Rico Abreu watched Brian Brown become the first non-series regular to win a World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series race in Friday night's Yuma Valley Showdown at Cocopah Speedway in Somerton, AZ.

While Abreu had to settle for a 10th-place finish, Brown showed him the big guys were beatable.

One night later, Abreu was determined to approach the Arizona Desert Shootout at Arizona Speedway in Queen Creek with confidence. After grabbing the lead on lap 16 of the 30-lap race, the St. Helena, California, driver held on to notch his first World of Outlaws of the season and the sixth of his career.

Abreu lined up on the outside of Brown to start Saturday's race and had the faster mount. He targeted Brown for a pass on lap two but mistimed his slide job and walked up the track. That ill-timed move could have gone horribly wrong; however, Abreu had the presence of mind not to press the issue and slipped back into the second slot.

It took another 14 laps before he could make the pass.

As soon as the crossed flags were held in the air, Abreu pounced, taking the lead in turn two of the 16th lap.



"You've got to be committed on your slide jobs," Abreu said after winning Saturday night. "I got a little impatient when we got to lap traffic, but once I cleared some lap cars I felt really confident and made the move. I just tried to save my tires for the end as I knew it was going to get trickier for someone to peel off and pass.

"It's so easy to slow down to someone's pass, especially when they're in traffic."

Abreu's move stalled Brown's momentum and brought David Gravel with him.

The battle between Gravel and Brown gave Abreu the breathing room he needed. It allowed him to settle into a rhythm and prepare for a late-race assault by Gravel.

"(Traffic) started to play an issue there but I'm happy with a second-place finish," Gravel said. "It was a really fun race with a lot of sliders.

"We'll take a second and move onto next week."

Brown held onto third, with Brad Sweet and Jason Sides rounding out the top five.

The World of Outlaws is scheduled for three nights of action in Texas this week with a makeup race at Gator Motorplex in Willis and a two-night show at Devils Bowl Speedway in Mesquite.

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