WICHITA WARRIOR: Rico Abreu Rolls to Second Consecutive 81 Speedway Victory

Read Time:11 Minute, 54 Second

Trent Gower photo

March 31, 2024

Rico Abreu didn’t grow up racing at 81 Speedway. He doesn’t have many laps at the Kansas racetrack. But he continues to feel right at home at the 3/8-mile.

Two times Abreu has joined the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars for a night of racing at 81 Speedway. And two times he’s ended the night parked in Victory Lane. A year ago, the St. Helena, CA native debuted at the facility and led all 30 laps of the Feature on his path to victory. Nearly a year later to the date, Abreu again led The Greatest Show on Dirt for all 30 circuits to claim an 81 triumph in front of the largest crowd in track history.

This year’s win created a historic occasion. Abreu became the ninth different winner in the first nine races of the 2024 World of Outlaws season. The record heading into this year was eight different in 2015. The nation’s top Sprint Car Series has seen unprecedented parity in 2024 courtesy of Abreu’s victory. Oddly enough, Abreu was the eighth different winner in 2015 from the previous high mark.

“These are just very memorable wins,” Abreu said. “Back-to-back years. Nine winners in nine races. I think I was the eighth winner in the eighth race back in 2015 when that was going on. It just shows how hard we work at this stuff. We put in a lot of effort to this team on both the performance side and the marketing side. We just want to really elevate everything. It’s really good for the sport. It’s amazing to see this World of Outlaws race tonight sold out.”

Abreu is now up to 16 career World of Outlaws checkered flags. He joined Sammy Swindell (six wins) and Donny Schatz (two wins) as the only multi-time Series winners at 81 Speedway through 15 visits. The track also became the fifth in which Abreu owns multiple victories at joining Eldora Speedway, Thunderbowl Raceway, Silver Dollar Speedway, and Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55.

The race began with Abreu leading the field to green courtesy of topping the Toyota Racing Dash. Abreu faced an early challenge in the form of Michael “Buddy” Kofoid who started the main event in second. Abreu opted for the low line in the opening laps as Kofoid built momentum up top. Right when it looked like Kofoid might drive by Abreu he shifted his line to the cushion. The two nearly made contact but avoided trouble as Abreu maintained the top spot.

An early restart allowed Abreu the opportunity to give himself a bit of breathing room as a battle for second broke out. David Gravel began to challenge Kofoid and managed to slide him for the spot before Kofoid countered with a crossover. Another early caution interrupted their battle.

On the ensuing restart Logan Schuchart emerged as a contender as he ripped by Gravel for third and quickly started to catch Kofoid. On Lap 8 Schuchart threw a successful slider on Kofoid to grab second.

A restart with 19 laps remaining brought a scary moment as Giovanni Scelzi and Carson Macedo clipped wheels sending Scelzi on a wild tumble down the front straightaway. Scelzi hopped out of the car unharmed, but the moment caused a major shift in points as he went into the night tied for the lead and left third in the standings and 38 markers out of first.

Macedo managed to make it back out for the next restart after repairs were made to the rear end of the Jason Johnson Racing #41. Abreu continued to excel on restarts by pulling ahead yet again following the red flag. Gravel slid Kofoid for third, but Kofoid managed to cross him over before another yellow flag again put a stop to the battles.

The slider fest continued on the following restart when Gravel slid Schuchart to take the runner-up spot. Shortly after, Schuchart climbed the fence in Turns 1 and 2 but miraculously saved it before his car slowed to a stop and the yellow flew again.

The many cautions seemed to come at the perfect time for Abreu who would continue to be the beneficiary of clean air anytime the yellow flag necessitated a restart. Ultimately, Abreu went on to win by an advantage of nearly two seconds.

“The cautions kind of all fell in place every time we caught traffic, but that’s how some of these races go,” Abreu said. “You can’t give these guys behind you another opportunity to do something better and make a move. I was trying to change my restarts up. On the bottom, the closer I got to the tire, I could get squirt down the front stretch. Ricky (Warner), Zack (Middlebrooks), and Brady (Forbrook), they all just kind of work together on making this car better.”

David Gravel used a last lap pass on Donny Schatz to take the runner-up spot. The result marked back-to-back second place finishes for he and the Big Game Motorsports team. The Watertown, CT native came away happy with the result as he regained sole possession of the points lead.

