CASA GRANDE, Ariz. — When Rico Abreu announced that he was joining Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing last fall, he felt like it was the culmination of a lifetime of a hard work.
He also recognized that it was a great opportunity to take his career to the next level.
On Thursday at Central Arizona Raceway, the new driver and team pairing struck gold for the first time together and parked the Carquest Auto Parts No. 24 in Whiskey Myers Victory Lane after their fourth start with Interstate Batteries High Limit Racing.
Taking advantage of a wild and wacky opening to the Cactus Classic feature, Abreu watched as early leader Brad Sweet and then top-five runners James McFadden, Brian Brown and Ryan Timms all dropped out of contention.
From there, it turned into a battle between Abreu and Tanner Thorson, who controlled Laps 3-13.
The final restart is exactly what the doctor ordered for Abreu as he snatched command from Thorson on Lap 14 and never looked back ‚ driving to a 2.697-second victory. The win marked the 26th of his career with Interstate Batteries High Limit Racing and made him the fourth different winner in four series races this season.
Thorson’s remarkable start to the year continued with back-to-back runner-up finishes, keeping his perfect top-five streak alive with runs of fifth, fourth, second and second over the last week. The Minden, Nevada native now controls the championship lead in the Rod Gross Motorsports No. 88.
Closing out the podium was Locust Grove, Oklahoma’s Daison Pursley with his best run yet aboard the Kasey Kahne Racing, NAPA Auto Parts No. 49, driving from 10th to third.
The finish:
Feature (25 Laps): 1. 24-Rico Abreu[3]; 2. 88-Tanner Thorson[2]; 3. 9-Daison Pursley[10]; 4. 77-Giovanni Scelzi[12]; 5. 19JR-Joel Myers Jr[14]; 6. 55-Kerry Madsen[5]; 7. 13-Tanner Holmes[16]; 8. 88N-DJ Netto[22]; 9. 10-Ryan Timms[7]; 10. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[13]; 11. 26-Justin Peck[19]; 12. 9R-Chase Randall[21]; 13. 34-Sterling Cling[23]; 14. 15-Nick Parker[18]; 15. 21B-Brian Brown[6]; 16. 5-Brenham Crouch[17]; 17. 24D-Danny Sams III[15]; 18. 87X-Logan Seavey[11]; 19. 87-Aaron Reutzel[9]; 20. 42-Sye Lynch[20]; 21. W-Brad Sweet[1]; 22. 21-James McFadden[4]; 23. 19-Brent Marks[8]; 24. 17GP-Hank Davis[24]
