Abreu Dominates at Wayne County Speedway

Rico Abreu Dominates Round Four of Ohio Sprint Speedweek presented by Cometic Gasket at Wayne County Speedway, Ohio Sprint Speedweek continues Tuesday at Sharon Speedway

Story By: TYLER ALTMEYER / ASCOC MEDIA     Photo By: VINCE VELLELLA PHOTO

ORRVILLE, OH- June 21, 2016- After missing the main event on Sunday night at Millstream Speedway, finishing sixth during the evening’s C-main, St. Helena, California’s Rico Abreu made an impressive rebound and nearly swept round four of Ohio Sprint Speedweek presented by Cometic Gasket at Wayne County Speedway in Orrville, Ohio. Abreu earned victories during his respective heat race and dash on Monday evening at Wayne County, all before leading all 30 circuits of the feature program. The $5,000 Ohio Sprint Speedweek presented by Cometic Gasket victory was the fourth Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions win of his career, going back-to-back at Wayne County Speedway in 2016.

“I just love being a part of this team. It’s all about preparation and these guys certainly make that happen,” explained Rico Abreu. “I love to watch my guys work. Even after a tough night like last night, they stayed focused and knew what they had to do to turn things around. Really glad to be up here again. Wayne County Speedway reminds me so much of racing back home.”

Rico Abreu took command of the feature field immediately after the initial green flag, winning the drag race into turns one and two with Andrew Palker and Jac Haudenschild in tow. The 30-lap main event was halted five times, two of which for red flag conditions during the first five circuits. Despite the frequent cautions, and a needed fuel stop on lap 22, Abreu kept his pace on the point, never feeling pressure from those racing behind him. Kyle Larson, who started third on the feature grid, maintained a top-five running position the entire distance, eventually finishing second at the checkers. Sheldon Haudenschild finished third, followed by fifth row starter Danny Holtgraver and California native Carson Macedo.

“I’m just so comfortable here,” said Rico Abreu. “The turns were completely different here tonight. It really reminds me of Tulare back home in California. My style really fits this place. I’m just really happy for my team. I think we are all excited to get back to this place.”

Night five of the 34th edition of Ohio Sprint Speedweek presented by Cometic Gasket will be contested at the Sharon Speedway in Hartford, Ohio, on Tuesday evening, June 21. Local favorite and defending Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions titlist Dale Blaney is the defending event winner, scoring $5,000 over a pair of Aussie invaders. James McFadden finished second in 2015, followed by Jamie Veal.

Sharon Speedway will allow Ohio Sprint Speedweek presented by Cometic Gasket teams to enter the pit area as early as 10:00 am on Tuesday morning, June 21. The Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions drivers meeting will be conducted at 5:30, followed by warm ups and qualifying time trials at 6. For more information, please visit Sharon Speedway live on the Web at www.sharonspeedway.com.

Contingency Awards/Results – Wayne County Speedway – Monday, June 20, 2016:

Event: Ohio Sprint Speedweek Night #4

EMi Driver’s Meeting: 48 Entries

State Water Heaters Warm-Ups: Rico Abreu – 14.487

Lincoln Electric Fast Qualifier: Sheldon Haudenschild – 14.237

Kistler Racing Products Heat #1: Kasey Kahne

All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #2: Jac Haudenschild

Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #3: Rico Abreu

Kistler Racing Products Heat #4: Daniel Harding

JE Pistons Dash: Rico Abreu

Daido Engine Bearings Main Event Winner: Kyle Larson (2nd)

MSD Performance Hard Charger Award: Paul May (+15)

Outback Steakhouse A-Main 5th Place Finisher: Carson Macedo

Outback Steakhouse A-Main 10th Place Finisher: Dean Jacobs

Outback Steakhouse A-Main 15th Place Finisher: T.J. Michael

(Lincoln Electric, Daido Engine Bearings, MSD Performance, Outback Steakhouse; Need decal to qualify for contingency award)

