By Bill Wright
KNOXVILLE, Iowa (July 26, 2025) – The next two weeks at Knoxville Raceway are critical for any sprint car driver, and St. Helena, California’s Rico Abreu is as ready as anyone to tackle both the 360 and 410 Knoxville Nationals. Abreu was victorious in a 410 main event here for the third time this year, and tenth overall on Weiler Border Battle #2 Night Saturday. The driver of the Rico Abreu Racing #24R earned $7,000 for his win. Pleasantville, Iowa’s Tasker Phillips clinched his first Randall Roofing 360 track championship by leading from start to finish in the main event in that class. He pocketed $2,000 and confidence heading into a busy week for the 360’s.
A 410 point invert of six put Abreu outside row one for the 20-lap feature, and he led early over Brian Brown, Spencer Bayston, James McFadden and Ryan Timms. McFadden moved by Bayston for third, and Austin McCarl entered the top five on lap two.
Up front, Brown gained on Abreu and took the lead on the fourth circuit. A bobble on the following lap was all Abreu needed to recapture the point before Parker Price-Miller slowed on the backstretch, bringing the only caution of the event.
Abreu led Brown, McFadden, Bayston and McCarl back to green. McCar quickly gained fourth, but Ryan Timms showed speed in the second half of the race, taking fifth from Bayston on lap seven and then using the low side of the track to pass McCarl for the fourth spot.
Abreu entered traffic on lap 12, and began extending his lead over Brown. Timms was good in traffic and passed McFadden with a slider in turn three coming for the white flag to secure the show position behind Abreu and Brown at the line. McFadden, Austin McCarl, Bayston, Kerry Madsen, Carson McCarl, Jack Anderson and Justin Peck rounded out the top ten. Abreu and Austin McCarl set quick time over their respective qualifying groups, while Anderson, Terry McCarl, Bayston and Clint Garner won the heats. Chris Martin claimed the B main, which was marred by an accident that saw JJ Hickle, Sawyer Phillips, Koby Werkmeister, and Ian Madsen in a tangle in turn one. Madsen got the worst of the crash and was evaluated by safety personnel.
“First I want to thank Weiler for putting this one every year and Knoxville Raceway,” said Abreu in Victory Lane. “This track was beautiful. They make the right decisions here and do the right things at the right time to it. Ricky Warner does an amazing job just guiding my team. Track position was pretty crucial tonight. I just wanted to keep it up top and get flying, but the bottom came in. I was a little bit too free to be down there, and let Brian Brown get to my outside. Brownie is one of the best here. You have to think about what he’s thinking when you’re here. It’s like a game of cat and mouse. You have to run where he’s not and make sure your car is good.”
Tasker Phillips also started outside row one in the Randall Roofing 360 feature, and wasted no time jetting to the lead ahead of JJ Hickle, Clint Garner, Chase Randall and Ryan Giles. Garner got by Hickle for second on lap two, while Justin Peck entered the top five.
Hickle got back by Garner in a good battle for the runner-up position on lap three, while Peck continued his charge, passing Randall for fourth. McFadden found the low groove to his liking, entering the top five on lap five, and then shooting under Peck for fourth on lap seven. At the same time, Phillips was entering traffic.
With eight to go, the first caution of the race came out for a stopped Colby Copeland. Phillips led Hickle, Garner, McFadden and Peck back to green. Garner snatched the second spot from Hickle before Jamie Ball backed into the turn one wall with five to go. On that restart, Kaylee Bryson, Justin Zimmerman, Russell Potter and Kurt Mueller, who got upside down, tangled down the front straight. No one was seriously injured.
The slowdown didn’t phase Phillips who jetted to the win and sealed the Randall Roofing 360 track championship. Garner was second, while Peck took third from Hickle with two to go. McFadden, Giles, Randall, Dusitn Selvage, hard-charger Riley Goodno and Cam Martin completed the top ten. Brian Brown set quick time over the 37-car field, but scratched afterwards. Ball, Tyler Groenendyk, Selvage and Kade Higday won heats, and Mueller took the B main.
