Rico Abreu Returns To Chili Bowl Victory Lane With Qualifying Night Triumph

Story By: BRYAN HULBERT / CHILI BOWL – TULSA, OK – After 15 ½ weeks out of a Racecar following a hard crash at the Four Crown Nationals, California’s Rico Abreu was the class of the field in Wednesday’s Hard Rock Casino Qualifying Night A-Feature.

Securing a spot in his sixth career Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals presented by General Tire championship A-Feature with his third career prelim triumph, Abreu’s win was a true testament to his talent and patience behind the wheel, answering nearly 20 laps of slide-jobs from Oklahoma’s Tyler Thomas.

“That’s some intense shit,” said Abreu in Victory Lane of the race with Thomas, which despite its intensity, never saw the pair drive each other in an unprofessional manner.

Elaborating on the race in the press conference, Rico stated, “I don’t think it gets any better or intense than that, especially because you are racing for the lead. On these slide jobs, people come up short and run into each other and that’s when you see wrecks, but I feel like it goes both ways in these situations where if you’re the leader getting slid, you let out of the gas and let them slide across, then turn down and drive right back by him. That’s the way it was done tonight.”

Giving chase to Thomas through the first four laps, the race for the point went three-wide on the fifth revolutions with Alabama’s Kevin Thomas, Jr. taking the lead. Unable to hold of Tyler Thomas the following lap, the caution would fall as the field worked Lap 7 with the caution lights coming on for Parker Price-Miller.

Back to Lap 6, Abreu slung his Keith Kunz Motorsports No. 97 to the curb, picking off second on the restart and setting sights on the lead. Narrowly edging out Tyler off the fourth turn to complete Lap 9, the lead was in his hands off the second turn of Lap 10.

Back to the advantage of Tyler Thomas two laps later, the pair resumed their exchange of bottom to top corners before the caution again came out. Protecting the low line from the slide, the top was clear for Abreu to build his run. With a full head of steam, Rico pulled the trigger and snagged the lead away on Lap 15. The only time during the race that the No. 97 had distance over the race for second, yellow lights appeared again with 19 laps complete.

Slide for slide with the BT Machine No. 91t with Abreu able to make it around first every time, the final caution with two to go was still not enough to deny the California shoe a much-awaited return to Victory Lane.

Crossing 0.655 seconds ahead of Tyler Thomas, the final podium step and transfer spot into Saturday’s A-Feature, remained in the hands of Kevin Thomas, Jr. despite the pressure of having Sammy Swindell on his back bumper the final 10 laps. Exchanging fifth numerous times with Ryan Robinson over the course of 25 laps, the top-five would finally round out with Chris Windom.

Robinson in sixth was trailed by the very hard charging Jason McDougal. Having to come from 11th in the second C-Feature, McDougal advanced position 34 times to earn his seventh-place finish. J.J. Yeley eighth was chased by Gary Taylor with Jeb Sessums, who was the Hard Charger for the A-Feature with 14 positions gained, rounding out the top-ten.

A field of 85 drivers drew in for Wednesday’s Hard Rock Casino Qualifying Night. So far, 171 drivers have seen action in the 32nd Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals presented by General Tire. Going into Thursday, the Fastenal Flip Count has reached 34 with Brady Bacon getting a HANS Device from Simpson Race Products as the event’s 25th flip. In all, every crash ended with the driver able to walk away.

The 32nd Lucas Oil Chili Bowl National presented by General Tire continues on Thursday, January 11, 2018, with the night sponsored by John Christner Trucking. The River Spirit Expo Center opens at 9:00 A.M. with Hot Laps at 4:00 P.M. and racing at 5:00 P.M. (CT).

General Admission tickets, which double as a Pit Pass, are sold at the event and are $45 per weekday and $60 on Saturday. Purchasing consecutive days does save the buyer money. Fans unable to attend can find online PPV coverage at http://www.racinboys.com.

For continued updates on the Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals presented by General Tire, fans can follow along on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram with @CBNationals. All official press, updates, and results on the Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals presented by General Tire can be found online at http://www.chilibowl.com.

