Abreu Earns Top-Five At Riverside; Ready To Battle For $100,000 At Mansfield

Story By: TYLER ALTMEYER / RICO ABREU RACING – ST. HELENA, CA – Cracking into the top-five for the first time in 2018, St. Helena, California’s Rico Abreu put together an impressive campaign against the World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series on Friday night at Riverside (Ark.) International Speedway, not only winning his respective heat race, but also securing his best performance of the season against the Greatest Show On Dirt.

“It feels good to put an entire evening like that together,” Rico Abreu explained, who battled inside the top-five, as high as second, during the entire 40-lapper at Riverside. “Our qualifying effort really set the tone for the entire evening. I really like Riverside. That track fits my driving style, so things kinda fell into place pretty quickly.”

Finishing fourth at the final checkers behind Paul McMahan, Brad Sweet, and Daryn Pittman, Abreu, driver of the Rico Abreu Racing/Abreu Vineyards/Alpinestars/Lucas Oil/Rhino Wipe/Priority Aviation/No. 24 sprint car, kicked-off his evening at The Ditch by recording the third fastest time during qualifying time trials, ultimately earning the pole position for heat race number three. Abreu’s eventual heat race victory setup a Craftsman Club Dash appearance where he finished third, his soon-to-be feature starting position.

During other recent World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series starts, Rico Abreu finished 12th at Arizona (Ariz.) Speedway on Saturday, April 7, followed by a 16th place finish at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 in Pevely, Mo., on Saturday, April 21. Although finishing just outside of the top-ten, Abreu’s Arizona Speedway finish was the result of a charge from row ten, actually battling within the top-ten before settling for 12th at the final checkers.

Abreu was scheduled to compete with the World of Outlaws at the Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt, Ind., on Sunday, April 22, but inclement weather just before hot laps forced the program to be cancelled.

Up next on the schedule, Rico Abreu will make his first Ohio appearance of the 2018 season, ready to invade Mansfield Motor Speedway in Mansfield, Ohio, for the inaugural Sprint Car World Championship on Friday and Saturday, April 27-28. The sprint car spectacular, officially getting underway with a full practice round on Thursday, April 26, will award a $100,000 top prize on Saturday night.

Abreu is certainly no stranger to Mansfield Motor Speedway, winning at the state-of-the-art, recently rejuvenated facility with a last lap pass over Spencer Bayston during a Triple Crown Series event in July of 2017.

On a special note, the Rico Abreu Racing merchandise van will be on the Mansfield Motor Speedway grounds during the entire Sprint Car World Championship program.