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Abreu Scores Seventh In Ocean Taco Bravo Feature
15th With 360 In KWS Tulare Event
Watsonville and Tulare, CA – May 13 and 14th, 2011. Looking to continue his recent run of solid finishes in the Taco Bravo 360 Sprint Car Series, sprint car neophyte Rico Abreu did just that as he drove to his third top 10 in a row by finishing seventh Friday night at Watsonville’s Ocean Speedway. Then, looking for additional seat time on Saturday night, Abreu took on the 410 stars of the King of the West Sprint Car Series with his 360 at Tulare’s Thunderbowl Raceway and came home with a respectable 15th place finish in the 30 car field.
At Ocean’s scenic seaside facility Abreu timed in fifth quick of the 24 cars on hand, before starting third and finishing there in heat number two. With the heat race result Abreu transferred directly to the night’s 30 lap headliner.
When the zero inversion pill was drawn, Abreu, in the Abreu Vineyards/Stadelhofer Construction #89 prepared by Kaeding Performance, was placed fifth on the feature grid. Fast time qualifier Ronnie Day took the lead from the pole as Shane Golobic, Justin Sanders, Brent Kaeding, and Abreu – the top five qualifiers in order – fell in line on the rough, tricky surface. The lead group stayed in that sequence over the fist 12 laps, all the while dicing through lapped traffic.
On lap 13 Tim Kaeding finally broke the stranglehold on the top five as he drove by Abreu, who was also passed on the same lap by the third Kaeding in the field, Bud. A lap later Abreu returned the favor and retook sixth from the youngest Kaeding.
While racing in heavy lapped traffic on lap 17 Abreu got shuffled to the outside in turns three and four and lost three positions to Cowboy Craig Smith, defending Taco Bravo champion Tommy Tarlton, and Bud Kaeding . Before he could fully recover, fellow Rookie of the Year contender Tommy Laliberte also scooted past on the next lap.
A lap later Laliberte’s night came to an end as he flipped in turn four. On the ensuing restart things began to get interesting as Day bicycled in turn two and handed the lead to Golobic, while Sanders also got by. Following a yellow flag on lap 23, restarts turned ugly as first Sanders, then Tim Kaeding, had contact with the lapped car of Carter Train. Both showed their displeasure to Train under yellow, and Kaeding left the race at that point, while Sanders restarted at the back.
Abreu, from St. Helena, California, benefitted from their misfortune and moved into seventh when action resumed. He held the position over the last handful of laps and took the checkered, solidifying his grasp on third place in the point standings for the 2011 Taco Bravo Series championship, trailing only Day and Tarlton.
The next night at Tulare saw Abreu, one of only two 360’s in the field of 410 regulars, stop the clocks with the 18th quickest time of the 30 cars pitted. Starting fifth, behind the inversion in the second heat race, Abreu held his own as he kept up with the pack and pressured Andy Gregg over the last laps for the fourth and last transfer spot into the main event. Just short of making the feature, the 19 year old Abreu accomplished the task by taking the sixth and final transfer in the last chance qualifier race.
Starting shotgun in the 30 lapper on a wind whipped and very slick surface Abreu drove a heady race. Staying out of trouble and picking his spots to be aggressive Abreu finished on the lead lap, advancing past seven cars. He accomplished the goal of getting valuable seat time while putting his car on the trailer unscathed at the end of the night.
“Getting laps is so important for me at this stage of my career,” said Abreu in the pits afterwards. “I just try to learn every time out and finish the race. This weekend I couldn’t have two more different track surfaces to race on, but that is good for experience. Watsonville was rough and fast and Tulare was slicker than it usually is. But I got a lot of good advice about how to deal with each track from Clark Riolo and Matt Britt, who were setting my car up this weekend. We’ll take it and head to Hanford next week and look to get my first win there.”
Abreu’s racing efforts are sponsored by Abreu Vineyards, Stadelhofer Construction, Kaeding Performance and Swift Metals.
Visit www.ricoabreuracing.com for more information and news on Rico Abreu.
Starting 22nd, #89 Rico Abreu takes on the 410's with his 360 at Thunderbowl Raceway
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