As of April, Abreu was working on releasing a newer version of the mullet hats at sprint car races this spring or summer.
“I’ve got thousands of people asking for them,” he said. “I’m working on something to put another batch of them together. I want to come up with a different design and bring it more around my brand. I really want to make these hats high quality so people are getting what they paid for when they purchase one of these hats. And then turn it into more of a bring your hat when you come to the race and a story behind why they are wearing it at the races.”
The business in the front, party in the back mindset and attitude is something Abreu has taken as his approach to life as evident by his real-life mullet.
“I’m just riding it right now,” he said. “The whole hair thing is all really cool and it’s cool to experience that once in your life. I’ve always been clean cut growing up. I’m still clean cut, but I have some long hair now. The fans turned this thing into the mullet. I just kind of ran with it. It’s been fun that has been a lifestyle change. I’m putting it on shirts now and people are getting into it. It’s cool to be able to build your brand off a hairstyle. I enjoy getting up every day and taking care of my hair.
“On my mom’s side everyone has hair,” he said. “All the girls have tremendous hair and the boys lose some hair up front. I’m not too concerned about that. For this time period, I really enjoy having long hair. I feel like maybe 10 years, 20 years down the road I might not have long hair. I might as well enjoy it now.”
Abreu is enjoying racing as well as his hip hairdo and lovefest with the fans. His sprint car team hired Drew Warner, son of veteran crew chief Ricky Warner who helped guide Donny Schatz to many World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series championships, as crew chief and Shane Watts as a crew member.
“I’m in a good spot where I’m with some young kids that really, really love to race, and they have some good people around them to influence them if they need help or are in circumstances where they aren’t experienced,” Abreu said. “The results show where we’ve been a few steps behind in different circumstances. But when we get it right that’s what we’re shooting for is being consistent. There’s tracks where we’ve been to where I’ve been there and Drew hasn’t. There are tracks we’ve been to where we both haven’t been there. It’s all new to both of us to where we can get our car close and we can compete at the top five with the World of Outlaws events. Sprint car racing is the toughest in the country with how close and competitive it is. You have 25 teams showing up to these races and with qualifying being the main factor you have to get qualified well. That’s something we’ve struggled with and we’re making gains with it.”
Abreu is rejuvenated following his return to full-time dirt action and he’s building for the future. His team plans on approximately 90 sprint car races this year to go with six to 10 midget events.
“I want to win races and be a good person,” he said. “I keep calling (my crew) boys, but they are men now. Just develop them into heroes. They do such a great job working on my car. All I want to do is win for them and my fans. I just want to be the best prepared team when we show up to the races and I want to win the race.
“That’s my biggest goal on the racing side of it. I just want to be prepared for any circumstances to be able to handle any situation we’re put in. That’s what sells sponsorship. That’s why they get behind you because they want to be a part of a team that wins.”