“I thought he was going to go low or middle there on the last lap,” Gravel said of his late race battle with Schatz. “He went to the top, so I just kind of filled the gap there. I almost tried too hard there a couple restarts, jamming the cushion and getting the car out of shape. If I just followed Rico on the last restart on the top, I think I would’ve been better off.”

Rounding out the top three was Donny Schatz aboard the Tony Stewart/Curb Agajanian Racing #15. He brought home his third podium in the last five World of Outlaws races as his strong start to the season continues. He’s now the only driver with a top 10 in every race to this point. But even though the consistency is nice, Schatz wants to win.

“When you’re trying to win, you’re not really thinking about second or third.” Schatz said. “It’s all the same. All in all, a good night. We salvaged not getting Hot Laps. We ended up Qualiying well and just kind of battled a few gremlins all night long. My guys got a new race car built, so you’re going to have that. But past that, they did a great job.”

Sheldon Haudenschild and Buddy Kofoid completed the top five.

A 22nd to eighth driver gave Brock Zearfoss the KSE Racing Hard Charger.

Carson Macedo toppled 81 Speedway’s 20-year-old track record in Sea Foam Qualifying to take Simpson Quick Time for the second race in a row.

NOS Energy Drink Heats One, Three, and Four went to Buddy Kofoid (18th Heat Race win of career), Giovanni Scelzi (41st of career), and Landon Crawley (first of career). Milton Hershey Heat Two belonged to David Gravel (244th of career).

Jace Park won the Micro-Lite Last Chance Showdown.

UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars head to Missouri for the first time in 2024 where Osborn’s US 36 Raceway will host the Series along with the Xtreme Outlaw Midgets on Friday, April 5. The following night takes the tour to Colcord, OK’s Arrowhead Speedway for the $20,000-to-win Jason Johnson Classic. For tickets, CLICK HERE.

If you can’t make it to the track, catch every lap live on DIRTVision.

FEATURE RESULTS:

NOS Energy Drink Feature (30 Laps): 1. 24-Rico Abreu[1]; 2. 2-David Gravel[4]; 3. 15-Donny Schatz[12]; 4. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[13]; 5. 83-Michael Kofoid[2]; 6. 55-Chris Windom[18]; 7. 23-Garet Williamson[8]; 8. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[22]; 9. 41-Carson Macedo[7]; 10. 5T-Ryan Timms[16]; 11. 41S-Dominic Scelzi[23]; 12. 1S-Logan Schuchart[3]; 13. 45X-Jace Park[21]; 14. 21-Brian Brown[24]; 15. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[11]; 16. 1-Brenham Crouch[15]; 17. 3-Ayrton Gennetten[17]; 18. 70-Kraig Kinser[19]; 19. 7S-Landon Crawley[6]; 20. 87-Aaron Reutzel[9]; 21. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[5]; 22. 18T-Tanner Holmes[14]; 23. 95-Matt Covington[20]; 24. 17B-Bill Balog[10][Read More]

RESULTS

Feature Results

POS	Start	+/-	#	Driver	Behind	Status	Points	Money
1	1	0	24	Rico Abreu	0.000	Running	150	$12,000
2	4	+2	2	David Gravel	-1.804	Running	146	$8,000
3	12	+9	15	Donny Schatz	-2.615	Running	144	$5,000
4	13	+9	17	Sheldon Haudenschild	-2.765	Running	142	$3,200
5	2	-3	83	Michael Kofoid	-4.514	Running	140	$2,800
6	18	+12	55	Chris Windom	-10.059	Running	138	$2,600
7	8	+1	23	Garet Williamson	-10.168	Running	136	$2,400
8	22	+14	3Z	Brock Zearfoss	-12.011	Running	134	$2,300
9	7	-2	41	Carson Macedo	-12.151	Running	132	$2,200
10	16	+6	5T	Ryan Timms	-13.526	Running	130	$2,000
11	23	+12	41S	Dominic Scelzi	-13.886	Running	128	$1,800
12	3	-9	1S	Logan Schuchart	-14.166	Running	126	$1,600
13	21	+8	45X	Jace Park	-14.843	Running	124	$1,400
14	24	+10	21	Brian Brown	-15.575	Running	122	$1,200
15	11	-4	15H	Sam Hafertepe Jr	-0.937	Running	120	$1,200
16	15	-1	1	Brenham Crouch	-1.050	Running	118	$1,200
17	17	0	3	Ayrton Gennetten	-1.742	Running	116	$1,200
18	19	+1	70	Kraig Kinser	-3.684	Running	114	$1,200
19	6	-13	7S	Landon Crawley	-8.881	Running	112	$1,200
20	9	-11	87	Aaron Reutzel	485.995	Running	110	$1,200
21	5	-16	18	Giovanni Scelzi	1,016.549	Running	108	$1,200
22	14	-8	18T	Tanner Holmes	1,246.480	Running	106	$1,200
23	20	-3	95	Matt Covington	1,589.214	Running	104	$1,200
24	10	-14	17B	Bill Balog	1,589.214	Running	102	$1,200

