Abreu paves NASCAR path in Larson's footsteps

Posted on April 22, 2015 by

Friendship between drivers helps Chili Bowl champ’s transition to stock cars

BRISTOL, Tenn. — While it always helps to have friends in high places, don’t pin Rico Abreu’s quick ascension over the past year on his strong relationship with Sprint Cup Series driver Kyle Larson — it’s because the kid can wheel.

The 2014 USAC Midget car champion — who only started racing a handful of years ago — put himself on racing’s national radar when he took home Toyota’s first victory in the Chili Bowl, thought to be the grand daddy of midget car races.

"It’s going to be fun to see the world get to learn his personality." — Kyle Larson on Rico Abreu

Following in the footsteps of his good friend Larson, the 23-year-old Abreu parlayed his dirt track success into a full-time NASCAR K&N Pro Series East ride.

"I think he really wanted to come here and try making it to the top; he’s been doing good so far," Larson said while seated next to Abreu Saturday at Bristol Motor Speedway.

"It’s a really big transition being different race cars and different track surfaces. The (stock) cars are just so big it’s hard to get used to how far out your nose is, how far out your right-rear is. In sprint cars you sit right in the middle of the car and you kind of know where your nose is already and like you said you can’t really manhandle these like you can a sprint car. You’ve kind of got what you’ve got and have to deal with it.

"He’s been getting better. I think the first time he has ever shifted a car was at New Smyrna (Florida) and he struggled there shifting. He is good now."

Even for shifting a car for the first time, Abreu still managed to start sixth in the season opener at New Smyrna, only finishing 17th because of a wreck on the final lap of a green/white/checkered finish.

In the two races since then, Abreu has started seventh and notched a top-10 in each, including Saturday’s 2015 PittLite 125 at Bristol.

Larson mentioned that Abreu’s ninth-place result at Greenville-Pickens earlier this month was particularly noteworthy, because "I was two laps down my first time at Greenville, so he is already ahead of me."

A head start on one of NASCAR’s most heralded young drivers in recent memory isn’t something to take lightly.

When you consider, especially, that Larson (a few months younger than Abreu) has been racing pretty much since he was allowed to get behind the wheel of any sort of ride, Abreu’s rise and the praise he’s gotten so far are all the more impressive.

Oh, almost forgot to mention – he’s doing this all with a stature that measures 4-foot-4 and 95 pounds.

"Growing up, I couldn’t do a lot just because of my height and I was always a go-getter and I always wanted to succeed in everything I did," Abreu said. "I couldn’t play sports when I got out of middle school, so I started racing. I met some friends that raced in our hometown and I just kept going with them. Then I raced and raced and raced and became great friends with Kyle and ended up racing against him every weekend and I just had that drive to want to beat him. I wasn’t worried about anyone else out there."

Abreu said that his open wheel career really took off once Larson moved on to the K&N Series, but if he keeps racing and keeps following in the path his friend paved for him, the progress will continue.

"I think if I keep chasing (Larson’s) butt I can keep on succeeding."

Being one of the hottest commodities in the Sprint Cup Series comes along with a grand learning experience, something that Larson routinely passes along to Abreu.

The lessons are a two-way street, however, and last year’s Sunoco Rookie of the Year in the Sprint Cup Series knows that the lessons his friend has to offer extend further than what happens on the race track.

"Never give up," Larson said of the most important piece of advice he’s learned from Abreu. "He has had to work through a lot of things being different. It’s cool to see how hard he drives, how well he treats people. Just a lot of stuff, more off the track I’ve learned from Rico being a good friend and all of that. He is a great guy and it’s going to be fun to see the world get to learn his personality."

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Posted on April 22, 2015 by Jason Lofing

Humpe scored his most impressive win yet at Richmond

Kenny Humpe continued his early-season dominance of the NASCAR PEAK Antifreeze Series Powered by iRacing by winning his third race of the young season at Richmond International Raceway. The Richmond was the most impressive of the three, with Humpe pacing the field for every lap save for a scoring mix-up under caution. A flurry of late-race cautions bunched the field and gave the drivers behind a shot at stealing a victory but Humpe was simply unbeatable.

Patrick Crabtree finished second and had a few good shots at Humpe on restarts but never could hang close enough to attempt a pass. Ray Alfalla was third, continuing his strong start to the season. Ryan Lowe and Taylor Hurst rounded out the top five, the first such result in the NASCAR PEAK Antifreeze Series for both sim racers.

Humpe captured the pole by a scant .006s over Cody Byus with the top 19 cars all turning times within a tenth of the pole. These close times naturally lead one to assume the race would be close as well, but it was not to be. When the green flag flew Humpe quickly sprinted to a one second lead just nine laps into the running.

With machine-like consistency Humpe kept extending his lead: Half a tenth one lap, a full tenth the next. By the time the first yellow flag flew on Lap 56 for Alex Warren’s spin, Humpe had put four seconds between himself and second place Alfalla.

The leaders headed to pit road for the first time and Humpe won the race off and quickly got back to business, re-building his gap. By Lap 119, the end of the second long run of the race, Humpe was once again comfortably ahead of the field, this time pulling a gap of nearly three seconds on Crabtree.

As often happens at Richmond, the race changed drastically in the second half. The first 130 laps were rather tame but the last 70 had more than their share of action and crashes. After an extended caution due to a scoring glitch the race went green with 66 laps to go but it would not stay green for long. In all, half a dozen cautions waved in the last 66 laps, the last of which had seriously implications for Chad Laughton who came into the event second in the series standings.

As the field came to three laps to go, Laughton was running fourth just behind Crabtree and Alfalla when the three got together in the middle of Turns Three and Four. While both Crabtree and Alfalla continued unharmed, the contact forced Laughton’s car to the apron which broke his momentum. This allowed PJ Stergios to get a run on Laughton off Turn Four and Stergios went for the pass down low. However, Laughton either blocked too aggressively or did not realize Stergios was alongside of him and the two made contact sparking a huge crash involving several cars. Laughton would finish, but all the way back in 29th position.

Humpe’s win bolstered his NASCAR PEAK Antifreeze Series championship lead, which now stands at 30 points over Alfalla. Laughton’s crash dropped him to third in the standings, 42 back of Humpe, while Crabtree and Justin Bolton are in a dead heat for fourth, six additional points behind Laughton.

With the series approaching the one-third mark only three drivers are still within one race of Humpe’s point total. It is a display of dominance never before seen in the NASCAR PEAK Antiifreeze Series. As the series heads to Pocono, Humpe will be looking to keep building on his points lead while the rest of the field searches for answers. Will someone have a breakthrough at the Tricky Triangle or will Humpe continue his unprecedented dominance? Find out in two weeks on iRacingLive and MRN.com!

Posted on April 22, 2015 by Staff Report

Pit road technology highlights 2015 improvements

What was behind NASCAR’s decision to change to automated pit road technology for the 2015 season?

Find out the answer, as well as what NASCAR plans to do with the data and pit road videos to make the viewing of a NASCAR race even more exciting for fans.

Gene Stefanyshyn, NASCAR’s Senior VP, Innovation and Racing Development, walks us through the changes with some behind-the-scenes looks at the officiating trailer.

Watch today’s video, which is part of NASCAR Inside Track presented by Mobil 1, then come back throughout the season for more behind-the-scenes videos from Mobil 1 and NASCAR.

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