead with three laps to go and hold on for the victory.
Abreu was able to lead at the start with Tyler Courtney and David Gravel dicing for second. Abreu, Courtney, and Gravel were able to pull away from the rest of the field. Gravel was able to get second from Courtney on lap seven.
Shortly after Courtney took the runner up position, the first red flag of the feature appeared when Cale Thomas got into the wall and flipped down the track. Anthony Macri and Zeb Wise were also caught up in the incident. All three drivers were okay, but Wise was the only one of the trio able to join the tail of the field for the restart.
During the ensuing restart Sheldon Haudenschild got up into the fence and flipped down the track in turn one. Haudenschild emerged from the car under his own power.
After the pair of red flags Abreu pulled away but started overtaking slower cars at the hallway point and allowing Gravel to close. Abreu and Gravel eventually swapped the lead on laps 18, 19, and 20 with slide jobs until Gravel was able to pull ahead.
In the closing stages of the event Gravel ended up in heavy lapped traffic. Abreu was able to keep Gravel within striking distance after losing the lead and made his move with three laps to go to drive by Gravel in turns three and four to take the lead. Abreu was able to keep Gravel at Bay for the victory. Logan Schuchart, Donny Schatz from 25th starting position, and Courtney rounded out the top five.
Knight Before the Kings Royal
World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series
Eldora Speedway
Rossburg, Ohio
Friday, July 19, 2024
Qualifying Flight A
1. 83-Michael Kofoid, 13.020[7]
2. 7BC-Tyler Courtney, 13.129[1]
3. 19-Brent Marks, 13.212[10]
4. 9P-Parker Price Miller, 13.254[17]
5. 17B-Bill Balog, 13.281[4]
6. 26-Zeb Wise, 13.299[3]
7. 49-Brad Sweet, 13.311[21]
8. 5-Spencer Bayston, 13.316[12]
9. 83SR-James McFadden, 13.319[14]
10. 45-Landon Brooks, 13.337[8]
11. 21-Brian Brown, 13.338[29]
12. 6-Kelby Watt, 13.350[6]
13. 55W-Chris Windom, 13.367[13]
14. 101-Kalib Henry, 13.378[9]
15. 57-Kyle Larson, 13.392[20]
16. 25R-Jordan Ryan, 13.413[18]
17. 8-Cory Eliason, 13.427[26]
18. 25-Daison Pursley, 13.473[25]
19. 18T-Tanner Holmes, 13.489[27]
20. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss, 13.511[15]
21. 70-Kraig Kinser, 13.523[30]
22. 50YR-Gary Taylor, 13.631[11]
23. 29-Logan McCandless, 13.639[16]
24. 33W-Cap Henry, 13.640[28]
25. 15K-Creed Kemenah, 13.655[22]
26. W20-Greg Wilson, 13.687[2]
27. 2MD-Darin Naida, 13.689[31]
28. 28-Brian Paulus, 13.698[5]
29. 81-Lee Jacobs, 13.787[19]
30. 19H-Joel Myers Jr, 13.865[24]
31. 11-Hunter Schuerenberg, [23]
Qualifying Flight B
1. 24-Rico Abreu, 13.164[3]
2. 2-David Gravel, 13.282[1]
3. 23J-Cale Thomas, 13.329[13]
4. 27-Emerson Axsom, 13.333[9]
5. 39M-Anthony Macri, 13.336[29]
6. 13-Justin Peck, 13.343[25]
7. 10-Scott Bogucki, 13.368[12]
8. 41-Carson Macedo, 13.385[24]
9. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 13.389[5]
10. 18-Giovanni Scelzi, 13.398[7]
11. 2KS-Chase Randall, 13.445[14]
12. 88-Tanner Thorson, 13.464[11]
13. 7S-Landon Crawley, 13.475[28]
14. 21H-Brady Bacon, 13.478[26]
15. 14-Corey Day, 13.499[22]
16. 42-Sye Lynch, 13.504[23]
17. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild, 13.524[8]
18. 15-Donny Schatz, 13.537[20]
19. 23-Garet Williamson, 13.545[10]
20. 1A-Jacob Allen, 13.604[30]
21. 55-Kerry Madsen, 13.619[15]
22. 49X-Tim Shaffer, 13.637[19]
23. 99-Skylar Gee, 13.662[17]
24. 24D-Danny Sams III, 13.664[6]
25. 16T-Cole Macedo, 13.671[4]
26. 1-Brenham Crouch, 13.691[27]
27. 9-Kasey Kahne, 13.758[18]
28. 23B-Devon Borden, 13.842[2]
29. 32-Bryce Lucius, 13.843[31]
30. 55T-McKenna Haase, 13.858[16]
31. O1-Tyler Gunn, 14.427[21]
Non-Qualifier #A (8 Laps)
1. 33W-Cap Henry[4]
2. 50YR-Gary Taylor[2]
3. 70-Kraig Kinser[1]
4. 29-Logan McCandless[3]
5. 2MD-Darin Naida[7]
6. 28-Brian Paulus[8]
7. 15K-Creed Kemenah[5]
