RICO ABREU DOMINATES FOR THE THIRD TIME!

Photo: Rico Abreu took “Hard Knox” Night at Knoxville Friday (Richard Bales Photo)

by Bill Wright 

 KNOXVILLE, Iowa (August 12, 2022) – Rico Abreu won on FVP “Hard Knox” Night for the third time in his career Friday at the Knoxville Raceway.  

The event locked Abreu, second place Kerry Madsen, Sheldon Haudenschild and Brian Brown into Saturday night’s $175,000 to win finale at the 61^st NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals Presented by Casey’s.  All drivers earned $4,000 and their starting spot in tomorrow’s championship.  Abreu’s fifth career win here came aboard the Rico Abreu Racing #24R. 

Abreu took off immediately from his outside row one starting spot in the 25-lap main event.  Madsen followed, with Spencer Bayston, Corey Day and Haudenschild in tow.  By lap two, Haudenschild had passed Day for fourth.  Shortly after, Day jumped the berm inside turn three and backed hard into the wall, tipping over.  He was unhurt, and returned to action after a visit to the work area. 

Abreu led Madsen, Bayston, Haudenschild and Ayrton Gennetten back to green.  Marcus Dumesny and Genetten exchanged the fifth spot three times in four laps at that point, while the leaders approached lapped traffic.  Haudenschild got by Bayston, but the move was negated when Brock Zearfoss got into the back bumper of Gennetten, turning him into the backstretch wall.  Zearfoss helicoptered down the track, but amazingly did not turn over.  He would return to action, but Gennetten was done. 

Brown was advancing from his row six starting spot, and went from eighth to sixth on the restart.  Justin Henderson was another driver on the move, having come from 24^th to ninth by the halfway point.  Day also put on a charge, coming back from the tail to enter the top ten with nine to go. 

The final caution came out for the fifth place car of Dumesny when he came to a stop in turn four with eight laps to go.  Brown restarted fifth and put a slide job up to third.  The result was Haudenschild actually diving back under to reclaim the spot, and Bayston regaining fourth.  Lap 19 would see Brown get under Bayston for the final transfer spot, however.  Shortly after, Bayston made heavy contact with the turn one wall, but kept it going.  Anthony Macri claimed fifth from him at that point. 

Abreu cruised to the win with Madsen, Haudenschild and Brown in tow.  Macri, Bayston, Day, Henderson, Brady Bacon and Dylan Cisney rounded out the top ten.  Brandon Wimmer and Henderson set quick time over their respective groups.  Cisney, Logan Wagner, Gennetten, Macri, Brown and Haudenschild won heat races.  Jake Bubak won the C main, and Cory Eliason and Kyle Reinhardt took B mains.  Eliason’s trip to the B happened when he finished in a transfer spot in his heat, but lost a muffler. 

“It was a solid performance for my team,” said Abreu in Victory Lane.  “I felt like I kind of let the down last night with some poor decisions.  Hat’s off to them.  I’m just thankful to be a part of a great race team.  These races are difficult to win.  Track position is so key, and it all comes down to qualifying.  It comes down to two laps before we even start racing.” 

“I had one chance to send it there after the first restart,” said Madsen.  “The top four was more important than heroics at that moment.  The guys worked really hard on the racecar, and we had a really good racecar at the end.  It was really comfortable to drive that 25 laps.  We’ll see if we can make a charge tomorrow.” 

“I didn’t want to see those restarts,” said Haudenschild.  “I got past (Bayston) there once we got to lapped traffic, and the yellow came out right away.  I had to figure out how to get going on the starts.  I threw a bomb at the #5 and he was able to get back under me.  I knew on that next restart, I’d have to do something different.  I’m glad I was able to run the top of one and turn down and get that run.” 

“(Stuff) was going on out there, I can guarantee you that,” said Brown.  “Just chaos.  Everybody knows how important this race is to our race team, and this has not been a great week.  It just seems like we can’t get anything going.  It’s just been a long week, but we don’t give up.  Until that last checkered flag flies, we’re going to keep driving our butt off.  I’d like thank the crowd for their support!” 

The 61^st NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals Presented by Casey’s concludes Saturday night with the championship $175,000 to win finale!  For more information, visit or check Knoxville Raceway’s website at www.KnoxvilleRaceway.com or on Facebook and Twitter. 

