RICO ABREU WINS ALL STAR THRILLER WITH LATE RACE PASS AT KNOXVILLE

by Bill Wright 

 KNOXVILLE, Iowa (July 30, 2022) – With 55 cars in the pit area on Weiler Night featuring the All Star Circuit of Champions, one knew someone would have to earn the win Saturday at Knoxville Raceway.  

Rico Abreu did just that with a late race pass to put his #24 in Victory Lane and collect $8,000.  Clint Garner topped the 42-car 360 field assembled for his 47^th career victory here.  It was the last tune-up before the 32^nd Annual Knoxville 360 Nationals commences this Thursday, August 4. 

Kerry Madsen jumped out from his pole position starting spot to lead early in the 25-lap All Star main event, followed by Tyler Courtney, Gio Scelzi, Cory Eliason and Brian Brown.  Bill Balog had his wing supports come loose to bring a caution just one lap in. 

On the restart, Abreu moved by Brown into the fifth spot, and then claimed fourth from Eliason on lap four.  Eliason and Brown were locked in a heated battle for a spot inside the top five.  Madsen was into lapped traffic on the eighth circuit. 

Abreu performed a slider on Scelzi to take third on lap 11, while Courtney made a serious bid to challenge Madsen for the lead.  Schuerenberg spun to bring caution again at that point.  Madsen led Courtney, Abreu, Scelzi and Eliason back to green. 

Before a lap could be completed Aaron Reutzel rolled in turn four, collecting Schuerenberg.  When green replaced the red, Brown shot into the top five for good.  Madsen entered traffic again with five to go, with Courtney and Abreu hot on his heels. 

On lap 21, the trio battled on the backstretch.  Abreu took the low side to shoot by both Courtney and Madsen into the lead.  Putting a lapper between himself and his pursuers, he managed to keep his advantage, despite an adventurous last lap that saw him get over the cushion twice. 

Abreu was followed at the line by Madsen, Courtney, Scelzi and Brown.  Davey Heskin, JJ Hickle, Brent Marks, Parker Price-Miller and Eliason rounded out the top ten.  Madsen set the overall quickest time mark, while Courtney, Brown, Sam Hafertepe Jr., Chris Windom and Eliason won heats.  Corey Day claimed the C, and Balog won the B.  Madsen also won the Dash.  AJ Moeller crashed hard in the B main, but was uninjured. 

“I just got tighter and tighter,” said Abreu in Victory Lane.  “I just need to really work on hitting my marks.  My wing valve keeps coming back.  We’ve been having an issue the last few races.  Rick Warner has really turned our program around this year.  At the end of these races, I just get so excited.  The more I get in these positions, the easier it is to calm me down.  This is good momentum going into the next couple weeks.  Twenty-five laps…you’ve got to go!  I could really get in (the corner) and get off, especially in three and four.  They got to racing, got away, and then scooped back up to me.” 

Contact from another car sent Chase Randall into a spin at the start of the 18-lap B main.  Clint Garner led early from the pole over Tony Rost, Terry McCarl, Devin Kline and Ryan Giles.  McCarl joined Randall, becoming the second of one of the top three drivers in points heading into the night to have a problem as he had to go to the tail after fixing some ignition issues two laps in. 

Zeb Wise spun at that point to bring another caution.  Garner led the restart, ahead of Rost, Giles, Sawyer Phillips and Kline.  Aaron Reutzel shot from sixth to fourth on that restart, while Giles took second from Rost.  Reutzel followed that up with a slider of Rost in turn four to take third, while Gio Scelzi, who started 14^th, moved into fourth on lap five.  Shane Golobic entered the top five on lap six. 

Garner entered lapped traffic on lap eight, while Jamie Ball suffered a flat and Matt Allen spun in turn two.  Garner led Giles, Reutzel, Scelzi and Rost back to green.  Reutzel quickly took second, with Scelzi in tow.  The leaders were back in traffic with three to go. 

Nothing would faze Garner, who claimed $2,000 for his win.  Reutzel followed, ahead of Scelzi, Grimes and Golobic.  Ian Madsen, hard-charger Garet Williamson, Sawyer Phillips, Brooke Tatnell and Terry McCarl completed the top ten.  Giles set quick time and won his heat.  Collin Moyle, Scelzi and Kelby Watt won heats.  Williamson won the B main.  Tatnell had to go through the B after an axle broke before his heat and tipped the car over. 

