Rico Abreu masters Sprint Car Capital of the World for $8,000 All Star triumph
KNOXVILLE, Iowa (July 30, 2023) – Solidifying his name as a sure-fire favorite to capture the 2023 Knoxville Nationals crown, St. Helena, California’s Rico Abreu put on a show Saturday night at the Sprint Car Capital of the World, not only conquering Tezos All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 competition for the second time this season, but collecting an $8,000 payday in the process, ultimately etching his name as a Knoxville Raceway winner for the sixth time in his career. Abreu, ace of the ever-familiar Rico Abreu/Curb Agajanian Racing No. 24 sprint car, started sixth on Knoxville’s All Star grid, surging to the front in a hurry before taking command on lap 12 of 25.
Once earning the top spot, blasting by I-70 Motorsports Park winner and race-long leader, Buddy Kofoid, it was game over for the rest of the field, as even a caution three circuits later would not halt Abreu’s momentum. The recent Rayce Rudeen Foundation Race champion would cruise on to win by over three seconds.
Roth Motorsports’ Buddy Kofoid would race on to finish second, followed by Tea, South Dakota’s Justin Henderson, the “Big Unit” Austin McCarl, and “Blackjack” Brian Brown.
ON DECK:
The Tezos All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 will return to action with a New York/Pennsylvania triple on Friday through Sunday, August 18-20, visiting Outlaw Speedway in Dundee, New York, Utica-Rome Speedway in Vernon, New York, and Selinsgrove Speedway in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, in consecutive fashion. The events will award $8,000, $10,000, and $10,000, respectively.
For those who can not witness the All Star Circuit of Champions live and in person, FloRacing.com, the official media partner and broadcast provider of the All Stars, has you covered. To access live and on-demand racing action from the All Star Circuit of Champions, visit FloRacing.com and become an annual PRO subscriber. Race fans can see all the USAC and dirt late-model action they want in addition to Eldora Speedway’s slate of races and those of the All Star Circuit of Champions. The subscription unlocks access to premium content across the entire FloSports network. Watch the events across all screens by downloading the FloSports app on iOS, Android, Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire and Chromecast. Find subscription here: https://flosports.link/3XJOg5Z
Contingency Awards/Results: Knoxville Raceway | July 29, 2023:
$8,000-to-win
Kistler Racing Products Pill Draw | Entries: 51
Macri Concrete/Nunzi’s Advertising Hot Laps: Rico Abreu |15.820
Hercules Tires Fast Qualifier: Lynton Jeffrey | 15.802
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #1 Winner: Justin Sanders
Competition Suspension Inc Heat #2 Winner: Garet Williamson
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #3 Winner: Sam Hafertepe Jr.
Kistler Racing Products Heat #4 Winner: Austin McCarl
Mobil 1 Heat #5 Winner: Brian Brown
Elliott’s Custom Trailers and Carts Dash Winner: Buddy Kofoid
Classic Ink USA B-Main Winner: Tasker Phillips
Rayce Rudeen Foundation Contingency Award: Corey Day
Tezos A-Main Winner: Rico Abreu
Tezos A-Main Hard Charger: Kerry Madsen (+12)
Carquest Perseverance Award: Zeb Wise
