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Rico Abreu

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Rico Abreu
Abreu at Dover International Speedway in 2016
Born (1992-01-30) January 30, 1992 (age 32)
St. Helena, California
Height132 cm (4 ft 4 in)
Weight43 kg (95 lb)
Achievements2015, 2016 Chili Bowl Winner
2015 Pepsi Nationals Winner
2014 USAC National Midget Series Champion
2013, 2016 4-Crown Nationals Midget Winner
2021 4-Crown Nationals Winged Sprint Winner
2014 Belleville Midget Nationals Champion
Awards2012 USAC National Midget Series Rookie of the Year
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career
26 races run over 3 years
2017 position68th
Best finish13th (2016)
First race2015 Lucas Oil 150 (Phoenix)
Last race2017 Eldora Dirt Derby (Eldora)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 5 0
ARCA Menards Series East career
14 races run over 1 year
First race2015 Pensacola 200 (New Smyrna)
Last race2015 Drive Sober 125 (Dover)
First win2015 NAPA 150 (Columbus)
Wins Top tens Poles
1 8 1
Statistics current as of June 5, 2023.

Rico Emanuel Abreu (born January 30, 1992) is an American professional dirt track and sprint car racing driver. Abreu won the 2014 USAC National Midget Series championship, and previously competed in the K&N Pro Series East in 2015 scoring one win.

Racing career

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Early career and dirt racing

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Abreu's 2013 midget at Angell Park Speedway
Abreu celebrating after winning his first USAC National midget car race in 2013 at Angell Park

Abreu first began racing dirt bikes,[1] but after watching an Outlaw kart race in Vallejo, California,[2] started to race shifter karts.[1] When he turned 15, he was given his first Outlaw kart.[2] To support his career, his father built a 1⁄8th-mile asphalt oval in his backyard. On January 24, 2009, Abreu made his Outlaw kart debut at Lakeport Indoor Speedway, finishing fourth, and scored his first Outlaw win at Cycleland Speedway. During the year, local driver Kyle Larson met Abreu at a charity karting event held at Abreu's backyard oval and, in 2011, introduced him to sprint cars.[1] During the year, he made his Chili Bowl Nationals debut, along with running his first World of Outlaws sprint car race. He would eventually win the 2011 360 Winged Sprint Car Series Rookie of the Year Award. In 2012, Abreu raced in the USAC National Midget Series, clinching Rookie of the Year, while qualifying for the A-main at the Chili Bowl. The next year, he won his first USAC National Midget race at Angell Park Speedway.[3] Also in 2013, he won the Belleville Midget Nationals, the Johnny Key Classic at Ocean Speedway, the 4 Crown Nationals at Eldora Speedway and the USAC Gold Crown at Tri City Speedway. In 2014, he won his first WoO race at the Thunderbowl Raceway[2] and later won the USAC Honda Midget Series national title.[4]

On January 17, 2015, Abreu returned to the Chili Bowl. On lap 26 he passed the previous year's winner Bryan Clauson and held off four-time Chili Bowl winner Kevin Swindell to win.[5] The win was Toyota's first Chili Bowl victory[6] and the first for owner Keith Kunz since 2002.[7] The following year, Abreu repeated his Chili Bowl win after defeating Clauson and Zach Daum.[8]

K&N Pro Series East

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On January 20, 2015, Abreu was hired by HScott Motorsports to run full-time in the K&N Pro Series East. He made his stock car debut in the Pete Orr Memorial Super Late Model 100 at New Smyrna Speedway later in the week.[1] On July 4, 2015, Abreu won his first ever race in the K&N Pro Series East at Columbus Motor Speedway after starting from the pole position, setting a new track record.[9][10]

Camping World Truck Series

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During the 2015 season, Abreu made his Camping World Truck Series debut in the Lucas Oil 150 at Phoenix International Raceway, driving the No. 31 Chevrolet Silverado for NTS Motorsports.[11] In 2016, he signed a full-time drive for ThorSport Racing, replacing Johnny Sauter who left for GMS Racing.[12]

Abreu almost won his first career NCWTS race at Texas on June 10. He was within a car length of race leader William Byron with 2 laps to go, but scraped the wall and ended up cutting a tire, all but riding the wall for the last lap and a half. He still ended up finishing a career-best 9th place.

On January 11, 2017, it was reported that Abreu would not return to ThorSport Racing due to sponsorship issues.[13] However, he returned to the team for a one-off at Eldora.[14][15]

Personal life

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Born to a Portuguese father and Italian mother,[16] he currently lives in Rutherford, California.[17] His father, David, is a vineyard manager.[1] He has a brother a sister and a dog named Gus. Among Abreu's hobbies is fishing.[2]

Abreu is 4 ft 4 in (1.32 m) tall and weighs 95 pounds (43 kg). He was born with achondroplasia, a genetic disorder that is the most common cause of dwarfism. Due to his short stature, he needs special modifications to the cockpit area of his race cars, such as foot blocks to help him reach the throttle.[1][6][18] The car is also modified for Abreu, such as the pedals and the steering column being lengthened, with the powertrain and a-frame moved 6 inches (15 cm). For stock cars, the steering column, pedals, and switches are moved, while the remainder of the cockpit remains the same.[1]