“We had a couple off nights, so it’s great to do this in front of an awesome crowd tonight,” said Garner in Victory Lane.  “The pressure was on once we got on the pole with good cars in there.  The car was great.  This is our personal engine that we own.  It’s definitely what we wanted to do (heading into 360 Nationals).  A lot of cars showed up, and our qualifying wasn’t where we wanted it, but the line-up fell into our hands.” 

The 32^nd Annual Knoxville 360 Nationals presented by Great Southern Bank begins on Thursday, August 4!  For more information, visit or check Knoxville Raceway’s website at www.KnoxvilleRaceway.com or on Facebook and Twitter. 

 410 Results 

 Time Trial Heat Group 1 (Qualifying Order), 2 laps: 1. 83JR, Kerry Madsen, St. Mary’s, NSW, Aust. (3), 15.716; 2. 7BC, Tyler Courtney, Indianapolis, IN (9), 15.827; 3. 13, Justin Peck, Monrovia, IN (1), 16.014; 4. 55, Hunter Schuerenberg, Sikeston, MO (2), 16.070; 5. 09, Matt Juhl, Tea, SD (5), 16.141; 6. 5, Brady Forbrook, Morgan, MN (6), 16.301; 7. 17W, Shane Golobic, Fremont, CA (8), 16.333; 8. 22, Riley Goodno, Knoxville, IA (7), 16.402; 9. 14, Josh Higday, Des Moines, IA (11), 16.417; 10. 55T, McKenna Haase, Des Moines, IA (4), 16.918; 11. 44X, Scotty Johnson, Melcher-Dallas, IA (10), 17.515 

 Time Trial Heat Group 2 (Qualifying Order), 2 laps: 1. 18, Gio Scelzi, Fresno, CA (6), 16.009; 2. 21, Brian Brown, Grain Valley, MO (8), 16.054; 3. 2M, Davey Heskin, St. Michael, MN (2), 16.282; 4. 1AU, Marcus Dumesny, Sydney, NSW, Aust. (1), 16.296; 5. 39M, Anthony Macri, Dillsburg, PA (5), 16.360; 6. 17B, Bill Balog, Hartland, WI (3), 16.500; 7. 4, Cap Henry, Bellevue, OH (4), 16.588; 8. 91, Kyle Reinhardt, Neptune City, NJ (7), 16.675; 9. 101, Lachlan McHugh, Gold Coast, QLD, Aust. (11), 16.791; 10. 15, Bobby Mincer, Burlington, IA (10), 16.982; 11. 7B, Ben Brown, Marshall, MO (9), 17.679 

  Time Trial Heat Group 3 (Qualifying Order), 2 laps: 1. 24, Rico Abreu, St. Helena, CA (10), 16.274; 2. 15H, Sam Hafertepe Jr., Sunnyvale, TX (8), 16.467; 3. 19M, Brent Marks, Myerstown, PA (7), 16.480; 4. 2, Lynton Jeffrey, Sydney, NSW, Aust. (6), 16.524; 5. 20, AJ Moeller, Rockwell City, IA (3), 16.554; 6. 2KS, Ian Madsen, St. Mary’s, NSW, Aust (11), 16.630; 7. 45, Rusty Hickman, Bendigo, VIC, Aust. (9), 16.768; 8. 6, Brandon Wimmer, Fairmount, IN (2), 16.770; 9. 7W, Dustin Selvage, Indianola, IA (5), 16.835; 10. 17, Carson Short, Marion, IL (1), 16.941; 11. 1X, Jake Bubak, Arvada, CO (4), 16.958 

  Time Trial Heat Group 4 (Qualifying Order), 2 laps: 1. 25, JJ Hickle, Quilcene, WA (7), 16.394; 2. 19, Chris Windom, Canton, IL (11), 16.412; 3. 3, Ayrton Gennetten, Gravois Mills, MO (2), 16.425; 4. 8, Aaron Reutzel, Clute, TX (10), 16.426; 5. 88, Austin McCarl, Altoona, IA (3), 16.443; 6. 7, Justin Henderson, Tea, SD (9), 16.533; 7. 84, Scott Bogucki, McLaren Vale, SA, Aust. (8), 16.533; 8. 11K, Buddy Kofoid, Penngrove, CA (1), 16.556; 9. 76, Nathan Mills, Bondurant, IA (6), 16.807; 10. 3P, Sawyer Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (4), 16.871; 11. 12, Tyler Drueke, Eagle, NE (5), 16.994 