Qualifying
1.93-Sheldon Haudenschild, 14.237; 2.57X-Andrew Palker, 14.283; 3.70-Danny Holtgraver, 14.510; 4.57-Kyle Larson, 14.541; 5.4-Kasey Kahne, 14.588; 6.09x-Carson Macedo, 14.590; 7.24-Rico Abreu, 14.609; 8.49-Tim Shaffer, 14.627; 9.8M-TJ Michael, 14.644; 10.71m-Paul May, 14.674; 11.17W-Bryan Clauson, 14.675; 12.1-Dale Blaney, 14.688; 13.40-Caleb Helms, 14.728; 14.10H-Chad Kemenah, 14.736; 15.81-Lee Jacobs, 14.796; 16.6M-Jac Haudenschild, 14.836; 17.48-Danny Dietrich, 14.878; 18.71-Jamie Veal, 14.902; 19.26-Tayler Malsam, 14.921; 20.17-Josh Baughman, 14.926; 21.5-Byron Reed, 14.930; 22.21-Cap Henry, 14.944; 23.5T-Travis Philo, 14.967; 24.41X-Dominic Scelzi, 14.971; 25.2-Parker Price-Miller, 14.986; 26.12-Daniel Harding, 15.083; 27.11K-Kraig Kinser, 15.104; 28.60-Kory Crabtree, 15.132; 29.97-Dean Jacobs, 15.134; 30.22S-Brandon Spithaler, 15.141; 31.91-Cale Thomas, 15.238; 32.46-Michael Bauer, 15.274; 33.D12-Jason Dolick, 15.352; 34.49H-Bradley Howard, 15.395; 35.16M-Danny Mumaw, 15.421; 36.9-Jordan Ryan, 15.445; 37.27Z-Sean Zemunik, 15.452; 38.11-Shawn Hubler, 15.574; 39.AUS96-Andy Caruana, 15.652; 40.O7-Jacob Wilson, 15.685; 41.46AU-Stuart Williams, 15.724; 42.23-Nick Patterson, 15.753; 43.24P-Alex Paden, 15.904; 44.1B-Aaron Middaugh, 16.045; 45.7-Troy Kingan, 16.093; 46.51-Roger Campbell, 16.179; 47.33D-Tyler Dunn, 17.141; 48.38K-Brandon Wimmer, 99.750;

Heat 1, Group A – (8 Laps)
1. 4-Kasey Kahne[2] ; 2. 09x-Carson Macedo[1] ; 3. 70-Danny Holtgraver[3] ; 4. 17W-Bryan Clauson[8] ; 5. 57X-Andrew Palker[4] ; 6. 49-Tim Shaffer[5] ; 7. 8M-TJ Michael[6] ; 8. 71m-Paul May[7] ; 9. 40-Caleb Helms[9] ; 10. 16M-Danny Mumaw[12] ; 11. 49H-Bradley Howard[11] ; 12. 48-Danny Dietrich[10]

Heat 2, Group B – (8 Laps)
1. 6M-Jac Haudenschild[1] ; 2. 57-Kyle Larson[3] ; 3. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild[4] ; 4. 10H-Chad Kemenah[2] ; 5. 5-Byron Reed[5] ; 6. 21-Cap Henry[6] ; 7. 5T-Travis Philo[7] ; 8. 27Z-Sean Zemunik[8] ; 9. 24P-Alex Paden[11] ; 10. 23-Nick Patterson[10] ; 11. 1B-Aaron Middaugh[12] ; 12. 11-Shawn Hubler[9]

Heat 3, Group C – (8 Laps)
1. 24-Rico Abreu[4] ; 2. 81-Lee Jacobs[2] ; 3. 71-Jamie Veal[1] ; 4. 97-Dean Jacobs[7] ; 5. 1-Dale Blaney[3] ; 6. 26-Tayler Malsam[5] ; 7. 17-Josh Baughman[6] ; 8. 22S-Brandon Spithaler[8] ; 9. 9-Jordan Ryan[11] ; 10. D12-Jason Dolick[10] ; 11. 46-Michael Bauer[9] ; 12. 33D-Tyler Dunn[12]

Heat 4, Group D – (8 Laps)
1. 12-Daniel Harding[2] ; 2. 41X-Dominic Scelzi[4] ; 3. 11K-Kraig Kinser[1] ; 4. 91-Cale Thomas[6] ; 5. 2-Parker Price-Miller[3] ; 6. AUS96-Andy Caruana[7] ; 7. 46AU-Stuart Williams[9] ; 8. 7-Troy Kingan[10] ; 9. 51-Roger Campbell[11] ; 10. O7-Jacob Wilson[8] ; 11. 60-Kory Crabtree[5] ; 12. 38K-Brandon Wimmer[12]

Dash 1 – (6 Laps)
1. 24-Rico Abreu[2] ; 2. 57X-Andrew Palker[1] ; 3. 57-Kyle Larson[4] ; 4. 6M-Jac Haudenschild[6] ; 5. 09x-Carson Macedo[3] ; 6. 4-Kasey Kahne[5] ; 7. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild[7] ; 8. 81-Lee Jacobs[8]

C-Main 1 – (10 Laps)
1. 16M-Danny Mumaw[1] ; 2. 9-Jordan Ryan[2] ; 3. 27Z-Sean Zemunik[3] ; 4. 23-Nick Patterson[8] ; 5. 24P-Alex Paden[9] ; 6. 11-Shawn Hubler[4] ; 7. AUS96-Andy Caruana[5] ; 8. O7-Jacob Wilson[6] ; 9. 46AU-Stuart Williams[7] ; 10. 1B-Aaron Middaugh[10] ; 11. 51-Roger Campbell[12] ; 12. 7-Troy Kingan[11] ; 13. 33D-Tyler Dunn[13] ; 14. 38K-Brandon Wimmer[14]