“This team is so selfless,” said Phillips of his 3-Way Motorsports crew in Victory Lane. “We’re not points racin’, we’re here to win races (but acknowledged doing both was o.k.) I hate that it was ‘plug up the bottom,’ (on the track) but luckily, I was a little less stubborn than Garner for once and got down there.”
Join us next week for the 35th Annual Xtream Powered by Mediacom Knoxville 360 Nationals Presented by Great Southern Bank Thursday, July 31 through Saturday, August 2. For tickets or more information on the Knoxville Raceway, visit us online at www.KnoxvilleRaceway.com!
Knoxville Championship Series Results
410’s
Time Trials (Qualifying Order), 2 laps: 1. 24R-Rico Abreu, St. Helena, CA, 00:15.420 (1) ($100 from OpenWheel101.com); 2. 10-Ryan Timms, Oklahoma City, OK, 00:15.480 (14); 3. 55-Kerry Madsen, St. Mary’s, NSW, Aust., 00:15.612 (11); 4. 27-Carson McCarl, Altoona, IA, 00:15.645 (16); 5. 21T-James McFadden, Alice Springs, NT, Aust., 00:15.667 (21); 6. 71X-Parker Price Miller, Kokomo IN, 00:15.701 (12); 7. 88T-Tanner Thorson, Minden, NV, 00:15.733 (15); 8. 78-Scott Bogucki, McLaren Vale, SA, Aust., 00:15.756 (18); 9. 45X-Landon Crawley, Benton, AR, 00:15.780 (7); 10. 44-Chris Martin, Ankeny, IA, 00:15.807 (13); 11. 17A-Jack Anderson, Newton, IA, 00:15.836 (19); 12. 24-Terry McCarl, Altoona, IA, 00:15.848 (3); 13. 09-Matt Juhl, Tea, SD, 00:15.852 (2); 14. 6K-Kaleb Johnson, Sioux Falls, SD, 00:15.852 (6); 15. 39-Lynton Jeffrey, Sydney, NSW, Aust., 00:15.889 (4); 16. 9R-Chase Randall, Waco, TX, 00:15.903 (17); 17. 3P-Sawyer Phillips, Pleasantville, IA, 00:15.965 (5); 18. 2M-JJ Hickle, Quilcene, WA, 00:16.005 (8); 19. 2KS-Ian Madsen, St. Mary’s, NSW, Aust., 00:16.057 (9); 20. 44X-Scotty Johnson, Melcher-Dallas, IA, 00:16.381 (20); 21. 1S-Sammy Swindell, Germantown, TN, NT (10)
Time Trials (Qualifying Order), 2 laps: 1. 88-Austin McCarl, Altoona, IA, 00:15.530 (3); 2. 21-Brian Brown, Grain Valley, MO, 00:15.599 (18); 3. 42-Sye Lynch, Cowansville, PA, 00:15.777 (2); 4. 26-Justin Peck, Monrovia, IN, 00:15.900 (10); 5. 4W-Jamie Ball, Knoxville, IA, 00:15.954 (11); 6. 27B-Jake Bubak, Arvada, CO, 00:16.012 (13); 7. 14-Spencer Bayston, Lebanon, IN, 00:16.014 (19); 8. 22-Riley Goodno, Knoxville, IA, 00:16.024 (6); 9. G5-Gage Pulkrabek, East Grand Forks, MN, 00:16.058 (14); 10. 40-Clint Garner, Sioux Falls, SD, 00:16.086 (7); 11. 45C-Derek Hagar, Mation, AR, 00:16.101 (9); 12. 18T-Tanner Holmes, Jacksonville, OR, 00:16.103 (12); 13. 95-Tyler Drueke, Eagle, NE, 00:16.157 (1); 14. 1K-Kelby Watt, Adel, IA, 00:16.187 (20); 15. 15JR-Cole Mincer, Burlington, IA, 00:16.198 (15); 16. 121-RJ Johnson, Tampa, FL, 00:16.257 (5); 17. 71-Brandon Worthington, Indianola, IA, 00:16.277 (17); 18. 8-Jacob Hughes, Hartford, SD, 00:16.312 (4); 19. 7W-Tasker Phillips, Pleasantville, IA, 00:16.389 (8); 20. 51-Joel Myers Jr, Santa Rosa, CA, 00:16.428 (16); 21. 31-Koby Werkmeister, Armour, SD, 00:16.640 (21)