  Time Trial Heat Group 5 (Qualifying Order), 2 laps: 1. 11, Parker Price-Miller, Kokomo, IN (7), 16.117; 2. 71, Cory Eliason, Visalia, CA (1), 16.457; 3. 1M, Don Droud Jr., Lincoln, NE (4), 16.458; 4. 27, Carson McCarl, Altoona, IA (5), 16.490; 5. 7TAZ, Tasker Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (11), 16.500; 6. 73, Scotty Thiel, Sheboygan, WI (6), 16.521; 7. 26, Zeb Wise, Angola, IN (9), 16.525; 8. 44, Chris Martin, Ankeny, IA (2), 16.765; 9. 14D, Corey Day, Clovis, CA (8), 16.898; 10. 42, Sye Lynch, Apollo, PA (3), 17.139; 11. 9H, Landon Hansen, Newton, IA (10), 18.139 

 Heat one (started), 8 Laps, 2:17.7: 1. Tyler Courtney (1); 2. Hunter Schuerenberg (3); 3. Kerry Madsen (4); 4. Justin Peck (2) / 5. Matt Juhl (5); 6. Shane Golobic (7); 7. McKenna Haase (10) / 8. Riley Goodno (8); 9. Josh Higday (9); 10. Brady Forbrook (6); 11. Scotty Johnson (11) 

 Heat two (started), 8 Laps, 2:15.4: 1. Brian Brown (1); 2. Davey Heskin (2); 3. Gio Scelzi (4); 4. Marcus Dumesny (3) / 5. Bill Balog (6); 6. Cap Henry (7); 7. Anthony Macri (5) / 8. Kyle Reinhardt (8); 9. Lachlan McHugh (9); 10. Ben Brown (11); 11. Bobby Mincer (10) 

  Heat three (started), 8 Laps, 2:16.9: 1. Sam Hafertepe Jr. (1); 2. Rico Abreu (4); 3. Brent Marks (2); 4. Lynton Jeffrey (3) / 5. Ian Madsen (6); 6. Brandon Wimmer (8); 7. AJ Moeller (5) / 8. Dustin Selvage (9); 9. Carson Short (10); 10. Jake Bubak (11); 11. Rusty Hickman (7) 

 Heat four (started), 8 Laps, 2:20.3: 1. Chris Windom (1); 2. Aaron Reutzel (3); 3. Ayrton Gennetten (2); 4. JJ Hickle (4) / 5. Justin Henderson (6); 6. Austin McCarl (5); 7. Buddy Kofoid (8) / 8. Sawyer Phillips (10); 9. Scott Bogucki (7); 10. Tyler Drueke (11); 11. Nathan Mills (9) 

  Heat five (started), 8 Laps, NT: 1. Cory Eliason (1); 2. Parker Price-Miller (4); 3. Don Droud Jr. (2); 4. Carson McCarl (3) / 5. «Select Driver» (0); 6. Zeb Wise (7); 7. Scotty Thiel (6) / 8. Corey Day (9); 9. Chris Martin (8); 10. Landon Hansen (11) 

 C main (started), 10 Laps, 2:58.8: 1. Corey Day (3); 2. Kyle Reinhardt (2) / 3. Scott Bogucki (5); 4. Riley Goodno (1); 5. Sawyer Phillips (4); 6. Lachlan McHugh (7); 7. Carson Short (10); 8. Jake Bubak (9); 9. Chris Martin (8); 10. Tyler Drueke (12); 11. Rusty Hickman (13); 12. Bobby Mincer (14); 13. Ben Brown (11); 14. Josh Higday (6) DNS – Dustin Selvage, Landon Hansen, Nate Mills, Scotty Johnson, Sye Lynch 

 Dash (started), 6 Laps, NT: 1. Kerry Madsen (1); 2. Tyler Courtney (3); 3. Cory Eliason (5); 4. Gio Scelzi (8); 5. Chris Windom (2); 6. Brian Brown (10); 7. JJ Hickle (9); 8. Rico Abreu (7); 9. Parker Price-Miller (6); 10. Sam Hafertepe Jr. (4) 

