Rico Abreu Ends PA Sprint Speedweek With Five Top-Ten Finishes

Story By: TYLER ALTMEYER / RICO ABREU RACING – ST. HELENA, CA – A campaign as long as it is demanding, Rico Abreu’s trek throughout the Keystone State for Pennsylvania Sprint Speedweek was filled with highs and lows, but mostly highs, ending the ten-day, ten-race schedule with five top-ten finishes during main event competition, two of which inside the top-five, and ending the week with a streak of three consecutive top-ten finishes from July 6 through July 8.

Abreu, driver of the Rico Abreu Racing/Abreu Vineyards/Alpinestars/Lucas Oil/Rhino Wipe/Priority Aviation/No. 24 sprint car, earned his top-ten performances during visits to Williams Grove Speedway on June 29 (6th), Lincoln Speedway on July 2 (3rd), Williams Grove Speedway again on July 6 (5th), Port Royal Speedway on July 7 (8th), and Selinsgrove Speedway on July 8 (9th).

Perhaps his most impressive performance of the week, Rico Abreu opened his 2018 Pennsylvania Sprint Speedweek campaign with a hard charge at Williams Grove Speedway, advancing from 17th on the feature grid to finish sixth at the final checkers. For Abreu, the result was important, lighting a fire of momentum that helped propel the California native through one of sprint car racing’s most grueling traditions.

Other impressive results during Speedweek include a podium run at the “Fabulous” Lincoln Speedway on July 2; Abreu’s first podium performance of the 2018 season. The former Chili Bowl Nationals champion battled near the front the entire distance only to be beaten by NASCAR Cup Series star Kyle Larson and Gettysburg’s Danny Dietrich.

As an interesting side note, Rico Abreu successfully completed two of sprint car racing’s most grueling traditions in the same season; Ohio Sprint Speedweek and Pennsylvania Sprint Speedweek. Abreu finished seventh in the final Pennsylvania Sprint Speedweek standings, the only non-regular Pennsylvania Posse competitor to finish inside the top-ten.

“It’s a long and tough deal, but Pennsylvania Sprint Speedweek is a fantastic experience. We enjoyed every minute of it,” Rico Abreu said, who is a prior main event winner during PA Sprint Speedweek competition at Selinsgrove Speedway. “To get all ten races in without any weather conflict is just amazing. The fans in Central Pennsylvania are second-to-none. They show me and my race team so much support which makes it almost impossible not to get excited about moving on to the next night. Hopefully things work out and we can do it again next year. It was a great experience, once again.”

Rico Abreu’s upcoming plans remain uncertain, but the tentative outlook is to join sprint car racing’s finest during the 35th Annual Kings Royal at Eldora Speedway on July 12-14. Abreu is certainly no stranger to one of the crown jewels of sprint car racing, finishing 11th during the 2017 edition after starting 13th on the grid. The St. Helena, Calif., native is also a former winner at the World’s Greatest Dirt Track, beating the All Star Circuit of Champions during a visit in 2016.