It was only a matter of when - not if - would Rico Abreu make his first appearance in Whiskey Myers Victory Lane this season. On Friday at Utica-Rome Speedway, in the 17th race of the Kubota High Limit Racing season, that question was answered in dominant fashion.
With a whopping 40 cars in attendance at the Vernon, NY 1/2-mile, a new record for most 410 Sprint Cars at the track, Abreu led the final 18 laps at Utica-Rome to cash a $12,000 victory - the fifth of his career with Kubota High Limit Racing.
Moving up from the third-spot, Abreu quickly moved by Spencer Bayston and Justin Peck on the opening lap and had his sights set on early leader Brent Marks. With the first wave of lap traffic coming into play, the St. Helena, CA native saw his chance to pounce and did just that with a slider on Lap 8.
From there, it was all about controlling the pace through traffic as for the second-straight night in New York it was a non-stop green-to-checkered race. Abreu ultimately crossed the stripe with a 1.935-second margin of victory as he became the eighth different winner this year.
Justin Peck's Buch Motorsports #13 and James McFadden's Roth Motorsports #83 joined Abreu's #24 on the podium.
Brent Marks and Tyler Courtney rounded out the top-five with Brad Sweet, Spencer Bayston, Parker Price-Miller, Corey Day, and Kerry Madsen closing out the top-10.
THE ALL-IN NOTEBOOK (5/17/24)
Utica-Rome Speedway (Vernon, NY)
Capitol Custom Trailers QuickTime - Brent Marks (16.790 seconds)
TJ Forged Heat One Winner - Justin Peck
DMI Heat Two Winner - Parker Price-Miller
BR Motorsports Heat Three Winner - Rico Abreu
Winters Performance Heat Four Winner - Tyler Courtney
FK Rod Ends Dash Winner - Brent Marks
B-Main Winner - Chad Miller
Jake's Golf Carts Fastest Lap Award - Brent Marks (17.229 seconds)
Hard Charger - Brad Sweet +3, 9th-to-6th
Lap Leaders - Brent Marks 1-7; Rico Abreu 8-25
Kubota A Feature (25 Laps): 1. 24-Rico Abreu[3]; 2. 13-Justin Peck[2]; 3. 83-James McFadden[5]; 4. 19-Brent Marks[1]; 5. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[7]; 6. 49-Brad Sweet[9]; 7. 5-Spencer Bayston[4]; 8. 9P-Parker Price Miller[6]; 9. 14-Corey Day[8]; 10. 10B-Kerry Madsen[11]; 11. 39M-Anthony Macri[10]; 12. 79-Jordan Thomas[15]; 13. 66-Ryan Newton[16]; 14. 48-Danny Dietrich[14]; 15. 26-Zeb Wise[12]; 16. 55-Chris Windom[18]; 17. 28-Jordan Poirier[13]; 18. 1A-Jacob Allen[19]; 19. 88-Tanner Thorson[22]; 20. 42-Sye Lynch[23]; 21. 10-Mark Smith[20]; 22. 1-Brenham Crouch[17]; 23. 88C-Chad Miller[21]; 24. 28F-Davie Franek[24]
Updated Championship Standings (After 17/56 Races):
- Kasey Kahne Racing #49 - Brad Sweet (1,166)
- Clauson-Marshall Racing #7BC - Tyler Courtney (-34)
- Murray-Marks Motorosports #19 - Brent Marks (-113)
- Jason Meyers Racing #14 - Corey Day (-166)
- Rico Abreu Racing #24 - Rico Abreu (-226)
- CJB Motorsports #5 - Spencer Bayston (-259)
- Roth Motorsports #83 - James McFadden (-262)
- Buch Motorsports #13 - Justin Peck (-275)
- PPM Racing #9P - Parker Price-Miller (-301)
- Rudeen Racing #26 - Zeb Wise (-350)
- Shark Racing #1A - Jacob Allen (-372)
- Rod Gross Motorsports #88 - Tanner Thorson (-398)
- Ridge & Sons Racing #8 - Cory Eliason (-433)
- Kasey Kahne Racing #9 - Kasey Kahne (-446)
- Vermeer Motorsports #55 - Chris Windom (-465)
- Crouch Motorsports #1 - Brenham Crouch (-549)
UP NEXT: Kubota High Limit Racing will battle the PA Posse next weekend as they head to Central Pennsylvania for the first time ever. A $75,000 top prize and the iconic bull-head trophy awaits as the Bob Weikert Memorial reaches new heights this Saturday and Sunday, May 25-26 at Port Royal Speedway.
- administrator on May 18, 2024
- Article Date: 5/18/2024 by Brian Walker