Tezos A Feature (25 Laps): 1. 24-Rico Abreu[6]; 2. 83JR-Michael Kofoid[1]; 3. 1-Justin Henderson[3]; 4. 88-Austin McCarl[10]; 5. 21-Brian Brown[9]; 6. 7BC-Anthony Macri[2]; 7. 39M-Justin Sanders[4]; 8. 2M-Davey Heskin[14]; 9. 24W-Garet Williamson[5]; 10. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[8]; 11. 2KS-Chase Randall[19]; 12. 55-Kerry Madsen[24]; 13. 7TAZ-Tasker Phillips[21]; 14. 26-Zeb Wise[25]; 15. 3J-Dusty Zomer[18]; 16. 3P-Sawyer Phillips[17]; 17. 25-Lachlan McHugh[11]; 18. 4M-Ian Madsen[7]; 19. 17AU-Jamie Veal[13]; 20. 2-Lynton Jeffrey[22]; 21. 4-Chris Windom[26]; 22. (DNF) 9-Kasey Kahne[20]; 23. (DNF) 16TH-Parker Price Miller[16]; 24. (DNF) 3-Tim Kaeding[15]; 25. (DNF) 10-Scott Bogucki[12]; 26. (DNF) 4W-Jamie Ball[23] LAP LEADERS: Buddy Kofoid (1-11), Rico Abreu (12-25)
Classic Ink USA B Feature (12 Laps): 1. 7TAZ-Tasker Phillips[4]; 2. 2-Lynton Jeffrey[1]; 3. 4W-Jamie Ball[3]; 4. 55-Kerry Madsen[9]; 5. 14-Corey Day[15]; 6. 12X-Ayrton Gennetten[5]; 7. 21T-Cole Macedo[2]; 8. 8-Aaron Reutzel[13]; 9. 24T-Christopher Thram[8]; 10. 26-Zeb Wise[17]; 11. 45-Tim Shaffer[7]; 12. 95-Matt Covington[6]; 13. 7W-Dustin Selvage[18]; 14. 29-Sye Lynch[12]; 15. 44-Chris Martin[10]; 16. 45AU-Rusty Hickman[11]; 17. 101-Cody Maroske[16]; 18. (DNF) 20-AJ Moeller[14]
Computer Man C Feature (10 Laps): 1. 26-Zeb Wise[1]; 2. 7W-Dustin Selvage[3]; 3. 18T-Tanner Holmes[4]; 4. 22-Riley Goodno[11]; 5. 4-Chris Windom[8]; 6. 6B-Brandon Wimmer[2]; 7. 97-JJ Hickle[7]; 8. 16THH-Kevin Newton[5]; 9. 56-Joe Simbro[9]; 10. 9H-Landon Hansen[12]; 11. G5-Gage Pulkrabek[10]; 12. (DNS) 52-Blake Hahn; 13. (DNS) 67-Jonathan Hughes
Elliotts Custom Trailers and Carts Dash (6 Laps): 1. 83JR-Michael Kofoid[2]; 2. 7BC-Anthony Macri[3]; 3. 1-Justin Henderson[1]; 4. 39M-Justin Sanders[5]; 5. 24W-Garet Williamson[7]; 6. 24-Rico Abreu[8]; 7. 4M-Ian Madsen[4]; 8. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[10]; 9. 21-Brian Brown[9]; 10. 88-Austin McCarl[6]
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 39M-Justin Sanders[2]; 2. 7BC-Anthony Macri[1]; 3. 2M-Davey Heskin[5]; 4. 2KS-Chase Randall[3]; 5. 21T-Cole Macedo[6]; 6. 44-Chris Martin[9]; 7. 29-Sye Lynch[7]; 8. 16THH-Kevin Newton[11]; 9. 52-Blake Hahn[8]; 10. 28M-Conner Morrell[10]; 11. (DNS) 2-Lynton Jeffrey
CSI Shocks Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 24W-Garet Williamson[1]; 2. 24-Rico Abreu[4]; 3. 16TH-Parker Price Miller[3]; 4. 9-Kasey Kahne[2]; 5. 95-Matt Covington[6]; 6. 24T-Christopher Thram[5]; 7. 101-Cody Maroske[8]; 8. 18T-Tanner Holmes[7]; 9. 56-Joe Simbro[9]; 10. (DNF) 67-Jonathan Hughes[10]
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[1]; 2. 17AU-Jamie Veal[3]; 3. 3P-Sawyer Phillips[2]; 4. 4M-Ian Madsen[4]; 5. 12X-Ayrton Gennetten[8]; 6. 45AU-Rusty Hickman[6]; 7. 14-Corey Day[5]; 8. 6B-Brandon Wimmer[7]; 9. 4-Chris Windom[9]; 10. (DNF) 22-Riley Goodno[10]
Kistler Racing Products Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 88-Austin McCarl[1]; 2. 25-Lachlan McHugh[3]; 3. 3-Tim Kaeding[2]; 4. 1-Justin Henderson[4]; 5. 4W-Jamie Ball[5]; 6. 45-Tim Shaffer[6]; 7. 20-AJ Moeller[7]; 8. 7W-Dustin Selvage[9]; 9. (DNF) 97-JJ Hickle[8]; 10. (DNS) 15JR-Cole Mincer
Mobil 1 Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 21-Brian Brown[1]; 2. 10-Scott Bogucki[2]; 3. 3J-Dusty Zomer[6]; 4. 83JR-Michael Kofoid[4]; 5. 7TAZ-Tasker Phillips[3]; 6. 55-Kerry Madsen[7]; 7. 8-Aaron Reutzel[5]; 8. 26-Zeb Wise[8]; 9. G5-Gage Pulkrabek[10]; 10. 9H-Landon Hansen[9]
