JACKSONVILLE, Ill. — Ending 2019 with back-to-back victories at Jacksonville Speedway, Rico Abreu had one thing in mind when he pulled into the track on Friday — completing the hat trick.
And he did.
Inheriting the lead from longtime race leader Paul Nienhiser on the white-flag lap, Abreu scored his second Morrow Brothers Ford MOWA Sprint Car Series victory of the season.
Nienhiser led from the initial star until lap 24, when a broken throttle linkage forced the defending series points champion to retire from the event.
That set up a green-white-checkered finish between Abreu and Hunter Schuerenberg Abreu executed the perfect restart pulling away from the rest of the field and cruised to victory.
Schuerenberg crossed the line in second and earned the Hard Charger Award, advancing from his 15th-place starting position.
Riley Goodno, Josh Schneiderman and Greg Wilson rounded out the top five.
The finish:
1 – Rico Abreu 24 (9), 2 – Hunter Schuerenberg 55 (15), 3 – Riley Goodno 22 (4), 4 – Josh Schneiderman 49 (18), 5 – Greg Wilson W20 (14), 6 – Austin ODell 3 (6), 7 – Jeff Asher 56 (2), 8 – Terry Babb 47 (19), 9 – Dustin Barks 22 (8), 10 – Jacob Patton 79J (13), 11 – Jeremy Standridge 10S (12), 12 – Skyler Gee 99g (3), 13 – Kyle Schuett 9K (5), 14 – Cory Bruns 44 (17), 15 – Paul Nienhiser 9X (1), 16 – Jimmy Hurley 83 (10), 17 – Dylan Tuxhorn 9T (21), 18 – Colton Fisher 11 (16), 19 – Korey Weyant 99W (7), 20 – Ryan Bunton 6R (11), 21 – Logan Faucon 52F (20)