(Tomorrow’s Lineups Below Results) 

61^st NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals Presented by Casey’s “Hard Knox” Night Results 

Time Trial Group #1 (started), 2 laps: 1. 6B, Brandon Wimmer, Fairmount, IN (1), 15.832; 2. 14, Corey Day, Clovis, CA (6), 15.856; 3. 3, Ayrton Gennetten, Gravois Mills, MO (13), 15.880; 4. 1AU, Marcus Dumesny, Sydney, NSW, Aust. (19), 15.923; 5. 73, Scotty Thiel, Sheboygan, WI (2), 15.966; 6. 71, Cory Eliason, Visalia, CA (11), 15.970; 7. 24, Terry McCarl, Altoona, IA (20), 15.987; 8. 55, Hunter Schuerenberg, Sikeston, MO (32), 16.007; 9. 3P, Sawyer Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (18), 16.014; 10. 5C, Dylan Cisney, Port Royal, PA (28), 16.018; 11. 1, Logan Wagner, Harrisonville, PA (25), 16.028; 12. 49X, Cale Thomas, Fairland, IN (27), 16.036; 13. 7S, Robbie Price, Cobble Hill, BC, Can. (23), 16.064; 14. 17B, Bill Balog, Hartland, WI (10), 16.071; 15. 09, Matt Juhl, Tea, SD (4), 16.073; 16. 55T, McKenna Haase, Des Moines, IA (14), 16.084; 17. 17S, Sammy Swindell, Germantown, TN (12), 16.104; 18. 15H, Sam Hafertepe Jr., Sunnyvale, TX (36), 16.203; 19. 21K, Thomas Kennedy, Winnipeg, MB, Can. (9), 16.204; 20. 16A, Colby Copeland, Roseville, CA (26), 16.246; 21. 13JT, Mark Dobmeier, Grand Forks, ND (21), 16.261; 22. 35, Zach Hampton, Plainfield, IN (31), 16.262; 23. 101, Lachlan McHugh, Gold Coast, QLD, Aus (16), 16.284; 24. 40, Clint Garner, Sioux Falls, SD (17), 16.301; 25. 17C, Carson Short, Marion, IL (15), 16.329; 26. 11T, TJ Stutts, Liverpool, PA (5), 16.358; 27. 27, Carson McCarl, Altoona, IA (29), 16.398; 28. 18R, Ryan Roberts, Aurora, NE (30), 16.431; 29. 15M, Bobby Mincer, Burlington, IA (22), 16.456; 30. 1X, Jake Bubak, Arvada, CO (33), 16.496; 31. 12, Tyler Drueke, Eagle, NE (7), 16.549; 32. 11, Roger Crockett, Broken Arrow, OK (35), 16.586; 33. 6, Bill Rose, Plainfield, IN (3), 16.639; 34. 97, Greg Wilson, Benton Ridge, OH (8), 16.652; 35. 2KK, Kevin Ingle, Huron, SD (24), 16.896; 36. 14H, Josh Higday, Des Moines, IA (34), NT 

