Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
Moderators: dirtonly  /  dmantx  /  hosehead

This is not a Rico bashing thread, but I am curious why his name is so often in the list with the current greats. I know he is popular. I know what he did for Jac and Sides. I'm not questioning his character as a human being. On the Kings Royal thread his is listed with other drivers who have a very legitimate chance of winning one KR. Other threads list him as a potential winner of almost every track he appears at. Many nights he is making the A from the B. Anyone can win on any night. He probably has superior equipment. According to Sprint Car Ratings he finishes in the top 5 only 40% of the time. So is there some mojo from the past we are expecting to sho up soon or why is he listed with Sweet, Schuchart and Larson so often?

Even though I may not know you, I 
care what most of you think!

He's down a little this year but Eldora is a different animal.  Sometimes you don't have to be spot on with everything you just need a motor that cranks and have huge balls. I know he'll have a couple freshies for this week and Eldora is his favorite track and runs well there. Never said he was a great. Said he could win at Eldora. He almost has a few times.

I've seen Rico race in person multiple times and would agree he's a thread to win. IDK what his stats are this year but he's been fast at the tracks I've seen  him.

Keep It Real

Didnt he get hurt a while back?  Did he ever fully recover from that?

Got a pretty bad concussion several years back at 4 Crown I believe and had to take the rest of the year off. Ever since then his performance/results have not been what they were prior to that so not sure if it is coincidence or not. There was a point in time that when Rico showed up especially at Eldora that he was going to be a threat to win. For a couple of years it seemed like he was struggling to get the results he was use to and last year it seemed like he was somewhat getting back to form with how he was running. I was at the All Star show at Attica in August when he won and he drove a heck of a race that night. I think Silva had been his crew chief for a lot of his early 410 success so not sure when he stopped but I am sure that had a factor into the performance as well.

Seems like Rico was more consistently fast before he went and raced NASCAR trucks.   I know he was injured and had to recover, so maybe that played into things too.  I like to see Rico up front.   

Not taking anything away from Rico, but having Paul Silva turn the wrenches helped a lot.

Part of what made him a favorite for a lot of people was how approachable he was and some of the antics we would see pics of.  Just a regular guy having a beer with fans and selling mullet hats.  This is just an observation but I noticed that he got a buzz job and has been more "corporate" this year.  Maybe it's my imagination but he seems more serious about his racing from a representing sponsors perspective.

Stan Meissner

Several years ago, Rico, along with his buddy Kyle Larson, was one of "the next big things". He won 2014 USAC Midget Championship & 2 Chili Bowls, where they compete against over 300 drivers from all types of racing. I don't live anywhere near a dirt track, but I've seen him win quite a few times (4 Crown Midgets, also leading Allstar race before he spun out, among others)

He hasn't been as good since his serious injury, but he's always a threat....

Rico is a threat to win anywhere against anyone. He hasn't been as consistently good the past couple of years but has still shown the ability to tow into any track against anyone and run up front. He could probably pad his stats a lot more if he ran weekly in PA or something but he mostly runs big races against better competition.

Yea, I don't think he gets enough of the credit for the performance of the cars that he wrenches.

It looks like his average start and finish are both close to 10 but that's not the whole story. Obviously has a considerable number of top 9 finishes. Frequently it takes more to win one of these races than just driver skill. I think he could have easily won six races this year. How much has he spent on racing expenses this year?

Within hearing distance of Tri City Speedway

Oh, I'd guess about 60-70 bottles of wine's worth.

+ 1

Silva might be the best wrench out there but Rico does just fine without Paul on the car. It's crazy how much sprint car racing really is flavor of the week. Rico had a helluva year last year.