Rico Wires The Field; Abreu Wins First All Star Sprint A-Main Of 2020 At Muskingum Co.

Story By: TYLER ALTMEYER / ALL STAR CIRCUIT OF CHAMPIONS – DRESDEN, OH – Snapping an Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 winless streak that dates back to Atomic Speedway on August 25, 2017, St. Helena, California’s Rico Abreu demolished the field on Thursday evening at Muskingum County Speedway, eventually leading all 30 circuits from the pole position to score night six of Cometic Gasket Ohio Sprint Speedweek presented by Hercules Tires.

Abreu, driver of the Rico Abreu/Curb-Agajanian Racing/Abreu Vineyards/Lucas Oil Products/Curb Records/Self Made Racing/Dancer Logistics/No. 24 sprint car, was just shy of perfect during his visit to the Dresden, Ohio, highbanks with his only defeat during the entire program coming in the form of a runner-up performance during his respective heat race. The now eight-time All Star Circuit of Champions feature winner, two of which occurring during Ohio Sprint Speedweek, set the fastest qualifying time in his respective group of qualifiers, and won the first of two dashes, ultimately setting up his pole position.

Eventually escaping to a comfortable margin of victory that reached nearly a full straightaway, Abreu did encounter some pressure during the non-stop 30-lap contest, most of which in the form of lapped traffic. Although reaching slower cars by lap seven, it was not until lap 12 when things started to really bunch up in front of the familiar No. 24. The high speed roadblock allowed fellow frontrunners Aaron Reutzel and Shane Stewart to close the lead gap, all within just a few car lengths by lap 15.

Although intense for a moment, the pressure faded just as rapidly as it started, as Abreu was able to patiently navigate slower cars and padd his lead to a pair of lappers by lap 22.

“Patience was keen there when we got to lapped traffic. You got guys like Aaron Reutzel, Shane Stewart, Kyle Larson behind you; you gotta really hustle it,” an elated Rico Abreu said in victory lane. “My car had a really good right rear squeeze to it, so I could carry a lot of momentum to the center of the corner then just kinda back everything up getting off. My guys did a phenomenal job. They worked all night long and made little tweaks every time we got off of the track. It’s all based on communication with them and making sure you’re giving them the right feedback. I feel like we hit all of our steps tonight.

“A big thanks to all of the fans for coming out tonight. It’s a Thursday night, so it’s great to see a healthy crowd. I’m looking forward to racing the rest of the week with the All Stars. It’s a lot of fun getting to race with them.”

Shane Stewart worked his way around Aaron Reutzel to claim second with two laps remaining. Reutzel, the current Ohio Sprint Speedweek points leader, maintained third at the final checkers, followed by Kyle Larson and Josh Baughman.

What’s Next:
Tony Stewart’s Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 will continue the 2020 edition of Cometic Gasket Ohio Sprint Speedweek presented by Hercules Tires with a visit to Portsmouth Raceway Park in Portsmouth, Ohio. Home to the Dean Knittel Memorial, the Friday night showstopper will award a $15,554 top prize.

Contingency Awards/Results: Muskingum Co. Speedway – July 9, 2020:
Event: Cometic Gasket Ohio Sprint Speedweek presented by Hercules Tires
Entries: 31
C&R Racing Warm-Ups: Kyle Larson – 12.945
Lincoln Electric Fast Qualifier: Zeb Wise – 13.235
Ford Performance Heat #1 Winner: Aaron Reutzel
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #2 Winner: Brent Marks
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #3 Winner: Cale Conley
Mobil 1 Heat #4 Winner: Josh Baughman
Kear’s Speed Shop Dash #1 Winner: Rico Abreu
Elliott’s Custom Trailers & Carts Dash #2 Winner: Aaron Reutzel
Classic Ink USA Screenprinting & Embroidery B-Main Winner: Henry Malcuit
Rayce Rudeen Foundation First Non-Transfer: Jordan Ryan
Ollie’s Bargain Outlet A-Main Winner: Rico Abreu
Hercules Tire A-Main Hard Charger: Chad Kemenah (+6)

Qualifying

Group (A)
1. 11-Zeb Wise, 13.235; 2. 57-Kyle Larson, 13.373; 3. 71-Shane Stewart, 13.474; 4. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 13.489; 5. 70M-Henry Malcuit, 13.905; 6. O7-Gerard McIntyre, 14.036; 7. 22B-Ryan Broughton, 14.105; 8. 19R-Jordan Ryan, 15.090

