West Coast Residents Trey Starks, Rico Abreu, Steal The Show At Williams Grove’s PA Speedweek Opener

Column By: RUSTY RHOADES / RPW – MECHANICSBURG, PA – When the checkers fell on night one of Pennsylvania 410 Sprint Speedweek at Williams Grove Speedway, the Keystone State natives were well-represented in the top 10 as usual. However, a couple of left coast pilots were the highlights of the evening.

Washington native Trey Starks made a powerful statement that he will be one to reckon with for the 2018 Speedweek points title all night long. He had himself at the top of the chart after time trials, drew the pole for the A main and led every single lap en route to the $5,300 combined payday.

Starks was pretty much the class of the field all race in Scott Gobrecht’s Textron #44. He took off from the front row at the beginning of the feature and got out to a huge lead, and the only time things got a little tight through lap traffic around mid-race, the caution came out and once again gave Starks that clean air he was so strong with.

Gobrecht told announcer Bruce Ellis in victory lane that the engine just came back from a tune up this week and the guys worked hard to get it back in, which made this win even sweeter.

He also gave very high praise to his driver, who has been sticking it out and traveling from coast to coast recently. Trey just returned East this week after traveling back for a big race in his home region last weekend.

Likewise, Starks was quick to praise his car owner, both for the strong ride and a place to stay! Trey informed the crowd that he’s also a tenant in Gobrecht’s spacious basement during long stints East like this upcoming Speedweek run requires when asked by Ellis where he currently resides after the win.

Greg Hodnett and Chad Trout spent alot of the feature in close proximity of each other in the top three, with Hodnett taking advantage of a restart with four laps left to steal second. Trout ran a very strong third. Aussie James McFadden looks like he’ll continue his solid PA Speedweek runs in the Highlands #3, finishing fourth while Brock Zearfoss rounded out the top five.

However, the driver to watch throughout the A Main was high powered West Coast invader Rico Abreu. The California resident charged all the way from his 17th starting spot up to 6th by the end of a race that didn’t see that much passing otherwise. Abreu is always a fan favorite when he pulls into the track, and almost always lives up to the exciting expectations people have with his high flying driving style. Friday night was no exception, as he had already rocketed into the top 10 before the halfway point! A couple strong moves on late restarts resulted in Abreu’s hard charger-earning top 6.

Next stop for the grueling Pennsylvania 410 Sprintweek tour is in the Pigeon Hills Saturday night at Lincoln Speedway.

410 sprints, 25 laps: 1. Trey Starks, 2. Greg Hodnett, 3. Chad Trout, 4. James McFAdden, 5. Brock Zearfoss, 6. Rico Abreu, 7. Brian Montieth, 8. Freddie Rahmer, 9. Cory Haas, 10. Gerard McIntyre Jr., 11. Steve Buckwalter, 12. Jimmy Siegel, 13. Lucas Wolfe, 14. Robbie Kendall, 15. Jared Esh, 16. Frankie Herr, 17. Adrian Shaffer, 18. Danny Dietrich, 19. Kyle Moody, 20. Jessie Attard, 21. Lance Deweaes, 22. Ryan Smith, 23. Rick Lafferty, 24. Mitchell Wormall

DNQ: Troy Fraker, Kody Lehman, Anthony Macri