With four laps to go on Saturday night at Knoxville, Terry McCarl was holding the lead in front of a charging Brian Brown.
It was shaping up – and had been for laps – to be an epic battle between perhaps the two biggest names that Knoxville Raceway has to offer.
That’s when Rico Abreu made up a lot of space in a little time, utilizing the pair battling to put himself in a passing position.
Abreu took to McCarl first in turns one and two, sticking his car to the inside line while the others committed to running the cushion on the outside.
By the midpoint of the backstretch, the No. 24 was in the lead. Abreu drove it into turn two knowing he’d have Brown to his outside, but he stuck to his guns.
Abreu slid through the first part of the corner but made the car stick to the track as he got to turn four. He completed the exit in front of Brown for the win in what might be the most thrilling race fans will see all year at Knoxville.
Here's the finish from Knoxville tonight, with Rico going P3 to P1.
For background, he makes it look easy. It's no where close to this easy. #KnoxvilleCup
🎥 @dirtvision pic.twitter.com/1vo1GspH7S
— Connor Ferguson (@cfchangs9) July 19, 2020
“My car was just so good on the bottom,” Abreu said. “I could hunt those guys as the race went on. They caught traffic, and their pace kind of came to me. I came here a couple of months ago and ran second to Brownie. Then we came to the Outlaw show and had our car a lot different.”
Just a few weeks ago it looked like Brown and Abreu were in different leagues.
Brown’s car had a much better take off and more longstanding speed than Abreu’s. Saturday showed a different story thanks to Rico’s trip out east.
“Getting to race through Pennsylvania and Ohio Speedweeks…we kind of fine-tuned our car to make it better for each race on the half-mile stuff,” Abreu said. “Throughout the race I was patient, kind of letting my car settle down. Once I figured out the bottom I could really hunt those guys.”
The Knoxville Championship Cup Series will return to the track next Saturday with its weekly format before a stacked month of August.
Knoxville Weekly Feature Results
1. Rico Abreu
2. Brian Brown
3. Terry McCarl
4. Austin McCarl
5. Matt Juhl
6. Lynton Jeffrey
7. Brooke Tatnell
8. Gio Scelzi
9. Dominic Scelzi
10. Davey Heskin
11. Justin Henderson
12. Tasker Phillips
13. Josh Schneiderman
14. Sawyer Phillips
15. AJ Moeller
16. Chris Martin
17. Skylar Prochaska
18. Bobby Mincer
19. Tucker Klaasmeyer
20. Tori Knutson
21. Mike Ayers
22. Hunter Schuerenberg
23. Trey Starks
24. Ryan Giles
