Abreu Closes Out WoO Western Swing In Victory Lane

Story By: COLBY GORNIEWICZ / WORLD OF OUTLAWS – QUEEN CREEK, AZ – Coming into the Arizona stretch of the 2017 season, the World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series full-time drivers scored wins in first 12 events of the season. That stat changed after Brian Brown ran away with the Yuma Valley Showdown at Cocopah Speedway on Friday Night. The outsiders were looking to make it two-for-two in Arizona when the Series visited the Arizona Speedway for the second time in their history.

For the second night in a row, Brown started from the pole position. After jumping out to an early lead, Brown opened up a half-second lead over Abreu after a pass attempt that didn’t stick.

On lap 12 of the 30-lap Arizona Desert Shootout, David Gravel who was running third made a move on Jason Sides to move him inside the top three.

At the half-way point, Abreu, from St. Helena, CA closed the gap on Brown while he was dealing with lap traffic and took advantage of the opportunity and threw a perfectly executed slide-job pass on Brown in Turn 2 to vault him into the lead.

“It’s so easy to slow down to someone’s pass, especially when they’re in traffic,” said Rico Abreu. “You’ve got to be committed on your slide jobs – that’s what I do nowadays. I got a little impatient when we got to lap traffic but once I cleared some lap cars I felt really confident and made the move. I just tried to save my tires for the end as I knew it was going to get trickier for someone to peel off and pass.”

While Abreu was making his move on Brown, Gravel was also able to sneak his No. 5 GoMuddy.com machine by for second.

“[traffic] started to play an issue there but I’m happy with a second-place finish,” said David Gravel. “It was a really fun race with a lot of sliders. I just wanted to thank all my guys and everyone at CJB Motorsports. We’ll take a second and move onto next week.”

Out front as the leader, Abreu was left to navigate his way around heavy lap traffic but Abreu made quick work and was able to grow his lead to a one-second advantage.

As the laps started to tick away, Gravel worked his way back up to the rear bumper of Abreu. With just a few laps remaining, Gravel didn’t get the opportunity to get by Abreu to add to his win total, instead it was Rico Abreu playing spoiler to the Outlaw regulars as the outsiders swept the Arizona weekend.

The Outlaws will head back east after a spending a month on the west coast of the United States for a makeup race at Gator Motorplex on Thursday April 13. A trip back to the place where it all started for the Outlaws at Devil’s Bowl Speedway for a doubleheader on April 14 and 15.

For tickets visit WorldofOutlaws.com/Tickets or by calling 844-DIRT-TIX.
Arizona Speedway Notebook

SEASON WINNERS: Donny Schatz – 6 (Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 19, Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 19, LoneStar Speedway on March 3, The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 9, The Dirt Track at Las Vegas on March 10, Thunderbowl Raceway on March 18 ); David Gravel – 3 (Thunderbowl Raceway on March 17, Placerville Speedway on March 29, Perris Auto Speedway on April 1); Jason Johnson – 1 (Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 17); Brad Sweet – 1 (Stockton Dirt Track on March 25), Logan Schuchart – 1 (Keller Auto Speedway), Brian Brown – 1 (Cocopah Speedway), Rico Abreu – 1 (Arizona Speedway).

CONTINGENCY WINNERS – MSD Ignitions ($25 cash): Billy Chester; MSD Ignitions ($50 cash): David Gravel; Penske Shocks ($50 cash): Donny Schatz; JE Pistons ($50 cash): Jason Sides; VP Racing Fuels ($50 cash): Shane Stewart; Edelbrock ($50 cash): Joey Saldana; Comp Cams ($50 cash): Paul McMahan; Cometic Gasket ($50 cash): Sheldon Haudensheld,; Super Flow ($50 cash): Daryn Pittman; Craftsman Club ($100 cash each):Jason Johnson, Joey Saldana, Jason Sides, David Gravel, N/A; Craftsman/Sears ($100 cash): Brian Brown; KSE Racing Products ($100 product certificate): Kraig Kinser; Comp Cams ($50 product certificate): David Gravel; JE Pistons (Set of Rings each): Logan Schuchart, Jacob Allen.