Hercules Tire Qualifying: 1. 2-Lynton Jeffrey, 00:15.802[7]; 2. 24-Rico Abreu, 00:15.804[18]; 3. 7BC-Anthony Macri, 00:15.971[6]; 4. 4M-Ian Madsen, 00:16.022[23]; 5. 39M-Justin Sanders, 00:16.040[9]; 6. 2KS-Chase Randall, 00:16.053[3]; 7. 24W-Garet Williamson, 00:16.104[20]; 8. 1-Justin Henderson, 00:16.111[36]; 9. 83JR-Michael Kofoid, 00:16.118[47]; 10. 2M-Davey Heskin, 00:16.121[8]; 11. 21-Brian Brown, 00:16.130[43]; 12. 88-Austin McCarl, 00:16.180[35]; 13. 3-Tim Kaeding, 00:16.187[38]; 14. 25-Lachlan McHugh, 00:16.189[40]; 15. 21T-Cole Macedo, 00:16.190[4]; 16. 10-Scott Bogucki, 00:16.191[46]; 17. 9-Kasey Kahne, 00:16.232[17]; 18. 4W-Jamie Ball, 00:16.234[34]; 19. 16TH-Parker Price Miller, 00:16.239[19]; 20. 7TAZ-Tasker Phillips, 00:16.255[45]; 21. 29-Sye Lynch, 00:16.310[2]; 22. 8-Aaron Reutzel, 00:16.315[42]; 23. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr, 00:16.320[30]; 24. 45-Tim Shaffer, 00:16.352[32]; 25. 24T-Christopher Thram, 00:16.358[16]; 26. 3P-Sawyer Phillips, 00:16.369[26]; 27. 17AU-Jamie Veal, 00:16.381[31]; 28. 20-AJ Moeller, 00:16.387[37]; 29. 14-Corey Day, 00:16.415[22]; 30. 3J-Dusty Zomer, 00:16.419[51]; 31. 52-Blake Hahn, 00:16.425[11]; 32. 55-Kerry Madsen, 00:16.437[49]; 33. 26-Zeb Wise, 00:16.446[50]; 34. 44-Chris Martin, 00:16.448[5]; 35. 45AU-Rusty Hickman, 00:16.479[24]; 36. 6B-Brandon Wimmer, 00:16.494[27]; 37. 12X-Ayrton Gennetten, 00:16.507[25]; 38. 97-JJ Hickle, 00:16.539[39]; 39. 95-Matt Covington, 00:16.558[13]; 40. 7W-Dustin Selvage, 00:16.558[33]; 41. 4-Chris Windom, 00:16.576[29]; 42. 18T-Tanner Holmes, 00:16.710[21]; 43. 22-Riley Goodno, 00:16.714[28]; 44. 28M-Conner Morrell, 00:16.837[1]; 45. 15JR-Cole Mincer, 00:16.886[41]; 46. 101-Cody Maroske, 00:16.958[15]; 47. 56-Joe Simbro, 00:17.246[14]; 48. 9H-Landon Hansen, 00:17.587[48]; 49. 67-Jonathan Hughes, 00:17.696[12]; 50. G5-Gage Pulkrabek, 00:17.792[44]; 51. 16THH-Kevin Newton, 00:17.867[10]
2023 All Star Circuit of Champions OWNER Standings (As of 7/29):
Rudeen Racing – 3834
Clauson Marshall Racing – 3826
Vermeer Motorsports – 3718
Lane Racing – 3644
Bryan Grove Racing – 3542
Seeling Motorsports – 3356
Bill McCandless Ford – 3306
D3 Motorsports Group – 3018
Premier Motorsports – 2224
2023 All Star Circuit of Champions DRIVER Standings (As of 7/29):
Zeb Wise – 3724
Chris Windom – 3644
Tim Shaffer – 3542
J.J. Hickle – 3356
Tyler Courtney – 3023
Conner Morrell – 3018
Sye Lynch – 2978
Parker Price-Miller – 2328
Scotty Thiel – 2114
Anthony Macri – 2066
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About the All Star Circuit of Champions:
All Star Enterprises, LLC, wholly owned by Tony Stewart, d/b/a the All Star Circuit of Champions, is a winged sprint car series. The All Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Car Series is one of the oldest traveling 410 sprint car organizations and is a staple of grassroots, open-wheel racing. Formed in 1970 by Bud Miller, the series has largely been considered the first ‘outlaw’ Sprint Car organization of the modern era. Motorsports entrepreneur Tony Stewart agreed to terms with Guy Webb to become the sole owner of the original winged sprint car tour in January of 2015.
Sources: Tyler Altmeyer/Tezos All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 PR
Photo: Chad Warner