ROSSBURG, Ohio — In convincing fashion, Rico Abreu secured his place in sprint car racing history books yet again, by scoring the FloRacing All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 portion of the annual 4-Crown Nationals at Eldora Speedway.
Abreu, now a three-time All Star winner at Eldora, led every circuit of the 30-lap contest, forced to withstand an early run in with traffic, as well as a late surge by Sam McGhee Motorsports’ Parker Price-Miller.
The 4-Crown Nationals triumph earned the West Coast invader a $6,000 payday, now a 10-time All Star winner over the course of his career.
Gaining four spots on the night, Parker Price Miller hung on to finish second at The Big E, followed by Ayrton Gennetten, Cap Henry, who climbed 11 positions, and Zeb Wise, who climbed an impressive 17 positions.
“I’m just so thankful for our supporters this year,” Abreu said. “We’ve been battling through some inconsistent runs. We ended up making a lot of changes to this car tonight…having to change motors last night kinda put us behind on being ready for tonight. But I have to thank all of my guys. It’s an honor to be standing in victory lane again at Eldora Speedway…this place is so special to me. The fans, too…I get to see all of these faces and spend time with you guys. I enjoy every minute that I get to race here.”
Lining up second on the A-Main grid, Abreu earned the initial jump, cruising ahead to a comfortable lead over the course of the first seven circuits. Traffic came into play by lap eight, but Abreu’s line around Eldora Speedway’s notoriously thin cushion proved to be no match for the onslaught of slower cars.
The main event’s first of two cautions appeared on lap 17 ultimately snapping Abreu’s near-straightaway advantage. When action returned, it was Buch Motorsports’ Justin Peck applying the pressure, working the bottom and center of turns three and four with the intent to gain an edge on Abreu’s Rowdy Energy No. 24. Despite his attempts, Abreu scooted away, only to be halted again by a caution on lap 25.
The ensuing restart would see Parker Price-Miller make a jump from fourth to second, simultaneously switching his focus to Abreu. Price-Miller showed Abreu his nose on a few occasions, but suffice it to say, Eldora’s victory lane stage belonged to Abreu.
“I could see (Price-Miller’s) shadow getting into turn one, but I knew he wasn’t getting a better run than me on the top,” Abreu noted. “The entry into the corner kept getting cleaner and cleaner. I knew if I could move down just a bit, I could get the car to stick a little bit better.”
The finish:
Feature (30 Laps): 1. 24-Rico Abreu [2]; 2. 11-Parker Price Miller [6]; 3. 3-Ayrton Gennetten [4]; 4. 4-Cap Henry [15]; 5. 10-Zeb Wise [22]; 6. 17B-Bill Balog [11]; 7. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [3]; 8. 81-Lee Jacobs [14]; 9. 5T-Travis Philo [12]; 10. 101-Cale Thomas [13]; 11. 5-Ian Madsen [10]; 12. 70-Sammy Swindell [7]; 13. 55V-CJ Leary [8]; 14. 13-Justin Peck [1]; 15. 2L-Landon Lalonde [23]; 16. 97-Greg Wilson [18]; 17. 49-Shawn Dancer [17]; 18. 55M-McKenna Haase [19]; 19. 16C-Robbie Price [16]; 20. 11N-Harli White [20]; 21. 19-Chris Windom [9]; 22. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [5]; 23. 26-Cory Eliason [21]; 24. 39-Tylar Rankin