World of Outlaws Craftsman® Sprint Car Series Statistical Report; Arizona Speedway, AZ. April 8, 2017

Feature (30 Laps): 1. 24-Rico Abreu [2][$10,000]; 2. 5-David Gravel [6][$5,500]; 3. 21-Brian Brown [1][$3,200]; 4. 49-Brad Sweet [7][$2,800]; 5. 7S-Jason Sides [5][$2,500]; 6. 15-Donny Schatz [9][$2,300]; 7. 41-Jason Johnson [3][$2,200]; 8. 2-Shane Stewart [8][$2,100]; 9. 17-Joey Saldana [4][$2,050]; 10. 4-Paul McMahan [10][$2,000]; 11. 11K-Kraig Kinser [19][$1,500]; 12. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild [15][$1,200]; 13. 18-Ian Madsen [12][$1,100]; 14. 9-Daryn Pittman [18][$1,050]; 15. 41S-Dominic Scelzi [13][$1,000]; 16. W20-Greg Wilson [16][$900]; 17. 1S-Logan Schuchart [14][$800]; 18. 2X-Parker Price-Miller [17][$800]; 19. 19-Brent Marks [11][$800]; 20. 82-Stevie Sussex [21][$800]; 21. 2A-Austin Pierce [22][$800]; 22. 1A-Jacob Allen [20][$800]; 23. 5C-Billy Chester [23][$800], 24. 90-Lance Norick [24][$800]

Qualifying : 1. 5-David Gravel, 12.747; 2. 17-Joey Saldana, 12.751; 3. 7S-Jason Sides, 12.773; 4. 41-Jason Johnson, 12.79; 5. 2-Shane Stewart, 12.825; 6. 21-Brian Brown, 12.827; 7. 49-Brad Sweet, 12.852; 8. 24-Rico Abreu, 12.94; 9. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild, 12.971; 10. 41S-Dominic Scelzi, 12.974; 11. 19-Brent Marks, 12.977; 12. 15-Donny Schatz, 12.977; 13. 4-Paul McMahan, 12.994; 14. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 13.041; 15. 18-Ian Madsen, 13.064; 16. W20-Greg Wilson, 13.099; 17. 2X-Parker Price-Miller, 13.188; 18. 9-Daryn Pittman, 13.215; 19. 82-Stevie Sussex, 13.219; 20. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 13.25; 21. 1A-Jacob Allen, 13.267; 22. 90-Lance Norick, 13.351; 23. 2A-Austin Pierce, 13.354; 24. 5C-Billy Chester, 13.503; 25. 22-Cori Andrews, 13.781; 26. 13-Clyde Knipp, 13.784. Lap Leaders: Brian Brown 1-15, Rico Abreu 16-30; KSE Hard Charger Award: 11K-Kraig Kinser[+8]

Heat #1 (8 Laps) – Top 6 Transfer to Feature: 1. 5-David Gravel [1]; 2. 41-Jason Johnson [2]; 3. 49-Brad Sweet [3]; 4. 4-Paul McMahan [5]; 5. 41S-Dominic Scelzi [4]; 6. W20-Greg Wilson [6]; 7. 82-Stevie Sussex [7]; 8. 90-Lance Norick [8]; 9. 22-Cori Andrews [9]

Heat #2 (8 Laps) – Top 6 Transfer to Feature: 1. 17-Joey Saldana [1]; 2. 24-Rico Abreu [3]; 3. 2-Shane Stewart [2]; 4. 19-Brent Marks [4]; 5. 1S-Logan Schuchart [5]; 6. 2X-Parker Price-Miller [6]; 7. 11K-Kraig Kinser [7]; 8. 2A-Austin Pierce [8]; 9. 13-Clyde Knipp [9]

Heat #3 (8 Laps) – Top 6 Transfer to Feature: 1. 7S-Jason Sides [1]; 2. 21-Brian Brown [2]; 3. 15-Donny Schatz [4]; 4. 18-Ian Madsen [5]; 5. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild [3]; 6. 9-Daryn Pittman [6]; 7. 1A-Jacob Allen [7]; 8. 5C-Billy Chester [8]

Craftsman Club Dash (6 Laps): 1. 21-Brian Brown [1]; 2. 24-Rico Abreu [2]; 3. 41-Jason Johnson [3]; 4. 17-Joey Saldana [5]; 5. 7S-Jason Sides [4]; 6. 5-David Gravel [6]

Last Chance Showdown (12 Laps) – Top 6 Transfer to Feature: 1. 11K-Kraig Kinser [2][-]; 2. 1A-Jacob Allen [3][-]; 3. 82-Stevie Sussex [1][-]; 4. 2A-Austin Pierce [5][-]; 5. 5C-Billy Chester [6][-]; 6. 90-Lance Norick [4][-]; 7. 13-Clyde Knipp [8][$300]; 8. 22-Cori Andrews [7][$250]