Heat one (started, *qualified for feature), 8 laps, 2:11.9: 1. 17A-Jack Anderson (1*); 2. 21T-James McFadden (4*); 3. 45X-Landon Crawley (2*); 4. 55-Kerry Madsen (5*); 5. 24R-Rico Abreu (6*); 6. 88T-Tanner Thorson (3*); 7. 39-Lynton Jeffrey (8); 8. 2KS-Ian Madsen (10); 9. 3P-Sawyer Phillips (9); 10. 09-Matt Juhl (7); DNS – 1S-Sammy Swindell
Heat two (started, *qualified for feature), 8 Laps, 2:29.1: 1. 24-Terry McCarl (1*); 2. 10-Ryan Timms (6*); 3. 71X-Parker Price Miller (4*); 4. 27-Carson McCarl (5*); 5. 44-Chris Martin (2); 6. 2M-JJ Hickle (8); 7. 6K-Kaleb Johnson (7); 8. 78-Scott Bogucki (3); 9. 44X-Scotty Johnson (9); DNS – 9R-Chase Randall
Heat three (started, *qualified for feature), 8 Laps, 2:37.2: 1. 14-Spencer Bayston (3*); 2. 88-Austin McCarl (6*); 3. G5-Gage Pulkrabek (2*); 4. 45C-Derek Hagar (1); 5. 4W-Jamie Ball (4*); 6. 42-Sye Lynch (5*); 7. 95-Tyler Drueke (7); 8. 7W-Tasker Phillips (10); 9. 71-Brandon Worthington (9); 10. 31-Koby Werkmeister (11); 11. 15JR-Cole Mincer (8)
Heat four (started), 8 Laps, 2:32.1: 1. 40-Clint Garner (2*); 2. 18T-Tanner Holmes (1*); 3. 27B-Jake Bubak (4*); 4. 21-Brian Brown (6*); 5. 22-Riley Goodno (3); 6. 26-Justin Peck (5*); 7. 1K-Kelby Watt (7); 8. 121-RJ Johnson (8); 9. 8-Jacob Hughes (9); 10. 51-Joel Myers Jr (10)
B main (started), 12 Laps, NT: 1. 44-Chris Martin (1); 2. 22-Riley Goodno (2); 3. 6K-Kaleb Johnson (3); 4. 95-Tyler Drueke (6) / 5. 45C-Derek Hagar (4); 6. 39-Lynton Jeffrey (5); 7. 1K-Kelby Watt (8); 8. 09-Matt Juhl (9); 9. 71-Brandon Worthington (12); 10. 51-Joel Myers Jr (17); 11. 15JR-Cole Mincer (16); 12. 44X-Scotty Johnson (15); 13. 8-Jacob Hughes (14); 14. 121-RJ Johnson (10); 15. 2M-JJ Hickle (7); 16. 2KS-Ian Madsen (11); 17. 3P-Sawyer Phillips (13); 18. 31-Koby Werkmeister (18); DNS – 7W-Tasker Phillips, 78-Scott Bogucki, 9R-Chase Randall, 1s-Sammy Swindell
A main (started), 20 Laps, NT: 1. 24R-Rico Abreu (2); 2. 21-Brian Brown (3); 3. 10-Ryan Timms (6); 4. 21T-James McFadden (4); 5. 88-Austin McCarl (5); 6. 14-Spencer Bayston (1); 7. 55-Kerry Madsen (7); 8. 27-Carson McCarl (9); 9. 17A-Jack Anderson (13); 10. 26-Justin Peck (16); 11. 27B-Jake Bubak (8); 12. 42-Sye Lynch (12); 13. 22-Riley Goodno (22); 14. 44-Chris Martin (21); 15. 18T-Tanner Holmes (20); 16. 6K-Kaleb Johnson (23); 17. 40-Clint Garner (10); 18. 45X-Landon Crawley (15); 19. 95-Tyler Drueke (24); 20. 88T-Tanner Thorson (19); 21. G5-Gage Pulkrabek (18); 22. 4W-Jamie Ball (14); 23. 71X-Parker Price Miller (11); 24. 24-Terry McCarl (17). Lap Leaders: Abreu 1-3, Br. Brown 4, Abreu 5-20. Hard-charger: Goodno.