Results:

Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals presented by General Tire
Tulsa Expo Raceway – Tulsa, Okla.
Wednesday, January 10, 2018
Hard Rock Casino Night

Car Count: 85
Event Count: 171

Heat Races: Top 40 in passing points advance to Qualifiers.

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 76M-Brady Bacon, [1]; 2. 2R-J.J. Yeley, [2]; 3. 32T-Trey Marcham, [3]; 4. 8M-Kade Morton, [6]; 5. 5TT-Matt Stewart, [7]; 6. (DNF) 76J-David (Davey) Jones, [4]; 7. (DNF) 37B-Terry Babb, [8]; 8. (DNF) 17B-Tanner Berryhill, [5]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 5S-Chase Stockon, [2]; 2. 3F-Austin Liggett, [4]; 3. 2T-A.J. Fike, [3]; 4. 71T-Zac Taylor, [8]; 5. 11K-Eddie Williams, [1]; 6. 5F-Danny Frye III, [7]; 7. 11-Katlynn Leer, [6]; 8. (DNF) 10E-Shane Pace, [5]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 1-Sammy Swindell, [3]; 2. 32D-Casey Shuman, [1]; 3. 57D-Daniel Robinson, [4]; 4. 24S-Landon Simon, [2]; 5. 74-Drew Rader, [5]; 6. (DNF) 2B-Jason Grady, [6]; (DNS) 56AP-Travis Young, ; (DNS) 4F-Chad Frewaldt,

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 28-Kory Schudy, [1]; 2. 03-Warren Johnson, [2]; 3. 77S-Alex DeCamp, [8]; 4. 1T-Tony Roney, [4]; 5. 41H-Brandon Hanks, [6]; 6. 73X-Jason McDougal, [5]; 7. 92K-Daron Clayton, [7]; 8. 2G-Terry Goodwin, [3]

Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 91T-Tyler Thomas, [8]; 2. 99W-Korey Weyant, [2]; 3. 71-Ryan Robinson, [7]; 4. 51S-Danny Sheridan, [5]; 5. 45H-Harli White, [6]; 6. 77U-Chris Urish, [3]; 7. 898-Ryan Padgett, [1]; 8. 85-Matt Johnson, [4]

Heat 6 (8 Laps): 1. 27K-Kevin Thomas Jr, [4]; 2. 68W-Jake Swanson, [2]; 3. 4M-Alison Slaton, [1]; 4. 22Q-David Prickett, [7]; 5. 14R-Jody Rosenboom, [3]; 6. 50-Daniel Adler, [8]; 7. 16K-Tristan Guardino, [6]; 8. 0W-Kevin Woody, [5]

Heat 7 (8 Laps): 1. 97-Rico Abreu, [6]; 2. 7J-Shawn Jackson, [4]; 3. 89-Patrick Bourke, [2]; 4. 17Z-Zac Moody, [3]; 5. 17K-Michael Koontz, [1]; 6. 8-Alex Sewell, [7]; 7. 55D-Nick Drake, [5]; 8. 51M-Mark Maliepaard, [8]

Heat 8 (8 Laps): 1. 2ND-Jeb Sessums, [1]; 2. 75-Bryan Stanfill, [4]; 3. 14H-Harley Hollan, [5]; 4. 21M-Michelle Melton, [6]; 5. 5C-Colten Cottle, [7]; 6. 16C-David Camfield III, [3]; 7. 77J-John Klabunde, [8]; 8. 33J-Jackie Burke, [2]

Heat 9 (8 Laps): 1. 5RJ-Colby Copeland, [1]; 2. 92L-Austin Lambert, [2]; 3. 9P-Parker Price-Miller, [4]; 4. 7M-Cole Bodine, [3]; 5. 7SH-Slater Helt, [6]; 6. 51C-Shane Cockrum, [7]; 7. 52X-Craig Oakes, [5]

Heat 10 (8 Laps): 1. 3W-Brandon Waelti, [1]; 2. 74M-Adam Pierson, [3]; 3. 69F-Ryan Smith, [6]; 4. 15-Donny Schatz, [5]; 5. 00M-Dillon Morley, [4]; 6. 91-Jeff Stasa, [7]; 7. 10K-Dale Johnston, [2]

Heat 11 (8 Laps): 1. 35TE-Chris Windom, [2]; 2. 31-Travis Berryhill, [3]; 3. 3S-Brian Shirley, [7]; 4. 05T-Gary Taylor, [6]; 5. 35X-Tyler Robbins, [5]; 6. 23A-Hannah Adair, [1]; 7. 87F-Taylor Peterson, [4]

D-Features: Top 2 advance to corresponding C-Feature.

D Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 16K-Tristan Guardino, [2]; 2. 23A-Hannah Adair, [1]; 3. 33J-Jackie Burke, [6]; 4. 56AP-Travis Young, [8]; 5. 52X-Craig Oakes, [3]; 6. 10E-Shane Pace, [4]; 7. (DNF) 85-Matt Johnson, [7]; 8. (DNF) 898-Ryan Padgett, [5]; (DNS) 51M-Mark Maliepaard,

D Feature 2 (10 Laps): 1. 55D-Nick Drake, [2]; 2. 17B-Tanner Berryhill, [5]; 3. 11-Katlynn Leer, [1]; 4. 0W-Kevin Woody, [6]; 5. 4F-Chad Frewaldt, [8]; 6. 10K-Dale Johnston, [4]; 7. 2G-Terry Goodwin, [7]; 8. (DNF) 87F-Taylor Peterson, [3]

C-Features: Top 4 advance to corresponding B-Feature.

C Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 45H-Harli White, [4]; 2. 7M-Cole Bodine, [3]; 3. 24S-Landon Simon, [5]; 4. 37B-Terry Babb, [12]; 5. 1T-Tony Roney, [2]; 6. 91-Jeff Stasa, [9]; 7. 00M-Dillon Morley, [7]; 8. 2B-Jason Grady, [11]; 9. 16K-Tristan Guardino, [13]; 10. 23A-Hannah Adair, [15]; 11. 11K-Eddie Williams, [10]; 12. (DNF) 5TT-Matt Stewart, [1]; 13. (DNF) 8-Alex Sewell, [8]; 14. (DNF) 74-Drew Rader, [6]; 15. (DNF) 16C-David Camfield III, [14]; (DNS) 76J-David (Davey) Jones,

C Feature 2 (12 Laps): 1. 5C-Colten Cottle, [1]; 2. 41H-Brandon Hanks, [3]; 3. 73X-Jason McDougal, [11]; 4. 50-Daniel Adler, [5]; 5. 7SH-Slater Helt, [4]; 6. 35X-Tyler Robbins, [6]; 7. 14R-Jody Rosenboom, [9]; 8. 17Z-Zac Moody, [2]; 9. 77U-Chris Urish, [13]; 10. 51C-Shane Cockrum, [8]; 11. 92K-Daron Clayton, [14]; 12. 55D-Nick Drake, [15]; 13. 17B-Tanner Berryhill, [16]; 14. 77J-John Klabunde, [12]; 15. 5F-Danny Frye III, [7]; 16. (DNF) 17K-Michael Koontz, [10]

Qualifiers: Top 16 in combined passing points advance to the A-Feature.

Qualifier 1 (10 Laps): 1. 91T-Tyler Thomas, [6]; 2. 35TE-Chris Windom, [4]; 3. 69F-Ryan Smith, [3]; 4. 1-Sammy Swindell, [5]; 5. 5RJ-Colby Copeland, [2]; 6. 31-Travis Berryhill, [1]; 7. 32D-Casey Shuman, [8]; 8. 21M-Michelle Melton, [9]; 9. 03-Warren Johnson, [7]; 10. 89-Patrick Bourke, [10]

Qualifier 2 (10 Laps): 1. 97-Rico Abreu, [6]; 2. 14H-Harley Hollan, [1]; 3. 71-Ryan Robinson, [5]; 4. 05T-Gary Taylor, [7]; 5. 3F-Austin Liggett, [4]; 6. 51S-Danny Sheridan, [9]; 7. 3W-Brandon Waelti, [2]; 8. 57D-Daniel Robinson, [8]; 9. (DNF) 76M-Brady Bacon, [3]; (DNS) 99W-Korey Weyant,

