Rico Abreu in action Wednesday at Tulsa Expo Raceway. (Richard Bales Photo)
Rico Abreu in action Wednesday at Tulsa Expo Raceway. (Richard Bales Photo)
Other Midgets

CHILI BOWL NOTES: Abreu Gets His Elbows Up

January 13, 2022

TULSA, Okla. — Keith Kunz has a habit of speaking with his body language and Wednesday night was no exception.

Kunz, who owns the midget Rico Abreu piloted to victory in Wednesday’s Hard Rock Casino Qualifying Night, was using his own form of signals to communicate with Abreu during the feature.

“He gives me the same signals every year,” Abreu said with a light laugh. “It’s like this elbows up, let’s get going mentality to pump me up a little bit. In those situations I tend to stay as calm as I can to be honest even if I’m going to get passed.”

Kunz was likely trying to let Abreu know that he was being pressured by 19-year-old Chase Randall, who gave Abreu a run for his money late in the feature before Randall jumped the cushion and faded to a seventh-place finish.

Abreu said in those situations, the key is to remain calm and not overreact or overdrive the car.

“Obviously Keith was giving me a signal that I was being pressured and I knew I was being pressured. You can sense that as a driver,” Abreu said. “It’s how critical those mistakes become at those times. As you could see towards the end of the race my pace slowed down because I was trying to minimize my mistakes.

“You’ve just got to stay calm in those circumstances and at the end of the day the best car is going to win the race.”

• In a surprise announcement Wednesday evening, two-time NHRA Funny Car champion Cruz Pedregon revealed he compete in Friday’s Driven2SaveLives Qualifying Night.

Pedregon made the announcement in a Twitter post, where he confirmed he will drive the No. 79m midget owned by Ryan Hall.

 

This will not be Pedregon’s first experience at the Chili Bowl. He’s competed in the event six times before, most recently in 2010. His best finish came in 2007, when he finished 12th in the second E main.

In addition to competing himself, Pedregon is also fielding an entry for driver A.J. Bender. Bender finished fifth in the first B main Tuesday night.

• Wednesday was a rough day for five-time Chili Bowl champion Sammy Swindell.

Swindell failed to complete a lap in his heat race after being collected in a crash at the start. As a result, Swindell was forced to try and race his way to the preliminary feature from the D main.

He advanced out his D main with a second-place finish and was racing for the fourth and final transfer spot in C main when he made contact with Caleb Saiz, who spun. 

Chili Bowl officials disqualified Swindell for rough driving, handing the final transfer spot to Steven Shebester. As a result of the disqualification, Swindell will start his run through the alphabet soup on Saturday from the N main.

• C.J. Sarna made an impressive save during Wednesday’s sixth heat race. 

Sarna was battling Mike Woodruff for position when the two made contact down the backstretch. Sarna turned to the right and was struck a second time by Woodruff, which sent Sarna into the air and nearly up on his lid.

Somehow Sarna’s car landed on all four wheels and, after getting a shot from Jacob Perry, Sarna quickly got back in the gas and kept going. Fans in the stands gave Sarna a loud round of applause for the impressive feat. 

• Tyler Thomas looked well on his way to victory in the fourth heat, then everything unraveled in an instant. 

As he made his way through turns three and four on the final lap, Thomas caught the berm on the inside of the track and spun out. That gifted the lead to Blake Hahn while Thomas ultimately finished sixth.

His luck didn’t improve much later in the evening. After transferring from the second C main into a B main, Thomas was involved in multiple incidents and ultimately finished eighth. 

• The World Wide Technology Raceway Flip Count stands at 23 at the conclusion of Wednesday’s action, with Taylor Reimer being the final victim of the day during the 30-lap main event.