Rico Abreu Displays Success During Ohio Sprint Speedweek; PA Speedweek Begins Friday

Story By: TYLER ALTMEYER / RICO ABREU RACING – ST. HELENA, CA – Rico Abreu’s 2018 campaign officially hit high gear during the recent week, joining the All Star Circuit of Champions for Ohio Sprint Speedweek on June 15-23. The St. Helena, Cali., native earned four top-ten finishes during competition in the Buckeye State, finishing as high as fourth during action at Sharon Speedway.

Abreu’s first top-ten finish of the week occurred at the World’s Greatest Dirt Track – Eldora Speedway – on Saturday, June 16, climbing ahead from 17th to finish tenth at the end of 30 circuits. The top-ten was a major confidence booster for Abreu, as he was injured during action at Eldora Speedway near the end of the 2017 season.

Following a pair of tough starts at Waynesfield Raceway Park and Wayne County Speedway on Sunday and Monday where Abreu finished 16th and 20th, respectively, the California ace would rebound in a big way by finishing fourth at Sharon Speedway on Tuesday. Abreu battled near the front the entire distance, eventually chasing Danny Dietrich, Kyle Larson, and Christopher Bell to the final checkers.

After a stretch of wet weather that forced the cancellation of events at Muskingum County Speedway and Limaland Motorsports Park, Abreu ended his Ohio Sprint Speedweek campaign with a pair of top-ten finishes at Atomic Speedway on Saturday, June 23. Abreu kicked-off the evening by finishing seventh during Atomic Speedway’s make-up feature (originally slated for Wednesday, but was called off as feature cars were beginning to stage). The top-ten finish was the result of a charge from 19th on the grid, forced to start near the tail as the result of winning the program’s B-main.

Abreu ended Ohio Sprint Speedweek officially with a ninth place run during the inaugural Rick Ferkel Classic main event later that evening, the result of another charge through the field, this time starting from the inside of row seven.

“That was a lot of fun,” Rico Abreu explained, driver of the Abreu Vineyards/Alpinestars/Lucas Oil/Rhino Wipe/Priority Aviation/Howard Johnson of Lima/No. 24 sprint car. “We definitely needed a week like that. We were up against nearly 50 cars every night. Nothing is a guarantee against that level of competition. I’m proud of my team and what we were able to accomplish. We are learning more and more every time we are on the track. That first win of the season is coming soon. We are well overdue.”

With Ohio Sprint Speedweek in the books, Rico Abreu will turn his attention from the Buckeye State to the Keystone State, anxious to begin Pennsylvania Sprint Speedweek competition on Friday evening, June 29. Abreu will enter all ten of the Speedweek events on the schedule, set to visit seven tracks including Williams Grove Speedway, Lincoln Speedway, Port Royal Speedway, Path Valley Speedway, Hagerstown Speedway, Selinsgrove Speedway, and Grandview Speedway. Each event will award a minimum of $5,000.