Qualifier 3 (10 Laps): 1. 22Q-David Prickett, [1]; 2. 71T-Zac Taylor, [2]; 3. 27K-Kevin Thomas Jr, [6]; 4. 15-Donny Schatz, [10]; 5. 68W-Jake Swanson, [7]; 6. 28-Kory Schudy, [3]; 7. 3S-Brian Shirley, [5]; 8. 32T-Trey Marcham, [9]; 9. 9P-Parker Price-Miller, [8]; 10. 7J-Shawn Jackson, [4]

Qualifier 4 (10 Laps): 1. 2R-J.J. Yeley, [1]; 2. 77S-Alex DeCamp, [6]; 3. 75-Bryan Stanfill, [4]; 4. 5S-Chase Stockon, [5]; 5. 2ND-Jeb Sessums, [3]; 6. 74M-Adam Pierson, [2]; 7. 92L-Austin Lambert, [7]; 8. 2T-A.J. Fike, [9]; 9. 8M-Kade Morton, [8]; 10. 4M-Alison Slaton, [10]

B-Features: Top 4 advance to the A-Feature.

B Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 68W-Jake Swanson, [1]; 2. 9P-Parker Price-Miller, [10]; 3. 5RJ-Colby Copeland, [3]; 4. 76M-Brady Bacon, [9]; 5. 45H-Harli White, [13]; 6. 28-Kory Schudy, [4]; 7. 92L-Austin Lambert, [6]; 8. 7M-Cole Bodine, [14]; 9. 31-Travis Berryhill, [5]; 10. 7J-Shawn Jackson, [11]; 11. 24S-Landon Simon, [15]; 12. 89-Patrick Bourke, [12]; 13. (DNF) 51S-Danny Sheridan, [2]; 14. (DNF) 32T-Trey Marcham, [8]; 15. (DNF) 37B-Terry Babb, [16]; 16. (DNF) 21M-Michelle Melton, [7]

B Feature 2 (15 Laps): 1. 3F-Austin Liggett, [1]; 2. 73X-Jason McDougal, [15]; 3. 3S-Brian Shirley, [3]; 4. 2ND-Jeb Sessums, [2]; 5. 32D-Casey Shuman, [5]; 6. 57D-Daniel Robinson, [7]; 7. 50-Daniel Adler, [14]; 8. 3W-Brandon Waelti, [6]; 9. 5C-Colten Cottle, [13]; 10. 8M-Kade Morton, [10]; 11. 41H-Brandon Hanks, [12]; 12. (DNF) 99W-Korey Weyant, [11]; 13. (DNF) 03-Warren Johnson, [9]; 14. (DNF) 74M-Adam Pierson, [4]; 15. (DNF) 2T-A.J. Fike, [8]; (DNS) 4M-Alison Slaton,

A-Feature: Top 3 advance to Saturday’s A-Feature.

A Feature (25 Laps): 1. 97-Rico Abreu, [2]; 2. 91T-Tyler Thomas, [1]; 3. 27K-Kevin Thomas Jr, [4]; 4. 1-Sammy Swindell, [7]; 5. 35TE-Chris Windom, [5]; 6. 71-Ryan Robinson, [6]; 7. 73X-Jason McDougal, [20]; 8. 2R-J.J. Yeley, [12]; 9. 05T-Gary Taylor, [10]; 10. 2ND-Jeb Sessums, [24]; 11. 14H-Harley Hollan, [15]; 12. 71T-Zac Taylor, [13]; 13. 76M-Brady Bacon, [23]; 14. 3F-Austin Liggett, [18]; 15. 5RJ-Colby Copeland, [21]; 16. 3S-Brian Shirley, [22]; 17. 5S-Chase Stockon, [14]; 18. 68W-Jake Swanson, [17]; 19. 75-Bryan Stanfill, [9]; 20. (DNF) 22Q-David Prickett, [8]; 21. (DNF) 77S-Alex DeCamp, [3]; 22. (DNF) 69F-Ryan Smith, [16]; 23. (DNF) 15-Donny Schatz, [11]; 24. (DNF) 9P-Parker Price-Miller, [19]

Lap Leader(s): Tyler Thomas 1-4, 6-8, 12-14; Kevin Thomas, Jr. 5; Rico Abreu 9-11, 15-25
Hard Charger: Jeb Sessums +14