Two-Time Chili Bowl Champ Rico Abreu Partners With Rowdy Energy, Pit Pay App For ’21 Event
Story By: TYLER ALTMEYER / RICO ABREU RACING – MOORESVILLE, NC – Rowdy Energy, the enhanced hydration formula energy drink created by two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch, announced today that it will partner with Pit Pay, the only mobile pit pass app for the motorsports industry, to be co-primary sponsors for two-time Chili Bowl champion Rico Abreu’s entry in this year’s Chili Bowl Nationals.
The 35th annual running of the prestigious indoor event will take place Jan. 11-16 at the Tulsa Expo Raceway, a quarter-mile dirt track located inside the River Spirit Expo Center in Tulsa, Okla.
Abreu, who will once again compete for Keith Kunz Motorsports (KKM), captured back-to-back Chili Bowl titles for the Toyota powered organization in 2015 and 2016. Across 10 Chili Bowls, the 28-year-old driver has finished inside the top five in four of his eight A-Main appearances, including a fifth-place result last year.
“I’ve known Rico quite a few years now and we were texting back and forth and when the idea of sponsoring him in the Chili Bowl came up, I was interested and thought maybe Kyle (Busch) would be as well, so I reached out to him with the idea of co-sponsoring Rico to promote Pit Pay and Rowdy Energy,” said Frank Bolter, founder and owner of Pit Pay. “The Chili Bowl is an event that has a lot of eyes on it, but not only from race fans. It’s such a well-run event that track owners and promoters throughout the country are paying attention, so we felt it was a tremendous opportunity to gain exposure for our company as we look to increase the number of tracks around the country that use our mobile Pit Pay app in its second year.”
“Rico is a two-time Chili Bowl winner and one of the most popular drivers in all of dirt racing, so when Frank reached out to me about co-sponsoring his Toyota for this year’s event, I felt that it was a great opportunity for Rowdy Energy to be a part of this prestigious event with a driver that can deliver results for our brand both on and off the track,” said Kyle Busch, co-founder of Rowdy Energy.
“The Chili Bowl is one my favorite weeks of the racing season and I’m especially pumped up this year to have two new and exciting companies onboard my KKM Toyota,” Abreu said. “I feel like my style is a perfect fit for the Rowdy Energy brand and I’m confident we can help Kyle sell some product because during Chili Bowl week there will be a lot of the fans that need help staying hydrated and focused after they watch all the action in person or via the broadcast every night. The Pit Pay App makes the process of checking into tracks more efficient for grassroots racers and by increasing awareness of this technology I look forward to being able to use it at more tracks around the country this year.”
Abreu spent the majority of his 2020 season racing winged sprint cars, where he picked up two wins in the Midwest Open Wheel Association Sprint car Series, one win during Pennsylvania Sprint Speedweek and one win on the All Star Circuit of Champions. He made four Indiana Midget Week starts with KKM in June, with a best finish of sixth, and earned a top five in POWRi among his limited midget schedule this year.
Every lap of the preliminary Chili Bowl action from Monday, Jan. 11 through Saturday, Jan. 16 – heat races, qualifying features, the Race of Champions and Saturday’s “alphabet soup” qualifiers – will be streamed live to FloRacing (FloRacing.com) subscribers. The Chili Bowl Nationals C-, B- and A-mains on Saturday night, Jan. 16, will continue to air live on the MAVTV Motorsports Network and LucasOilRacing.tv.