Time Trial Group #2 (started), 2 laps: 1. 7, Justin Henderson, Tea, SD (17), 16.286; 2. 24R, Rico Abreu, St. Helena, CA (21), 16.297; 3. 83JR, Kerry Madsen, St. Mary’s, NSW, Aust. (5), 16.309; 4. 5, Spencer Bayston, Lebanon, IN (2), 16.318; 5. 42, Sye Lynch, Apollo, PA (10), 16.328; 6. 17, Sheldon Haudenschild, Wooster, OH (33), 16.332; 7. 3Z, Brock Zearfoss, Jonestown, PA (15), 16.347; 8. 21, Brian Brown, Grain Valley, MO (26), 16.383; 9. 22, Riley Goodno, Knoxville, IA (1), 16.398; 10. 39M, Anthony Macri, Dillsburg, PA (28), 16.413; 11. 20G, Noah Gass, Mounds, OK (36), 16.489; 12. 44, Chris Martin, Ankeny, IA (4), 16.503; 13. 91, Kyle Reinhardt, Neptune City, NJ (18), 16.525; 14. 55W, Mike Wagner, Harrisonville, PA (3), 16.549; 15. 16, Brooke Tatnell, Sans Souci, NSW, Aust. (35), 16.555; 16. 11K, Kraig Kinser, Bloomington, IN (6), 16.567; 17. 21H, Brady Bacon, Broken Arrow, OK (27), 16.569; 18. 1M, Don Droud Jr., Lincoln, NE (8), 16.588; 19. 47X, Dylan Westbrook, Scotland, ONT, Can. (9), 16.637; 20. 17W, Shane Golobic, Fremont, CA (22), 16.639; 21. 2M, Davey Heskin, St. Michael, MN (25), 16.664; 22. 52, Blake Hahn, Sapulpa, OK (30), 16.669; 23. 49J, Josh Schneiderman, West Burlington, IA (13), 16.691; 24. 19W, Chris Windom, Canton, IL (34), 16.694; 25. 35K, Chad Kemenah, Alvada, OH (20), 16.705; 26. 83T, Tanner Carrick, Lincoln, CA (31), 16.751; 27. 84, Scott Bogucki, McLaren Vale, SA, Aust. (19), 16.759; 28. 99, Skylar Gee, Leduc, ALB, Can. (12), 16.802; 29. 11N, Harli White, Lindsay, OK (14), 16.991; 30. 45, Rusty Hickman, Bendigo, VIC, Aust. (11), 17.009; 31. 9JR, Derek Hagar, Marion, AR (32), 17.074; 32. 65, Jordan Goldesberry, Springfield, IL (16), 17.101; 33. 10, Skylar Prochaska, Lakefield, MN (29), 17.188; 34. 4W, Matt Wasmund, Jackson, MN (23), 17.366; 35. 7W, Dustin Selvage, Indianola, IA (7), 17.458; 36. 97G, Alan Gilbertson, Kasson, MN (24), 17.538 

Heat one (started), 8 Laps, 2:17.8: 1. Dylan Cisney (1); 2. Terry McCarl (2); 3. Marcus Dumesny (3) / 4. Brandon Wimmer (4); 5. Robbie Price (5); 6. Carson Short (9); 7. McKenna Haase (6); 8. Zach Hampton (8); 9. Thomas Kennedy (7); 10. Ryan Roberts (10); 11. Greg Wilson (12); 12. Tyler Drueke (11) 

Heat two (started), 8 Laps, 2:18.6: 1. Logan Wagner (1); 2. Hunter Schuerenberg (2); 3. Corey Day (4) / 4. Sammy Swindell (6); 5. Scotty Thiel (3); 6. Colby Copeland (7); 7. Lachlan McHugh (8); 8. Roger Crockett (11); 9. Bill Balog (5); 10. Bobby Mincer (10); 11. TJ Stutts (9); 12. Kevin Ingle (12) 

Heat three (started), 8 Laps, 2:16.4: 1. Ayrton Gennetten (4); 2. Cale Thomas (1); 3. Sawyer Phillips (2) / 4. Sam Hafertepe Jr. (6); 5. Clint Garner (8); 6. Carson McCarl (9); 7. Matt Juhl (5); 8. Jake Bubak (10); 9. Mark Dobmeier (7); 10. Bill Rose (11); DQ (crossed 3^rd, muffler) Cory Eliason (3) DNS – Josh Higday 

Heat four (started), 8 Laps, 2:16.5: 1. Anthony Macri (1); 2. Brock Zearfoss (2); 3. Spencer Bayston (3) / 4. Justin Henderson (4); 5. Kyle Reinhardt (5); 6. Blake Hahn (8); 7. Dylan Westbrook (7); 8. Skylar Gee (10); 9. Chad Kemenah (9); 10. Derek Hagar (11); 11. Kraig Kinser (6); 12. Matt Wasmund (12) 

Heat five (started), 8 Laps, 2:16.6: 1. Brian Brown (2); 2. Rico Abreu (4); 3. Brady Bacon (6) / 4. Noah Gass (1); 5. Sye Lynch (3); 6. Josh Schneiderman (8); 7. Mike Wagner (5); 8. Shane Golobic (7); 9. Jordan Goldesberry (11); 10. Dustin Selvage (12); 11. Harli White (10); 12. Tanner Carrick (9) 

Heat six (started), 8 Laps, 2:20.5: 1. Sheldon Haudenschild (3); 2. Brooke Tatnell (5); 3. Kerry Madsen (4) / 4. Chris Martin (1); 5. Riley Goodno (2); 6. Chris Windom (8); 7. Don Droud Jr. (6); 8. Rusty Hickman (10); 9. Scott Bogucki (9); 10. Skylar Prochaska (11); 11. Alan Gilbertson (12); 12. Davey Heskin (7) 