  B main (started), 12 Laps, NT: 1. Bill Balog (3); 2. Justin Henderson (5); 3. Austin McCarl (8); 4. Matt Juhl (1) / 5. Shane Golobic (7); 6. Buddy Kofoid (15); 7. Ian Madsen (6); 8. «Select Driver» (0); 9. Zeb Wise (9); 10. Corey Day (17); 11. Cap Henry (10); 12. Brandon Wimmer (11); 13. Anthony Macri (12); 14. Brady Forbrook (2); 15. Kyle Reinhardt (18); 16. McKenna Haase (16); 17. Scotty Thiel (13); 18. AJ Moeller (14) 

  A main (started), 25 Laps, NT: 1. Rico Abreu (8); 2. Kerry Madsen (1); 3. Tyler Courtney (2); 4. Gio Scelzi (4); 5. Brian Brown (6); 6. Davey Heskin (12); 7. JJ Hickle (7); 8. Brent Marks (16); 9. Parker Price-Miller (9); 10. Cory Eliason (3); 11. Justin Peck (17); 12. Justin Henderson (22); 13. Sam Hafertepe Jr. (10); 14. Ayrton Gennetten (14); 15. Austin McCarl (23); 16. Lynton Jeffrey (20); 17. Bill Balog (21); 18. Marcus Dumesny (18); 19. Don Droud Jr. (15); 20. Carson McCarl (19); 21. Chris Windom (5); 22. Matt Juhl (24); 23. Kyle Reinhardt (26, prov.); 24. Cap Henry (25, prov.); 25. Aaron Reutzel (13); 26. Hunter Schuerenberg (11). Lap Leaders: K. Madsen 1-20, Abreu 21-25. Hard-charger: Henderson. 

 360 Results 

 Time Trials Group 1 (Qualifying Order), 2 laps: 1. 9G, Ryan Giles, Grimes, IA (1), 15.786; 2. 9, Chase Randall, Waco, TX (9), 15.821; 3. 99, Tony Rost, Omaha, NE (5), 15.934; 4. 2M, Davey Heskin, St. Michael, MN (18), 15.986; 5. 22K, Kaleb Johnson, Sioux Falls, SD (6), 15.994; 6. 7C, Devin Kline, Knoxville, IA (11), 16.032; 7. 14, Brooke Tatnell, Sans Souci, NSW, Aust. (2), 16.047; 8. 26R, Zeb Wise, Angola, IN (3), 16.086; 9. 20, Anthony Macri, Dillsburg, PA (4), 16.117; 10. 24N, Nathan Mills, Bondurant, IA (17), 16.133; 11. 17, Matt Allen, Adel, IA (10), 16.144; 12. 5M, Collin Moyle, Knoxville, IA (16), 16.187; 13. 53, Joe Beaver, Knoxville, IA (14), 16.211; 14. 75AU, Tyler Blank, California, MO (15), 16.337; 15. 2X, Chase Porter, St. Joseph, MO (13), 16.508; 16. 1A, John Anderson, Des Moines, IA (12), 16.556; 17. 4P, Alex Pettas, Tempe, AZ (8), 16.608; 18. 6J, Jett Carney, El Paso, TX (7), 16.637; 19. 33, Alan Zoutte, Knoxville, IA (21), 16.931; 20. 19X, Wes Wofford, Alamogordo, NM (20), 17.690; DQ (Tire) 26, Scott Bogucki, McLaren Vale, SA, Aust. (19) 