KSE Hard Charger: Brock Zearfoss

Last Chance Showdown Results

POS	Start	+/-	#	Driver	Behind	Status	Points	Money
1	1	0	45X	Jace Park	0.000	Running	150	$0
2	4	+2	3Z	Brock Zearfoss	-0.692	Running	146	$0
3	8	+5	41S	Dominic Scelzi	-1.109	Running	144	$0
4	2	-2	21	Brian Brown	-1.713	Running	142	$0
5	10	+5	1A	Jacob Allen	-2.223	Running	140	$500
6	12	+6	36	Jason Martin	-3.200	Running	138	$400
7	13	+6	2C	Wayne Johnson	-4.346	Running	136	$350
8	9	+1	73	Scotty Thiel	-4.502	Running	134	$300
9	11	+2	G5	Gage Pulkrabek	-4.784	Running	132	$300
10	6	-4	88	Austin McCarl	-5.428	Running	130	$300
11	7	-4	16G	Austyn Gossel	-5.440	Running	128	$200
12	3	-9	52	Blake Hahn	156.691	Running	126	$200
13	5	-8	12X	Carson McCarl	318.094	Running	124	$200
14	14	0	J2	John Carney II	526.229	Running	122	$200

Dash 1 Results

POS	Start	+/-	#	Driver	Behind	Status	Money
1	1	0	24	Rico Abreu	0.000	Running	$0
2	3	+1	83	Michael Kofoid	-2.492	Running	$0
3	2	-1	1S	Logan Schuchart	-2.870	Running	$0
4	4	0	2	David Gravel	-3.236	Running	$0
5	5	0	18	Giovanni Scelzi	-3.689	Running	$0
6	7	+1	7S	Landon Crawley	-5.682	Running	$0
7	8	+1	41	Carson Macedo	-6.673	Running	$0
8	6	-2	23	Garet Williamson	-7.709	Running	$0

C Main Results

POS	Start	+/-	#	Driver	Behind	Status	Points	Money
1	1	0	2C	Wayne Johnson	0.000	Running	150	$0
2	5	+3	J2	John Carney II	-1.195	Running	146	$0
3	2	-1	2B	Brett Becker	-2.028	Running	144	$150
4	6	+2	6	Bill Rose	-3.041	Running	142	$150
5	4	-1	29	Emilio Hoover	-5.286	Running	140	$150
6	8	+2	6G	Bryan Gossel	-5.737	Running	138	$125
7	7	0	88R	Ryder Laplante	72.129	Running	136	$125
8	3	-5	17H	Wout Hoffmans	197.802	Running	134	$125
9	9	0	3B	Baron Silva	236.443	DNS	132	$125

Heat 1 Results

Pos.	Start	+/-	#	Driver	Behind	Status
1	2	+1	83	Michael Kofoid	0.000	Running
2	1	-1	41	Carson Macedo	-1.416	Running
3	3	0	87	Aaron Reutzel	-3.103	Running
4	5	+1	17	Sheldon Haudenschild	-3.796	Running
5	4	-1	3	Ayrton Gennetten	-6.193	Running
6	6	0	45X	Jace Park	-8.202	Running
7	7	0	12X	Carson McCarl	-9.691	Running
8	10	+2	73	Scotty Thiel	-10.655	Running
9	9	0	2C	Wayne Johnson	-11.352	Running
10	8	-2	J2	John Carney II	-12.367	Running
11	11	0	3B	Baron Silva	-12.367	Running

Heat 2 Results

Pos.	Start	+/-	#	Driver	Behind	Status
1	1	0	2	David Gravel	0.000	Running
2	2	0	24	Rico Abreu	-2.051	Running
3	3	0	15H	Sam Hafertepe Jr	-3.137	Running
4	4	0	1	Brenham Crouch	-4.568	Running
5	5	0	70	Kraig Kinser	-5.769	Running
6	7	+1	52	Blake Hahn	-6.483	Running
7	8	+1	16G	Austyn Gossel	-7.471	Running
8	6	-2	G5	Gage Pulkrabek	-7.930	Running
9	10	+1	17H	Wout Hoffmans	19.864	Running
10	9	-1	88R	Ryder Laplante	198.764	Running

