It was a situation of being in the right place at the right time for Rico Abreu in Saturday's seventh annual Dean Knittel Memorial at Portsmouth Raceway Park. After taking the lead on Lap 21, the #24 pilot controlled the remaining 10 circuits to cash a $25,554 payday with his third Kubota High Limit Racing win of the season.
The story of the night, however, was Chris Windom and the Vermeer Motorsports, NOS Energy Drink #55 team. A solid effort in Capitol Renegade Qualifying set them up for a win in BR Motorsports Heat 3, which led to an FK Rod Ends Dash win, netting them the pole position of the A-Main.
Windom, a storied veteran of the USAC Non-Wing Sprint Car ranks in the midst of a transition to full-time winged action with Kubota High Limit Racing, paced the opening 20 laps of the A-Main before the smallest bobble in dirty air behind lap traffic caused him to go over the cushion and lose ground, letting two cars by.
Ultimately, Abreu capitalized on the moment and seized the lead with 10 laps left. The Rothwell Hyde #24 survived a pair of restarts after assuming the lead and held on for the Dean Knittel Memorial championship - scoring $25,554 with his third win of the year.
Abreu's seventh-career victory with Kubota High Limit Racing now puts him past Kyle Larson and Brad Sweet as the winningest driver in the young history of the series.
Another remarkable story on Saturday at Portsmouth was the runner-up finisher in Canada's Skylar Gee. The #99 pilot earned a career-best P2 result with Kubota High Limit Racing, earning more than $10,000 for his Logan Fenton Racing team.
Windom ultimately rounded out the podium with a heap of Dean Knittel Memorial bonuses such as Heat Win, Dash Win, Lap 12 Leader, Most Laps Led, and Third-Place Finish bumping his payday to $9,603.33 for the Vermeer #55.
Closing out the top-10 was Parker Price-Miller, Cory Eliason, Justin Peck, Zeb Wise, Brent Marks, Brenham Crouch, and Corey Day.
THE ALL-IN NOTEBOOK (7/13/24)
Portsmouth Raceway Park (Portsmouth, OH)
Capitol Custom Trailers QuickTime - Parker Price-Miller (12.732 seconds)
TJ Forged Heat One Winner - Tyler Courtney
DMI Heat Two Winner - Skylar Gee
BR Motorsports Heat Three Winner - Chris Windom
FK Rod Ends Dash Winner - Chris Windom
Winters Performance B-Main Winner - Spencer Bayston
Jake's Golf Carts Fastest Lap Award - Chris Windom (13.741 seconds)
Hard Charger - Justin Clark +7, 24th-to-17th
Lap Leaders - Chris Windom 1-20; Rico Abreu 21-30.
Kubota A Feature (30 Laps): 1. 24-Rico Abreu[3]; 2. 99-Skylar Gee[2]; 3. 55-Chris Windom[1]; 4. 9P-Parker Price Miller[6]; 5. 8-Cory Eliason[8]; 6. 13-Justin Peck[11]; 7. 26-Zeb Wise[7]; 8. 19-Brent Marks[13]; 9. 1-Brenham Crouch[4]; 10. 14-Corey Day[12]; 11. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[5]; 12. 49-Brad Sweet[17]; 13. 42-Sye Lynch[10]; 14. 9-Kasey Kahne[14]; 15. 11N-Kasey Jedrzejek[16]; 16. 32-Bryce Lucius[21]; 17. 78-Justin Clark[24]; 18. 88-Tanner Thorson[9]; 19. 83-James McFadden[18]; 20. 5-Spencer Bayston[19]; 21. 1D-Nate Dussel[22]; 22. 4X-Cale Stinson[23]; 23. 1A-Jacob Allen[15]; 24. 22-Cole Duncan[20]
Updated Championship Standings (After 27/54 Races):
- Kasey Kahne Racing #49 - Brad Sweet (1,796)
- Clauson-Marshall Racing #7BC - Tyler Courtney (-81)
- Murray-Marks Motorosports #19 - Brent Marks (-229)
- Rico Abreu Racing #24 - Rico Abreu (-273)
- Jason Meyers Racing #14 - Corey Day (-284)
- Roth Motorsports #83 - James McFadden (-332)
- Buch Motorsports #13 - Justin Peck (-334)
- PPM Racing #9P - Parker Price-Miller (-337)
- CJB Motorsports #5 - Spencer Bayston (-398)
- Rudeen Racing #26 - Zeb Wise (-520)
- Rod Gross Motorsports #88 - Tanner Thorson (-522)
- Ridge & Sons Racing #8 - Cory Eliason (-589)
- Shark Racing #1A - Jacob Allen (-644)
- Vermeer Motorsports #55 - Chris Windom (-683)
- Kasey Kahne Racing #9 - Kasey Kahne (-692)
- Crouch Motorsports #1 - Brenham Crouch (-836)
UP NEXT: Kubota High Limit Racing now turns attention to "The Big E," where the series will debut this Wednesday and Thursday, July 17-18. The doubleheader at Eldora Speedway begins with the Double Down Duels on Wednesday, a split-field format with twice the racing, and then it's the $100,000-to-win Joker's Jackpot on Thursday.
- administrator on Jul 13, 2024
- Article Date: 7/13/2024 by Brian Walker