Rico Abreu Reloads With A Win At Mansfield Motor Speedway

Rico Abreu Reloads With A Win At Mansfield Motor Speedway

After a disappointing three nights in the Kings Royal, Rico Abreu headed up the road and won at Mansfield Motor Speedway.

Jul 17, 2017 by Victoria Beaver
Rico Abreu Reloads With A Win At Mansfield Motor Speedway
Mansfield (OH) Motor Speedway hosted the second round of their Triple Crown Series Sunday night. The event featured 410 Winged Sprints, Super Late Model, and Non-Winged Sprints. Rico Abreu used the opportunity to try and shake off a disappointing three nights in the Kings Royal up the road in Rossburg at Eldora Speedway.

Earlier this year Mansfield tore up their asphalt track to go back to its dirt roots. The track was transformed to asphalt in 1999.

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Shane Cottle won in the non-wing sprint division and Rusty Schlenk won in late models, but it was the performance of Rico Abreu in Winged 410s that may have the greatest impact this week.

Abreu's win at Mansfield came ahead of Spencer Bayston and Carson Macedo.

Bayston and Abreu battled until the last lap--even going as far as swapping the top spot on that final circuit. Bayston was coming off of a win at Valley Speedway in Grain Valley, MO in a midget the night before. Abreu was coming off of three nights of mid-pack finishes at Eldora.

This Mansfield win could be the ticket for Abreu bouncing back before Wednesday night's Camping World Truck Series Dirt Derby back at Eldora.

In three nights of competition for the Kings Royal, Abreu failed to transfer directly to the A-main in his first two tries and was forced to fight his way through the Last Chance Showdown. He finished 13th in the Joker's Wild and 10th in the The Knight Before The Kings Royal.

Abreu found a little extra Saturday night and transferred straight to the A-Main. He started 13th, but had to settle for an 11th-place finish.

Abreu expected much more from the Kings Royal / Dirt Derby double based on his 2016 performance.

He was second last year in the final night of the Kings Royal.

He was third in the Eldora truck race, behind Christopher Bell in second and winner Kyle Larson.

In 2017, Bell is the driver with the most momentum heading into Tuesday night's Camping World Truck Series Dirt Derby. He won the Friday night and was second to Donny Schatz in Saturday night's main event. Bell earned his first Truck victory at Eldora in 2014 in his third career start. Last year, he finished second to Kyle Larson.