Heat 3 Results

Pos.	Start	+/-	#	Driver	Behind	Status
1	1	0	18	Giovanni Scelzi	0.000	Running
2	2	0	23	Garet Williamson	-2.934	Running
3	4	+1	17B	Bill Balog	-4.848	Running
4	3	-1	18T	Tanner Holmes	-5.252	Running
5	7	+2	55	Chris Windom	-7.503	Running
6	6	0	3Z	Brock Zearfoss	-8.285	Running
7	5	-2	21	Brian Brown	-8.332	Running
8	8	0	1A	Jacob Allen	-9.646	Running
9	9	0	2B	Brett Becker	-11.469	Running
10	10	0	6	Bill Rose	-13.153	Running

Heat 4 Results

Pos.	Start	+/-	#	Driver	Behind	Status
1	1	0	7S	Landon Crawley	0.000	Running
2	3	+1	1S	Logan Schuchart	-2.098	Running
3	2	-1	15	Donny Schatz	-2.722	Running
4	4	0	5T	Ryan Timms	-3.192	Running
5	5	0	95	Matt Covington	-4.651	Running
6	6	0	88	Austin McCarl	-4.813	Running
7	7	0	41S	Dominic Scelzi	-5.711	Running
8	8	0	36	Jason Martin	-6.781	Running
9	10	+1	29	Emilio Hoover	158.197	Running
10	9	-1	6G	Bryan Gossel	171.074	Running

Qualifying Flight 1 Results

POS	Start	Car	Driver	Hometown	Time	Difference
1	16	41	Carson Macedo	Lemoore, CA	13.023	0.000
2	12	2	David Gravel	Watertown, CT	13.138	-0.115
3	17	83	Michael Kofoid	Penngrove, CA	13.147	-0.124
4	20	24	Rico Abreu	St. Helena, CA	13.182	-0.159
5	5	87	Aaron Reutzel	Clute, TX	13.218	-0.195
6	11	15H	Sam Hafertepe Jr	Sunnyvale, TX	13.263	-0.240
7	15	3	Ayrton Gennetten	Versailles, MO	13.288	-0.265
8	9	1	Brenham Crouch	Lubbock, TX	13.308	-0.285
9	8	17	Sheldon Haudenschild	Wooster, OH	13.319	-0.296
10	2	70	Kraig Kinser	Bloomington, IN	13.363	-0.340
11	13	45X	Jace Park	Overland Park, KS	13.387	-0.364
12	3	G5	Gage Pulkrabek	East Grand Forks, MN	13.402	-0.379
13	14	12X	Carson McCarl	Altoona, IA	13.490	-0.467
14	21	52	Blake Hahn	Sapulpa, OK	13.556	-0.533
15	4	J2	John Carney II	El Paso, TX	13.610	-0.587
16	7	16G	Austyn Gossel	Windsor, CO	13.709	-0.686
17	19	2C	Wayne Johnson	Oklahoma City, OK	13.719	-0.696
18	1	88R	Ryder Laplante	Calera, OK	13.723	-0.700
19	18	73	Scotty Thiel	Sheboygan, WI	14.056	-1.033
20	10	17H	Wout Hoffmans	boxmeer, NB	14.131	-1.108
21	6	3B	Baron Silva	Bartlesville, OK	15.469	-2.446

