KNOXVILLE, Iowa — Rico Abreu won a duel for the lead with Daryn Pittman and went on to win the Avanti Windows & Doors Capitani Classic Presented by Great Southern Bank Sunday night at Knoxville Raceway.
The win was the St. Helena, California driver’s seventh at the Sprint Car Capital of the World and was worth $13,000 aboard the Rico Abreu Racing No. 24.
Pittman, who won the $2,500 Pole Shuffle to earn the pole position in the 25-lap main event, led early over Brian Brown, Gio Scelzi, Abreu and Carson Macedo.
Abreu made a move in turn two on lap two to shoot by both Scelzi and Brown and take over the runner-up spot. Scelzi would work by Brown for third on lap five. Macedo moved into fourth on lap seven.
Abreu reeled in Pittman, utilizing the high side of the track. On lap eight, Abreu slid by Pittman to take the point in turn four. Pittman flew back under Abreu to lead lap nine, and Abreu got a run off of turn two to take command again on lap ten.
Abreu stretched the lead in traffic from there. Scelzi used lapped traffic to get by Pittman at the halfway point for second. Macedo would also advance, and battled Pittman back and forth for the show position in the late stages.
Abreu’s final margin was 3.5 seconds over Scelzi ($9,000), Macedo ($5,000), Pittman and Brad Sweet.
The 82-car field was a record for the Cappy topping an 81-car showing in 2013. Buddy Kofoid and Brown set quick time over their respective groups.
“That’s what we’ve been working for all year,” said Abreu. “I’m just really happy for my team. They really put their heads down and work on these things. It’s a special place to be up here on the front stretch. We’ve made it a point to come here a few times this season. Those 25-lap features, when they go non-stop, they can get quite grueling mentally. You get excited catching lapped traffic, because you know that’s where you can get a torrid pace. I know what (Cappy) brought to Knoxville, the history, and it’s important this event continues and the fans support this the week before Nationals.”
“What a great race track,” said Scelzi. “This is a Nationals-like race track with a treacherous cushion and a narrow bottom. Green to checker races I like honestly. With restarts you tend to struggle and think too much. I was going as hard as I could. I missed the bottom the last four or five laps, but I don’t know that I would have caught him.”
“What a race there,” said Macedo. “There were stages where we were all four grouped together. I thought that my car was definitely competitive enough to get in the right place to get up front. We just got stuck battling there for a while with (Pittman). It was just good hard racing. Hat’s off to this race team. They did a great job.”
The finish:
Feature (25 laps): 1. Rico Abreu (4); 2. Gio Scelzi (3); 3. Carson Macedo (5); 4. Daryn Pittman (1); 5. Brad Sweet (12); 6. Spencer Bayston (8); 7. Austin McCarl (14); 8. Corey Day (23); 9. Donny Schatz (6); 10. Brian Brown (2); 11. Parker Price-Miller (10); 12. Scott Bogucki (7); 13. Justin Peck (20); 14. Aaron Reutzel (15); 15. Anthony Macri (9); 16. Buddy Kofoid (19); 17. Emerson Axsom (16); 18. Sheldon Haudenschild (13); 19. Jamie Ball (18); 20. Zach Hampton (22); 21. Justin Henderson (24); 22. Sam Hafertepe Jr. (17); 23. Hunter Schuerenberg (21); 24. Terry McCarl (11).