Time Trials Group 2 (Qualifying Order), 2 laps: 1. 24, Terry McCarl, Altoona, IA (3), 16.062; 2. 3P, Sawyer Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (20), 16.100; 3. 70, Calvin Landis, Knoxville, IA (9), 16.101; 4. 64, Ian Madsen, St. Mary’s, NSW, Aust. (1), 16.149; 5. 17W, Shane Golobic, Fremont, CA (10), 16.156; 6. 40, Clint Garner, Sioux Falls, SD (6), 16.170; 7. 24W, Garet Williamson, Kingdom City, MO (12), 16.341; 8. 7TAZ, Tasker Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (13), 16.350; 9. 8, Aaron Reutzel, Clute, TX (19), 16.353; 10. 21K, Thomas Kennedy, Winnipeg, MB, Can. (15), 16.366; 11. 18, Gio Scelzi, Fresno, CA (17), 16.422; 12. 6K, Kelby Watt, Adel, IA (8), 16.444; 13. 4W, Jamie Ball, Knoxville, IA (21), 16.457; 14. 4, Cam Martin, Ankeny, IA (16), 16.470; 15. 22, Ryan Leavitt, Knoxville, IA (11), 16.586; 16. 5A, Alex Vande Voort, Knoxville, IA (2), 16.596; 17. 22X, Riley Goodno, Knoxville, IA (4), 16.680; 18. 28, Luke Verardi, Taylorville, IL (7), 16.819; 19. 5T, Ryan Timms, Oklahoma City, OK (18), 16.929; 20. 6, Logan Calderwood, Goodyear, AZ (5), 17.260; 21. 2, Jason Billups, Holt, MO (14), NT 

 Heat one (started), 7 Laps, NT: 1. Ryan Giles (4); 2. Tony Rost (3); 3. Scott Bogucki (9); 4. Matt Allen (1); 5. Chase Porter (6); 6. Alex Pettas (7); 7. Joe Beaver (5); 8. Alan Zoutte (8); 9. Kaleb Johnson (2) DNS – AJ Moeller, Brooke Tatnell 

Heat two (started), 7 Laps, 2:04.2: 1. Collin Moyle (1); 2. Nathan Mills (2); 3. Chase Randall (6); 4. Devin Kline (4); 5. Zeb Wise (3); 6. Tyler Blank (7); 7. Davey Heskin (5); 8. Wes Wofford (10); 9. John Anderson (8); 10. Jett Carney (9) 

Heat three (started), 7 Laps, 2:01.5: 1. Gio Scelzi (1); 2. Aaron Reutzel (2); 3. Shane Golobic (4); 4. Terry McCarl (6); 5. Garet Williamson (3); 6. Calvin Landis (5); 7. Ryan Leavitt (8); 8. Jamie Ball (7); 9. Riley Goodno (9); 10. Ryan Timms (10); 11. Jason Billups (11) 

Heat four (started), 7 Laps, 2:05.0: 1. Kelby Watt (1); 2. Clint Garner (4); 3. Thomas Kennedy (2); 4. Tasker Phillips (3); 5. Sawyer Phillips (6); 6. Ian Madsen (5); 7. Alex Vande Voort (8); 8. Cam Martin (7); 9. Logan Calderwood (10); 10. Luke Verardi (9) 

B main (started), 10 Laps, 3:10.6: 1. Garet Williamson (2); 2. Brooke Tatnell (1); 3. Thomas Kennedy (4); 4. Jamie Ball (6) / 5. Joe Beaver (3); 6. Alex Vande Voort (12); 7. Ryan Leavitt (10); 8. Riley Goodno (14); 9. Ryan Timms (18); 10. Cam Martin (8); 11. Tyler Blank (5); 12. John Anderson (7); 13. Luke Verardi (16); 14. Wes Wofford (15); 15. Logan Calderwood (19); 16. Alex Pettas (9); 17. Alan Zoutte (13); 18. Jett Carney (11); 19. Jason Billups (20); 20. Scott Bogucki (17) DNS – Anthony Macri, Kaleb Johnson 

A main (started), 18 Laps, NT: 1. Clint Garner (1); 2. Aaron Reutzel (12); 3. Gio Scelzi (14); 4. Ryan Giles (4); 5. Shane Golobic (8); 6. Ian Madsen (16); 7. Garet Williamson (21); 8. Sawyer Phillips (6); 9. Brooke Tatnell (22); 10. Terry McCarl (3); 11. Tony Rost (2); 12. Chase Randall (5); 13. Davey Heskin (13); 14. Nathan Mills (9); 15. Devin Kline (7); 16. Kelby Watt (18); 17. Zeb Wise (15); 18. Chase Porter (19); 19. Calvin Landis (10); 20. Matt Allen (17); 21. Thomas Kennedy (23); 22. Collin Moyle (11); 23. Tasker Phillips (20); 24. Jamie Ball (24).

Lap Leader: Garner 1-18.

Hard-charger: Williamson.