Motorsports career results

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NASCAR

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(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Camping World Truck Series

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NASCAR Camping World Truck Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 NCWTC Pts Ref
2015 NTS Motorsports 31 Chevy DAY ATL MAR KAN CLT DOV TEX GTW IOW KEN ELD POC MCH BRI MSP CHI NHA LVS TAL MAR TEX PHO
28 		HOM
13 		53rd 46 [19]
2016 ThorSport Racing 98 Toyota DAY
29 		ATL
11 		MAR
10 		KAN
22 		DOV
22 		CLT
20 		TEX
9 		IOW
18 		GTW
14 		KEN
15 		ELD
3 		POC
6 		BRI
26 		MCH
13 		MSP
27 		CHI
19 		NHA
17 		LVS
20 		TAL
4 		MAR
24 		TEX
12 		PHO
11 		HOM
13 		13th 395 [20]
2017 89a DAY ATL MAR KAN CLT DOV TEX GTW IOW KEN ELD
26 		POC MCH BRI MSP CHI NHA LVS TAL MAR TEX PHO HOM 68th 14 [21]

K&N Pro Series East

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NASCAR K&N Pro Series East results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 NKNPSEC Pts Ref
2015 HScott Motorsports with Justin Marks 98 Chevy NSM
17 		GRE
9 		BRI
10 		IOW
30 		BGS
11 		LGY
9 		COL
1 		NHA
10 		IOW
4 		GLN
12 		MOT
2 		VIR
16 		RCH
11 		DOV
3 		5th 492 [22]

* Season still in progress
1 Ineligible for series points

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g McGee, Ryan (January 20, 2015). "Rico Abreu eager to make next step". ESPN. Retrieved January 20, 2015.
  2. ^ a b c d "Rico Abreu - Stockton Dirt Track 360 Winged Sprint Car Main Event". Alpinestars. Archived from the original on January 21, 2015. Retrieved January 20, 2015.
  3. ^ "IRA/All-Star Circuit of Champions at Angell Park Speedway". IRA and All-Star Circuit of Champions. June 6, 2021. Event occurs at 20:02. FloRacing.
  4. ^ Bruce, Kenny (January 20, 2015). "Rico Abreu Hopes to Follow Path of Nascar Standouts". NASCAR. Retrieved January 20, 2015.
  5. ^ Pennell, Jay (January 18, 2015). "Rico Abreu wins 29th Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals". Foxsports.com. Retrieved January 21, 2015.
  6. ^ a b Hembree, Mike (January 18, 2015). "Rico Abreu wins Chili Bowl with bold pass". USA Today. Retrieved January 20, 2015.
  7. ^ "Rico Abreu, all of 4-foot-4, is a big hit by winning prestigious Midget race with a bold pass". Fox News Channel. Associated Press. January 18, 2015. Retrieved January 20, 2015.
  8. ^ "Back-to-back: Rico Abreu earns second Chili Bowl Nationals win". Foxsports.com. January 17, 2016. Retrieved January 17, 2016.
  9. ^ ESPN.com new services (July 5, 2015). "Rico Abreu gets 1st stock car win in NASCAR K&N Pro Series East". espn.go.com. Columbus, Ohio: ESPN. Retrieved July 5, 2015.
  10. ^ "2015 NAPA 150 at Columbus Motor Speedway - NASCAR K&N Pro Series East". YouTube.com. Retrieved October 18, 2015.
  11. ^ "ABREU, BYRON TO MAKE TRUCK DEBUTS AT PHOENIX". NASCAR. November 6, 2015. Retrieved November 6, 2015.
  12. ^ "Abreu lands full-season deal in NCWTS". Motorsport.com. January 14, 2016. Retrieved January 14, 2016.
  13. ^ Spencer, Lee (January 11, 2017). "Rico Abreu will not return to full-time NASCAR competition in 2017". Motorsport.com. Retrieved January 12, 2017.
  14. ^ Spencer, Lee (June 30, 2017). "Rico Abreu to make NASCAR Truck return at Eldora". Motorsport.com. Retrieved June 30, 2017.
  15. ^ Sessa, Bill (July 5, 2017). "Abreu returns to NASCAR truck series". Napa Valley Register. Napa, CA: Lee Enterprises, Inc. Retrieved July 5, 2017.
  16. ^ "About". Rico Abreu. Retrieved February 3, 2015.
  17. ^ Estrada, Chris (January 20, 2015). "NASCAR: Sprint car standout Rico Abreu to enter K&N East Series in 2015". NBC Sports. Retrieved January 20, 2015.
  18. ^ Moody, Dave (January 20, 2015). "Rico Abreu Set For K&N Pro Series East Challenge". godfathermotorsports.com. Retrieved January 20, 2015.
  19. ^ "Rico Abreu – 2015 Camping World Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 12, 2023.
  20. ^ "Rico Abreu – 2016 Camping World Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 12, 2023.
  21. ^ "Rico Abreu – 2017 Camping World Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 12, 2023.
  22. ^ "Rico Abreu – 2015 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 12, 2023.
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