B-Main 1 – (12 Laps)
1. 8M-TJ Michael[2] ; 2. 49-Tim Shaffer[1] ; 3. 40-Caleb Helms[4] ; 4. 71m-Paul May[3] ; 5. 48-Danny Dietrich[5] ; 6. 5T-Travis Philo[9] ; 7. 22S-Brandon Spithaler[11] ; 8. 21-Cap Henry[8] ; 9. 26-Tayler Malsam[6] ; 10. 16M-Danny Mumaw[15] ; 11. 49H-Bradley Howard[14] ; 12. 46-Michael Bauer[12] ; 13. 17-Josh Baughman[7] ; 14. D12-Jason Dolick[13] ; 15. 9-Jordan Ryan[16] ; 16. 60-Kory Crabtree[10]

A-Main 1 – (30 Laps)
1. 24-Rico Abreu[1] ; 2. 57-Kyle Larson[3] ; 3. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild[7] ; 4. 70-Danny Holtgraver[11] ; 5. 09x-Carson Macedo[5] ; 6. 4-Kasey Kahne[6] ; 7. 11K-Kraig Kinser[13] ; 8. 10H-Chad Kemenah[15] ; 9. 71m-Paul May[24] ; 10. 97-Dean Jacobs[16] ; 11. 91-Cale Thomas[17] ; 12. 57X-Andrew Palker[2] ; 13. 41X-Dominic Scelzi[9] ; 14. 12-Daniel Harding[10] ; 15. 8M-TJ Michael[21] ; 16. 21-Cap Henry[25] ; 17. 2-Parker Price-Miller[20] ; 18. 71-Jamie Veal[12] ; 19. 6M-Jac Haudenschild[4] ; 20. 1-Dale Blaney[19] ; 21. 17W-Bryan Clauson[14] ; 22. 48-Danny Dietrich[26] ; 23. 5-Byron Reed[18] ; 24. 49-Tim Shaffer[22] ; 25. 40-Caleb Helms[23]

Current Ohio Sprint Speedweek presented by Cometic Gasket Standings (6/20/2016):

Kyle Larson: 586

Chad Kemenah: 566

Sheldon Haudenschild: 530

Dean Jacobs: 522

Cale Thomas: 520

Dale Blaney: 518

Jamie Veal: 500

Kraig Kinser: 494

Tim Shaffer: 486

Travis Philo: 482

Current Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions Standings (6/20/2016):

Dale Blaney: 2038

Chad Kemenah: 2032

Sheldon Haudenschild: 1912

T.J. Michael: 1824

Cap Henry: 1822

Danny Holtgraver: 1816

Kraig Kinser: 1774

Lee Jacobs: 1772

Caleb Helms:1692

Andrew Palker:1610

About Cometic Gasket:

Cometic Gasket, Inc., is a leading worldwide supplier of gaskets and engine sealing solutions for the Automotive Performance, Powersports, Original Equipment and Remanufactured Engine Industries. Housed in a 70,000 square-foot, state-of-the-art R&D and manufacturing center in Concord Township, Ohio, Cometic Gasket has maintained its deep roots in the powersports industry while expanding to service the Domestic Automotive, Sport Compact, V-twin, Marine, Diesel, Agricultural, Industrial and Stationary Power markets. Today, Cometic Gasket offers over 85,000 SKUs, shipping gaskets and engine sealing solutions across the globe.

Additional Arctic Cat All Star Series Info:

Those seeking additional information regarding the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions should visit their official online home at www.allstarsprint.com. Series updates and breaking news will be posted regularly on the official Twitter account of the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions: https://twitter.com/ASCoC. Find full text results from each and every event, as well as an up-to-date schedule, online at www.allstarsprint.com/schedule/.

About the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions:

All Star Enterprises, LLC, wholly owned by Tony Stewart, d/b/a the All Star Circuit of Champions, is a winged sprint car series. The All-Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Car Series is one of the oldest traveling 410 sprint car organizations and is a staple of grassroots, open-wheel racing. Formed in 1970 by Bud Miller, the series has largely been considered the first ‘outlaw’ Sprint Car organization of the modern era. After a 10 year stint as owner of the All Stars, Miller passed control of the series to Bert Emick in 1980; a reign that would continue through 2002. Guy Webb then purchased the series from Emick in the summer of 2002 and served as the series President for the next 12 years. Motorsports entrepreneur Tony Stewart agreed to terms with Guy Webb to become the sole owner of the original winged sprint car tour in January of 2015.

About Arctic Cat:

The Arctic Cat brand is among the most widely recognized and respected in the recreational vehicle industry. The company designs, engineers, manufactures and markets all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), side-by-sides and snowmobiles, in addition to related parts, garments and accessories under the Arctic Cat® and Motorfist® brand names. Arctic Cat Inc.’s world headquarters is located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Its common stock is traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the ticker symbol “ACAT.” More information about Arctic Cat and its products is available at www.ArcticCat.com.