Randall Roofing 360’s
Time Trials (Qualifying Order), 2 laps: 1. 21-Brian Brown, Grain Valley, MO, 00:16.073 (8); 2. 40-Clint Garner, Sioux Falls, SD, 00:16.095 (2); 3. 26-Justin Peck, Monrovia, IN, 00:16.104 (6); 4. 63-JJ Hickle, Quilcene, WA, 00:16.119 (28); 5. 1TZ-Tasker Phillips, Pleasantville, IA, 00:16.201 (3); 6. 2M-Ryan Giles, Grimes, IA, 00:16.317 (13); 7. 9R-Chase Randall, Waco, TX, 00:16.318 (14); 8. 21T-James McFadden, Alice Springs, NT, Aust., 00:16.391 (18); 9. 11B-Kaylee Bryson, Muskogee, OK, 00:16.397 (7); 10. 4-Cameron Martin, Ankeny, IA, 00:16.413 (19); 11. 3R-Russell Potter, Boonville, MO, 00:16.434 (10); 12. 99-Tony Rost, Utica, NE, 00:16.461 (9); 13. 83-Kurt Mueller, Reynolds, IL, 00:16.461 (4); 14. 86-Timothy Smith, Rocheport, MO, 00:16.484 (30); 15. 24-Terry McCarl, Altoona, IA, 00:16.506 (31); 16. 22X-Riley Goodno, Knoxville, IA, 00:16.542 (27); 17. 4W-Jamie Ball, Knoxville, IA, 00:16.543 (25); 18. 17-Tyler Groenendyk, Oskaloosa, IA, 00:16.554 (23); 19. 01-Colby Copeland, Roseville, CA, 00:16.560 (33); 20. 24H-Kade Higday, Knoxville, IA, 00:16.606 (21); 21. 7W-Justin Zimmerman, Athens, TX, 00:16.659 (5); 22. 11X-Hank Davis, Sand Springs, OK, 00:16.673 (17); 23. 6-Dustin Selvage, Indianola, IA, 00:16.687 (37); 24. 38-Logan Alexander, Lacona, IA, 00:16.716 (35); 25. 22-Ryan Leavitt, Knoxville, IA, 00:16.732 (15); 26. 7-Tyler Lee, Cedar Rapids, IA, 00:16.838 (12); 27. 7B-Ben Brown, Marshall, MO, 00:16.912 (32); 28. 14X-Joey Danley, Lincoln, NE, 00:16.921 (26); 29. 5A-Alex Vande Voort, Knoxville, IA, 00:16.927 (11); 30. 74N-Luke Nellis, Forest Lake, MN, 00:16.969 (36); 31. 1A-John Anderson, Des Moines, IA, 00:16.987 (16); 32. 13M-Brett Moffitt, Mooresville, NC, 00:17.011 (22); 33. 33-Alan Zoutte, Knoxville, IA, 00:17.026 (20); 34. 3F-Derek Hagar, Marion, AR, 00:17.042 (24); 35. 3Z-Cole Vanderheiden, Papillion, NE, 00:17.115 (1); 36. 31-McCain Richards, Burlington, IA, 00:17.357 (29); 37. 14-Aidan Zoutte, Knoxville, IA (34) NT.
