PLYMOUTH, Wis. — Rico Abreu will leave Wisconsin as a Tezos All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 winner after securing the Rayce Rudeen Foundation Race title at the Plymouth Dirt Track on Saturday night.
The score, resulting in a $26,000 payday, was the 12th All Star victory of Abreu’s career, increasing his season’s overall win total to five. It was also a special evening for the St. Helena, Calif., native as he was presented with the Rayce Rudeen Foundation Award for his contributions and dedication to sprint car racing and the Rayce Rudeen Foundation.
During the race, Abreu was relatively unchallenged despite a few conflicts with slower traffic. He led all 35 circuits of the annual blockbuster in his No. 24 sprint car, officially becoming the fifth different winner of the prestigious event.
Surviving a late-race restart, and a late-race tango with “Big Daddy” Chris Windom and the “Concrete Kid” Anthony Maci, Pennsylvania’s Brent Marks held on to finish second, followed by Windom, Macri and two-time and defending All Star champion, Tyler Courtney.
“Man, hats off to this team. Every decision they made paid off,” Abreu said. “We hit our marks all night long. The car was comfortable and I was confident. A big thanks to Kevin Rudeen and everyone from the Rayce Rudeen Foundation Race. They work so hard in putting an event like this together and I’m very proud to be a part of it.
“We are blessed to race in front of such loyal fans. I love coming to Wisconsin.”
Marks ran second for much of the program, that until positions two through four shuffled following the aforementioned restart on lap 26. Macri joined the mix and quickly moved to second, eventually getting re-attacked by Marks the following circuits.
The two would eventually make contact allowing a fast closing Chris Windom to capitalize, racing into second briefly on lap 34.
Marks would power back into second on the final circuit.
Feature Results (35 Laps)
1. 24R-Rico Abreu[1]; 2. 19-Brent Marks[2]; 3. 4-Chris Windom[5]; 4. 39M-Anthony Macri[6]; 5. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[4]; 6. 69K-Lance Dewease[15]; 7. 71-Michael Kofoid[11]; 8. 25M-Lachlan McHugh[3]; 9. 26-Zeb Wise[16]; 10. 11-Cory Eliason[13]; 11. 1-Brenham Crouch[10]; 12. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg[12]; 13. 45-Tim Shaffer[7]; 14. 70-Scotty Thiel[17]; 15. 17B-Bill Balog[9]; 16. 23-Russel Borland[19]; 17. 97-JJ Hickle[18]; 18. 49-Josh Schneiderman[8]; 19. 9P-Parker Price Miller[14]; 20. 25T-Travis Arenz[24]; 21. 10W-Mike Reinke[23]; 22. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[22]; 23. U2-Jack Vanderboom[20]; 24. 65-Jordan Goldesberry[21]; 25. 87A-Austin Hartmann[25].