8. 19H-Joel Myers Jr[10]
9. 81-Lee Jacobs[9]
10. W20-Greg Wilson[6]
11. 11-Hunter Schuerenberg[11]
Non-Qualifier #B (8 Laps)
1. 49X-Tim Shaffer[2]
2. 99-Skylar Gee[3]
3. 24D-Danny Sams III[4]
4. 9-Kasey Kahne[7]
5. 16T-Cole Macedo[5]
6. 1-Brenham Crouch[6]
7. 32-Bryce Lucius[9]
8. 23B-Devon Borden[8]
9. O1-Tyler Gunn[11]
10. 55T-McKenna Haase[10]
11. 55-Kerry Madsen[1]
Heat Race #1 (8 Laps)
1. 83-Michael Kofoid[1]
2. 19-Brent Marks[2]
3. 83SR-James McFadden[5]
4. 21-Brian Brown[6]
5. 49-Brad Sweet[4]
6. 57-Kyle Larson[8]
7. 17B-Bill Balog[3]
8. 55W-Chris Windom[7]
9. 18T-Tanner Holmes[10]
10. 33W-Cap Henry[11]
11. 8-Cory Eliason[9]
Milton Hershey School Heat Race #2 (8 Laps)
1. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[1]
2. 9P-Parker Price Miller[2]
3. 5-Spencer Bayston[4]
4. 26-Zeb Wise[3]
5. 25-Daison Pursley[9]
6. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[10]
7. 101-Kalib Henry[7]
8. 45-Landon Brooks[5]
9. 6-Kelby Watt[6]
10. 25R-Jordan Ryan[8]
11. 50YR-Gary Taylor[11]
Heat Race #3 (8 Laps)
1. 24-Rico Abreu[1]
2. 1S-Logan Schuchart[5]
3. 23J-Cale Thomas[2]
4. 14-Corey Day[8]
5. 23-Garet Williamson[10]
6. 39M-Anthony Macri[3]
7. 2KS-Chase Randall[6]
8. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[9]
9. 49X-Tim Shaffer[11]
10. 10-Scott Bogucki[4]
11. 7S-Landon Crawley[7]
Heat Race #4 (8 Laps)
1. 2-David Gravel[1]
2. 13-Justin Peck[3]
3. 27-Emerson Axsom[2]
4. 41-Carson Macedo[4]
5. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[5]
6. 21H-Brady Bacon[7]
7. 88-Tanner Thorson[6]
8. 15-Donny Schatz[9]
9. 99-Skylar Gee[11]
10. 1A-Jacob Allen[10]
11. 42-Sye Lynch[8]
Toyota Dash (6 Laps)
1. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[1]
2. 24-Rico Abreu[3]
3. 2-David Gravel[5]
4. 9P-Parker Price Miller[2]
5. 1S-Logan Schuchart[7]
6. 19-Brent Marks[8]
7. 13-Justin Peck[4]
8. 83-Michael Kofoid[6]
D-Main (8 Laps)
1. 16T-Cole Macedo[2]
2. 2MD-Darin Naida[1]
3. 19H-Joel Myers Jr[7]
4. 15K-Creed Kemenah[5]
5. 1-Brenham Crouch[4]
6. 28-Brian Paulus[3]
7. 23B-Devon Borden[8]
8. O1-Tyler Gunn[10]
9. 81-Lee Jacobs[9]
10. 55T-McKenna Haase[12]
11. 32-Bryce Lucius[6]
12. W20-Greg Wilson[11]
13. 11-Hunter Schuerenberg[13]
14. 55-Kerry Madsen[14]
C-Main (10 Laps)
1. 33W-Cap Henry[1]
2. 50YR-Gary Taylor[7]
3. 1A-Jacob Allen[4]
4. 9-Kasey Kahne[12]
5. 24D-Danny Sams III[10]
6. 7S-Landon Crawley[6]
7. 25R-Jordan Ryan[3]
8. 70-Kraig Kinser[9]
9. 2MD-Darin Naida[14]
10. 29-Logan McCandless[11]
11. 16T-Cole Macedo[13]
12. 10-Scott Bogucki[2]
13. 8-Cory Eliason[5]
14. 42-Sye Lynch[8]
MicroLite Last Chance Showdown (12 Laps)
1. 17B-Bill Balog[1]
2. 39M-Anthony Macri[2]
3. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[10]
4. 57-Kyle Larson[3]
5. 6-Kelby Watt[15]
6. 21H-Brady Bacon[4]
7. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[5]
8. 15-Donny Schatz[12]
9. 2KS-Chase Randall[6]
10. 101-Kalib Henry[7]
11. 33W-Cap Henry[17]
12. 49X-Tim Shaffer[14]
13. 99-Skylar Gee[16]
14. 45-Landon Brooks[11]
15. 88-Tanner Thorson[8]
16. 18T-Tanner Holmes[13]
17. 55W-Chris Windom[9]
18. 50YR-Gary Taylor[18]
NOS Energy Drink Feature (30 Laps)
1. 24-Rico Abreu[2]
2. 2-David Gravel[3]
3. 1S-Logan Schuchart[5]
4. 15-Donny Schatz[25]
5. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[1]
6. 9P-Parker Price Miller[4]
7. 83-Michael Kofoid[8]
8. 83SR-James McFadden[9]
9. 49-Brad Sweet[17]
10. 5-Spencer Bayston[11]
11. 14-Corey Day[14]
12. 13-Justin Peck[7]
13. 57-Kyle Larson[24]
14. 19-Brent Marks[6]
15. 41-Carson Macedo[16]
16. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[20]
17. 26-Zeb Wise[15]
18. 21-Brian Brown[13]
19. 70-Kraig Kinser[27]
20. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[26]
21. 25-Daison Pursley[19]
22. 17B-Bill Balog[21]
23. 27-Emerson Axsom[12]
24. 6-Kelby Watt[28]
25. 23-Garet Williamson[18]
26. 23J-Cale Thomas[10]
27. 39M-Anthony Macri[22]
28. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[23]