Lonnie Wheatley, KNOXVILLE, Iowa (August 13, 2022) – It was all Rico Abreu in Friday night’s “Hard Knox” card at the 61st Annual Knoxville Nationals.
Abreu gunned into the lead from the front row outside and led all 25 laps to secure the 21st starting position in Saturday night’s $175,000-to-win Knoxville Nationals finale.
“I felt like I kind of let the team down last night with some poor decisions,” Abreu commented in victory lane. “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.
Abreu took his third Hard Knox win aboard the Rowdy Energy/Hyvee No. 24 Sprint Car with Aussie Kerry Madsen (oddly enough dubbed ‘Un Hombre Malo’ on a past shirt), Sheldon Haudenschild and Knoxville track points title contender Brian Brown.
While those four locked themselves into the finale, Corey Day put on a show by rebounding from an early incident after starting from the pole position and then rallying back through the field to salvage a seventh-place finish.
Anthony Macri, who ranks as the winningest Sprint Car driver, rounded out the top five to land 11th in Saturday’s “B” Main lineup with Spencer Bayston surviving a sketchy biking moment in turns and two to finish sixth. With Day in seventh, Jusin Henderson charged from 24th to eighth with Brady Bacon and Dylan Cisney completing the top ten.
Friday Feature Results:
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