Group (B)
1. 5-Brent Marks, 13.530; 2. 99-Skylar Gee, 13.786; 3. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg, 13.958; 4. 13-Paul McMahan, 14.079; 5. 70-Sye Lynch, 14.126; 6. 40i-Mark Imler, 14.822; 7. 6-Frank Rodgers, 99.340; 8. 15k-Chad Kemenah, 99.430

Group (C)
1. 26-Cory Eliason, 13.877; 2. 28-Tim Shaffer, 13.951; 3. 12n-Joey Saldana, 14.052; 4. 3C-Cale Conley, 14.121; 5. 35-Stuart Brubaker, 14.214; 6. 4S-Tyler Street, 14.301; 7. W20-Greg Wilson, 14.654; 8. 18J-RJ Jacobs, 14.683

Group (D)
1. 24-Rico Abreu, 14.024; 2. 17-Josh Baughman, 14.446; 3. 5h-Jordan Harble, 14.539; 4. 3J-Trey Jacobs, 14.565; 5. 25-Chris Myers, 14.569; 6. 2L-Landon Lalonde, 14.682; 7. 15-Mitch Harble, 15.152

Heat #1 – Group (A) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 87-Aaron Reutzel [1]; 2. 57-Kyle Larson [3]; 3. 71-Shane Stewart [2]; 4. 11-Zeb Wise [4]; 5. O7-Gerard McIntyre [6]; 6. 22B-Ryan Broughton [7]; 7. 19R-Jordan Ryan [8]; 8. 70M-Henry Malcuit [5]

Heat #2 – Group (B) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 5-Brent Marks [4]; 2. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [2]; 3. 13-Paul McMahan [1]; 4. 99-Skylar Gee [3]; 5. 15K-Chad Kemenah [8]; 6. 70-Sye Lynch [5]; 7. 40I-Mark Imler [6]; 8. 6-Frank Rodgers [7]

Heat #3 – Group (C) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 3C-Cale Conley [1]; 2. 12N-Joey Saldana [2]; 3. 28-Tim Shaffer [3]; 4. 26-Cory Eliason [4]; 5. 4S-Tyler Street [6]; 6. W20-Greg Wilson [7]; 7. 35-Stuart Brubaker [5]; 8. 18J-RJ Jacobs [8]

Heat #4 – Group (D) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 17-Josh Baughman [3]; 2. 24-Rico Abreu [4]; 3. 5H-Jordan Harble [2]; 4. 3J-Trey Jacobs [1]; 5. 15-Mitch Harble [7]; 6. 2L-Landon Lalonde [6]; 7. 25-Chris Myers [5]

Dash #1 (4 Laps)
1. 24-Rico Abreu [2]; 2. 11-Zeb Wise [1]; 3. 57-Kyle Larson [4]; 4. 17-Josh Baughman [5]; 5. 99-Skylar Gee [3]

Dash #2 (4 Laps)
1. 87-Aaron Reutzel [1]; 2. 71-Shane Stewart [2]; 3. 5-Brent Marks [3]; 4. 26-Cory Eliason [5]; 5. 3C-Cale Conley [4]

B-Main (10 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 70M-Henry Malcuit [1]; 2. W20-Greg Wilson [4]; 3. 22B-Ryan Broughton [2]; 4. 35-Stuart Brubaker [6]; 5. 19R-Jordan Ryan [9]; 6. 70-Sye Lynch [3]; 7. 2L-Landon Lalonde [5]; 8. 18J-RJ Jacobs [10]; 9. 40I-Mark Imler [8]

A-Main (30 Laps)
1. 24-Rico Abreu [1]; 2. 71-Shane Stewart [4]; 3. 87-Aaron Reutzel [2]; 4. 57-Kyle Larson [5]; 5. 17-Josh Baughman [7]; 6. 5-Brent Marks [6]; 7. 11-Zeb Wise [3]; 8. 3C-Cale Conley [10]; 9. 26-Cory Eliason [8]; 10. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [11]; 11. 12N-Joey Saldana [12]; 12. 99-Skylar Gee [9]; 13. 28-Tim Shaffer [13]; 14. 15K-Chad Kemenah [20]; 15. 13-Paul McMahan [14]; 16. W20-Greg Wilson [22]; 17. O7-Gerard McIntyre [17]; 18. 4S-Tyler Street [18]; 19. 35-Stuart Brubaker [24]; 20. 3J-Trey Jacobs [16]; 21. 5H-Jordan Harble [15]; 22. 70M-Henry Malcuit [21]; 23. 22B-Ryan Broughton [23]; 24. 15-Mitch Harble [19] Lap Leaders: Rico Abreu (1-30)