C main (started), 10 Laps, 2:59.8: 1. Jake Bubak (1); 2. Rusty Hickman (2); 3. Roger Crockett (5); 4. Tyler Drueke (3); 5. Derek Hagar (4); 6. Jordan Goldesberry (6); 7. Matt Wasmund (10); 8. Greg Wilson (9); 9. Skylar Prochaska (8); 10. Kevin Ingle (11); 11. Bill Rose (7); 12. Alan Gilbertson (13); DQ (crossed 6^th, No Scale) Dustin Selvage (12) 

B main one (started), 12 Laps, 3:40.6: 1. Cory Eliason (3); 2. Brandon Wimmer (1); 3. McKenna Haase (7) / 4. Sam Hafertepe Jr. (9); 5. Scotty Thiel (2); 6. Bill Balog (5); 7. Matt Juhl (6); 8. Mark Dobmeier (12); 9. Lachlan McHugh (14); 10. Sammy Swindell (8); 11. Thomas Kennedy (10); 12. Zach Hampton (13); 13. Clint Garner (15); 14. Ryan Roberts (19); 15. Carson McCarl (18); 16. Robbie Price (4); 17. Colby Copeland (11); 18. Roger Crockett (22); 19. Bobby Mincer (20); 20. Derek Hagar (23); 21. Jake Bubak (21); 22. Matt Wasmund (24); 23. Carson Short (16); 24. TJ Stutts (17) 

B main two (started), 12 Laps, 3:44.1: 1. Kyle Reinhardt (6); 2. Sye Lynch (2); 3. Justin Henderson (1) / 4. Riley Goodno (3); 5. Shane Golobic (11); 6. Don Droud Jr. (9); 7. Noah Gass (4); 8. Mike Wagner (7); 9. Davey Heskin (12); 10. Blake Hahn (13); 11. Scott Bogucki (18); 12. Chris Martin (5); 13. Chad Kemenah (16); 14. Rusty Hickman (19); 15. Kraig Kinser (8); 16. Tanner Carrick (15); 17. Josh Schneiderman (14); 18. Skylar Gee (17); 19. Dylan Westbrook (10); 20. Greg Wilson (23); 21. Harli White (20); 22. Jordan Goldesberry (21); 23. Tyler Drueke (22) DNS – Chris Windom 

A main (started), 25 Laps, NT: 1. Rico Abreu (2); 2. Kerry Madsen (4); 3. Sheldon Haudenschild (8); 4. Brian Brown (12) / 5. Anthony Macri (14); 6. Spencer Bayston (6); 7. Corey Day (1); 8. Justin Henderson (24); 9. Brady Bacon (18); 10. Dylan Cisney (13); 11. Brooke Tatnell (16); 12. Sawyer Phillips (11); 13. Terry McCarl (7); 14. Brock Zearfoss (10); 15. Kyle Reinhardt (20); 16. McKenna Haase (23); 17. Sye Lynch (22); 18. Logan Wagner (15); 19. Cale Thomas (17); 20. Cory Eliason (19); 21. Marcus Dumesny (5); 22. Brandon Wimmer (21); 23. Hunter Schuerenberg (9); 24. Ayrton Gennetten (3). Lap Leader: Abreu 1-25. Hard-charger: Henderson. 

Saturday’s Lineups 

A MAIN 

 1. 88 Austin McCarl (477) 7BC Tyler Courtney (473) 

2. 15 Donny Schatz (469) 2 David Gravel (469) 

3. 41 Carson Macedo (467) 57 Kyle Larson (462) 

4. 19 Brent Marks (462) 27H Daryn Pittman (459) 

5. 49 Brad Sweet (458) 25 JJ Hickle (458) 

6. 1A Jacob Allen (457) 11M Parker Price-Miller (457) 

7. 39 Justin Sanders (456) 11X Buddy Kofoid (453) 

8. 7TAZ Tasker Phillips (451) 8 Aaron Reutzel (447) 

9. B Transfer #1 B Transfer #2 

10. B Transfer #3 B Transfer #4 

11. 24R Rico Abreu (St. Helena, CA) 83JR Kerry Madsen (St. Marys, NSW, Aust) 

12. 17 Sheldon Haudenschild (Wooster, OH) 21 Brian Brown (Grain Valley, MO) 

 ** Subject to Change ** 

 B MAIN 

 1. 18 Gio Scelzi (445) 1S Logan Schuchart (444) 