Qualifying Flight 2 Results

POS	Start	Car	Driver	Hometown	Time	Difference
1	12	18	Giovanni Scelzi	Fresno, CA	13.167	0.000
2	7	7S	Landon Crawley	Benton, AR	13.236	-0.069
3	20	23	Garet Williamson	Columbia, MO	13.314	-0.147
4	4	15	Donny Schatz	Fargo, ND	13.337	-0.170
5	3	18T	Tanner Holmes	Jacksonville, OR	13.373	-0.206
6	5	1S	Logan Schuchart	Hanover, PA	13.400	-0.233
7	14	17B	Bill Balog	North Pole, AK	13.411	-0.244
8	2	5T	Ryan Timms	Oklahoma City, OK	13.424	-0.257
9	10	21	Brian Brown	Higginsville, MO	13.444	-0.277
10	13	95	Matt Covington	Glenpool, OK	13.470	-0.303
11	1	3Z	Brock Zearfoss	Jonestown, PA	13.511	-0.344
12	19	88	Austin McCarl	Altoona, IA	13.543	-0.376
13	15	55	Chris Windom	Canton, IL	13.546	-0.379
14	8	41S	Dominic Scelzi	Fresno, CA	13.564	-0.397
15	11	1A	Jacob Allen	Hanover, PA	13.585	-0.418
16	18	36	Jason Martin	Lincoln, NE	13.881	-0.714
17	6	2B	Brett Becker	Odessa, TX	13.946	-0.779
18	16	6G	Bryan Gossel	Windsor, CO	14.134	-0.967
19	9	6	Bill Rose	Plainfield, IN	14.190	-1.023
20	17	29	Emilio Hoover	Broken Arrow, OK	14.384	-1.217

Hot Laps Results

POS	Start	Car	Driver	Hometown	Time	Difference
1	33	18	Giovanni Scelzi	Fresno, CA	13.445	0.000
2	28	7S	Landon Crawley	Benton, AR	13.451	-0.006
3	35	17B	Bill Balog	North Pole, AK	13.525	-0.080
4	24	18T	Tanner Holmes	Jacksonville, OR	13.559	-0.114
5	36	55	Chris Windom	Canton, IL	13.573	-0.128
6	23	5T	Ryan Timms	Oklahoma City, OK	13.580	-0.135
7	20	24	Rico Abreu	St. Helena, CA	13.591	-0.146
8	26	1S	Logan Schuchart	Hanover, PA	13.606	-0.161
9	31	21	Brian Brown	Higginsville, MO	13.613	-0.168
10	40	88	Austin McCarl	Altoona, IA	13.651	-0.206
11	41	23	Garet Williamson	Columbia, MO	13.661	-0.216
12	12	2	David Gravel	Watertown, CT	13.671	-0.226
13	34	95	Matt Covington	Glenpool, OK	13.693	-0.248
14	22	3Z	Brock Zearfoss	Jonestown, PA	13.776	-0.331
15	29	41S	Dominic Scelzi	Fresno, CA	13.794	-0.349
16	13	45X	Jace Park	Overland Park, KS	13.808	-0.363
17	19	2C	Wayne Johnson	Oklahoma City, OK	13.823	-0.378
18	39	36	Jason Martin	Lincoln, NE	13.851	-0.406
19	17	83	Michael Kofoid	Penngrove, CA	13.867	-0.422
20	16	41	Carson Macedo	Lemoore, CA	13.869	-0.424
21	15	3	Ayrton Gennetten	Versailles, MO	13.882	-0.437
22	8	17	Sheldon Haudenschild	Wooster, OH	13.953	-0.508
23	21	52	Blake Hahn	Sapulpa, OK	13.972	-0.527
24	11	15H	Sam Hafertepe Jr	Sunnyvale, TX	13.985	-0.540
25	9	1	Brenham Crouch	Lubbock, TX	14.037	-0.592
26	32	1A	Jacob Allen	Hanover, PA	14.042	-0.597
27	5	87	Aaron Reutzel	Clute, TX	14.066	-0.621
28	18	73	Scotty Thiel	Sheboygan, WI	14.090	-0.645
29	37	6G	Bryan Gossel	Windsor, CO	14.110	-0.665
30	30	6	Bill Rose	Plainfield, IN	14.121	-0.676
31	14	12X	Carson McCarl	Altoona, IA	14.141	-0.696
32	2	70	Kraig Kinser	Bloomington, IN	14.158	-0.713
33	10	17H	Wout Hoffmans	boxmeer, NB	14.230	-0.785
34	4	J2	John Carney II	El Paso, TX	14.279	-0.834
35	7	16G	Austyn Gossel	Windsor, CO	14.340	-0.895
36	1	88R	Ryder Laplante	Calera, OK	14.341	-0.896
37	27	2B	Brett Becker	Odessa, TX	14.344	-0.899
38	6	3B	Baron Silva	Bartlesville, OK	14.499	-1.054
39	3	G5	Gage Pulkrabek	East Grand Forks, MN	14.577	-1.132
40	38	29	Emilio Hoover	Broken Arrow, OK	14.770	-1.325
41	25	15	Donny Schatz	Fargo, ND	0.000	13.445