Heat one (started, *qualified for feature), 7 Laps, 2:15.0: 1. 4W-Jamie Ball (2*); 2. 1TZ-Tasker Phillips (5*); 3. 22-Ryan Leavitt (6); 4. 7W-Justin Zimmerman (1*); 5. 11B-Kaylee Bryson (4*); 6. 5A-Alex Vande Voort (7); 7. 83-Kurt Mueller (3); 8. 33-Alan Zoutte (8); DNS – 21-Brian Brown; 14-Aidan Zoutte
Heat two (started, *qualified for feature), 7 Laps, 2:21.8: 1. 17-Tyler Groenendyk (2*); 2. 4-Cameron Martin (4*); 3. 2M-Ryan Giles (5*); 4. 40-Clint Garner (6*); 5. 86-Timothy Smith (3*); 6. 3F-Derek Hagar (9); 7. 7-Tyler Lee (7); 8. 74N-Luke Nellis (8); 9. 11X-Hank Davis (1)
Heat three (started, *qualified for feature), 7 Laps, 2:29.3: 1. 6-Dustin Selvage (1*); 2. 01-Colby Copeland (2*); 3. 9R-Chase Randall (5*); 4. 24-Terry McCarl (3*); 5. 26-Justin Peck (6*); 6. 3R-Russell Potter (4*); 7. 7B-Ben Brown (7); 8. 3Z-Cole Vanderheiden (9); 9. 1A-John Anderson (8)
Heat four (started, *qualified for feature), 7 Laps, NT: 1. 24H-Kade Higday (2*); 2. 22X-Riley Goodno (3*); 3. 63-JJ Hickle (6*); 4. 99-Tony Rost (4*); 5. 21T-James McFadden (5*); 6. 14X-Joey Danley (7); 7. 13M-Brett Moffitt (8); 8. 31-McCain Richards (9); 9. 38-Logan Alexander (1)
B main (started), 10 Laps, 3:15.9: 1. 83-Kurt Mueller (1); 2. 22-Ryan Leavitt (2); 3. 7B-Ben Brown (6); 4. 5A-Alex Vande Voort (5) / 5. 14X-Joey Danley (3); 6. 13M-Brett Moffitt (8); 7. 7-Tyler Lee (4); 8. 3F-Derek Hagar (9); 9. 33-Alan Zoutte (10); 10. 74N-Luke Nellis (11); 11. 1A-John Anderson (13); 12. 3Z-Cole Vanderheiden (12); 13. 31-McCain Richards (14); 14. 11X-Hank Davis (7) DNS – 38-Logan Alexander, 14-Aidan Zoutte, 21-Brian Brown
A main (started), 18 Laps, NT: 1. 1TZ-Tasker Phillips (2); 2. 40-Clint Garner (1); 3. 26-Justin Peck (4); 4. 63-JJ Hickle (3); 5. 21T-James McFadden (8); 6. 2M-Ryan Giles (5); 7. 9R-Chase Randall (6); 8. 6-Dustin Selvage (16); 9. 22X-Riley Goodno (12); 10. 4-Cameron Martin (7); 11. 22-Ryan Leavitt (22); 12. 17-Tyler Groenendyk (11); 13. 24-Terry McCarl (18); 14. 24H-Kade Higday (14); 15. 99-Tony Rost (13); 16. 5A-Alex Vande Voort (24); 17. 7B-Ben Brown (23); 18. 11B-Kaylee Bryson (9); 19. 83-Kurt Mueller (21); 20. 4W-Jamie Ball (10); 21. 3R-Russell Potter (17); 22. 7W-Justin Zimmerman (20); 23. 01-Colby Copeland (15); 24. 86-Timothy Smith (19). Lap Leader: T. Phillips 1-18. Hard-charger: Leavitt.