2. 2K Lynton Jeffrey (443) 26 Zeb Wise (442) 

3. 83 James McFadden (441) 13 Justin Peck (441) 

4. 14J Cole Macedo (435) 2KS Ian Madsen (434) 

5. 9 Kasey Kahne (431) 3TK Tim Kaeding (431) 

6. 39M Anthony Macri (Dillsburg, PA) 5 Spencer Bayston (Lebanon, IN) 

7. 14 Corey Day (Clovis, CA) 7 Justin Henderson (Tea, SD) 

8. 21H Brady Bacon (Broken Arrow, OK) 5C Dylan Cisney (Port Royal, PA) 

9. 16 Brooke Tatnell (Sans Souci, NSW, Aust) 3P Sawyer Phillips (Pleasantville, IA) 

10. 24 Terry McCarl (Altoona, IA) 3Z Brock Zearfoss (Jonestown, PA) 

 ** Subject to Change ** 

 C MAIN 

 1. 91 Kyle Reinhardt (Neptune City, NJ) 55T McKenna Haase (Des Moines, IA) 

2. 42 Sye Lynch (Apollo, PA) 1 Logan Wagner (Harrisonville, PA) 

3. 49X Cale Thomas (Fairland, IN) 71 Cory Eliason (Visalia, CA) 

4. 1AU Marcus Dumesny (Sydney, NSW, Aust) 6B Brandon Wimmer (Fairmount, IN) 

5. 55 Hunter Schuerenberg (Sikeston, MO) 3 Ayrton Gennetten (Gravois Mills, MO) 

6. 15H Sam Hafertepe Jr. (Sunnyvale, TX) 22 Riley Goodno (Knoxville, IA) 

7. 73 Scotty Thiel (Sheboygan, WI) 17W Shane Golobic (Fremont, CA) 

8. 17B Bill Balog (Hartland, WI) 1M Don Droud Jr. (Lincoln, NE) 

9. 09 Matt Juhl (Tea, SD) 20G Noah Gass (Mounds, OK) 

10. 13JT Mark Dobmeier (Grand Forks, ND) 55W Mike Wagner (Harrisonville, PA) 

** Subject to Change ** 

D MAIN 

1. 101 Lachlan McHugh (Gold Coast, QLD, Aust) 2M Davey Heskin (St. Michael, MN) 

2. 17S Sammy Swindell (Lakeland, TN) 52 Blake Hahn (Sapulpa, OK) 

3. 21K Thomas Kennedy (Winnipeg, MB, Can) 84 Scott Bogucki (McLaren Vale, SA, Aust) 

4. 35 Zach Hampton (Plainfield, IN) 44 Chris Martin (Ankeny, IA) 

5. 40 Clint Garner (Sioux Falls, SD) 35K Chad Kemenah (Alvada, OH) 

6. 18R Ryan Roberts (Aurora, NE) 45 Rusty Hickman (Bendigo, VIC, Aust) 

7. 27 Carson McCarl (Altoona, IA) 11K Kraig Kinser (Bloomington, IN) 

8. 7S Robbie Price (Cobble Hill, BC, Can) 83T Tanner Carrick (Lincoln, CA) 

9. 16A Colby Copeland (Roseville, CA) 49J Josh Schneiderman (West Burlington, IA) 

10. 11 Roger Crockett (Broken Arrow, OK) 99 Skylar Gee (Leduc, ALB, Can) 

** Subject to Change ** 

E MAIN 

1. 15M Bobby Mincer (Burlington, IA) 47X Dylan Westbrook (Scotland, ONT, Can) 

2. 9JR Derek Hagar (Marion, AR) 97 Greg Wilson (Benton Ridge, OH) 

3. 1X Jake Bubak (Arvada, CO) 11N Harli White (Lindsay, OK) 

4. 4W Matt Wasmund (Jackson, MN) 65 Jordan Goldesberry (Springfield, IL) 

5. 17C Carson Short (Marion, IL) 12 Tyler Drueke (Eagle, NE) 

6. 11T TJ Stutts (Liverpool, PA) 19W Chris Windom (Canton, IL) 

7. 10 Skylar Prochaska (Lakefield, MN) 2KK Kevin Ingle (Huron, SD) 

8. 6 Bill Rose (Plainfield, IN) 97G Alan Gilbertson (Kasson, MN) 

9. 7W Dustin Selvage (Indianola, IA) 14H Josh Higday (Des Moines, IA)