PEVELY, MO. (August 3, 2019) - Breaking out the broom and going back-to-back, Rico Abreu of St. Helena, Calif. completed an "Ironman Weekend" sweep on Saturday night at the Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55. Becoming the fourth leader in a race filled with variety, Abreu assumed the lead with seven laps left and survived a hectic finish to win his 12th-career POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget League feature.

Although not as deep as his 14th-starting position on Friday night, Abreu took the green flag in Saturday's 30-lapper from the inside of row four in seventh. Meanwhile, for the second night in a row it was PAC Racing Springs #HighPointMan, Zach Daum, on the pole position with Daniel Adler of St. Louis, Mo. to his outside.

However, it was neither Daum nor Adler controlling the opening circuit, as third-starter Ace McCarthy rolled around the inside wall and moved underneath them both to take the lead. Pacing the opening three laps, McCarthy's grip on the top spot soon faded as an all-out war began with McCarthy, Daum, Cannon McIntosh and Noah Gass all battling for the lead.

Throttling around the outside, McIntosh of Bixby, Okla. used the cushion to his advantage and put his Dave Mac Motorsports, Drive WFX, Spike/Toyota No. 08 out front. Developing three distinct grooves, the battle up front only heated up as McIntosh committed to the top, Gass rolled right through the middle and McCarthy methodically maneuvered around the bottom.

Much to McIntosh's surprise, he received company in the surprise of fellow Oklahoma native, Noah Gass, who approached him and then assumed the race lead with a pass on the 12th lap. After working through lap traffic, the duo waged war again in a wheel-to-wheel affair before the first stoppage of the race came with a lap 20 caution for Daniel Adler.

Restarting with 10 to go, Gass and McIntosh quickly found a new challenger in the mix as Friday winner, Rico Abreu, had worked his way into the third spot and presented his No. 97 into the match. After momentarily swapping sliders with McIntosh, Abreu made his way towards Gass and put the hammer down, driving around the outside to become the fourth leader on lap 23.

With the excitement far from over, Tyler Thomas of Collinsville, Okla. made his presence felt by completing a daring three-wide and passing McIntosh and Gass in one clean shot. While Thomas caught Abreu in the closing laps, the capacity crowd at I-55 rose to their feet as the No. 91T and the No. 97 ran side-by-side for five consecutive laps dueling for the win.

The duo went toe-to-toe lap-after-lap and corner-after-corner while Thomas stuck the bottom on both ends and Abreu railed the cushion all the way around. Only moments after the white flag waved, the caution came out for third-running McIntosh who slowed with right rear trouble. Another caution for top-five running Zach Daum set the stage for the final caution, which came when Thomas, who was fighting for the win, spun in turn three after contact with the inside wall while coming to the white flag.

From there, Rico Abreu of St. Helena, Calif. survived to seal the deal on his "Ironman Weekend" sweep with the POWRi Lucas Oil National / West Midget League at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55. Backing up his 14th-to-1st run on Friday with a 7th-to-1st bid on Saturday, the win was Abreu's 12th-career triumph with POWRi in his Keith Kunz Motorsports, Safelite Auto Glass, Bullet/Toyota No. 97.

Chasing Rico to the stripe and earning a career-best finish in second-place was Mounds, Okla. native Noah Gass in the No. 20 machine. Rounding out the podium for the second night in a row was C.J. Leary of Greenfield, Ind. aboard the Reynolds Racing, Lucas Oil, Ripper/SR-11 No. 21KS. 

Finishing out the top ten was a hard-charging Andrew Felker in fourth-from-19th, Holley Hollan with a strong run from 16th-to-fifth, Joe B. Miller in sixth, Jesse Colwell in seventh, Jake Neuman in eighth, Jesse Love in ninth and Daniel Adler in tenth.

Up next for the POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget League is a tripleheader weekend in two weeks. Thursday, August 15 takes them to Fairbury American Legion Speedway before a Friday, August 16 trip to Lincoln Speedway and then ultimately a Saturday, August 17 appearance at Macon Speedway.

For more information on POWRi Racing, you can visit www.powri.comonline, follow @POWRi_Racing on Twitter and Instagram, or like POWRi on Facebook.

Auto Meter Heat One (8 Laps):
1. 91T-Tyler Thomas, Collinsville, OK (1); 2. 28-Ace McCarthy, Tahlequah, OK (4); 3. 08-Cannon McIntosh, Bixby, OK (6); 4. 71-Jesse Colwell, Red Bluff, CA (5); 5. 21KS-C.J. Leary, Greenfield, IN (7); 6. 44S-Andrew Felker, Carl Junction, MO (2); 7. 37-Karter Sarff, Mason City, IL (8); 8. 97A-Austin O'Dell, Rochester, IL (3).

KSE Racing Products Heat Two (8 Laps):
1. 5D-Zach Daum, Pocahontas, IL (2); 2. 3N-Jake Neuman, New Berlin, IL (1); 3. 20G-Noah Gass, Mounds, OK (5); 4. 97-Rico Abreu, St. Helena, CA (7); 5. 9-Daison Pursley, Locust Grove, OK (6); 6. 5-Danny Frye, St. Peters, MO (3); 7. 2H-Luke Howard, Overland Park, KS (4).

Advanced Racing Suspensions Heat Three (8 Laps):
1.50-Daniel Adler, St. Louis, MO (2); 2. 8M-Chance Morton, Coweta, OK (1); 3. 11B-Joe B. Miller, Millersville, MO (3); 4. 72-Sam Johnson, St. Peters, MO (6); 5. 97K-Jesse Love, Redwood City, CA (5); 6. 67-Holley Hollan, Broken Arrow, OK (7); 7. 3B-Shelby Bosie, Sherman, IL (5).

POWRi Lucas Oil National / West Midget League Main Event (30 Laps):
1. 97-Rico Abreu (7); 2. 20G-Noah Gass (6); 3. 21KS-C.J. Leary (13); 4. 44S-Andrew Felker (19); 5. 67-Holley Hollan (16); 6. 11B-Joe B. Miller (11); 7. 71-Jesse Colwell (12); 8. 3N-Jake Neuman (8); 9. 97K-Jesse Love (15); 10. 50-Daniel Adler (2); 11. 08-Cannon McIntosh (4); 12. 91T-Tyler Thomas (5); 13. 97A-Austin O'Dell (22); 14. 8M-Chance Morton (9); 15. 3B-Shelby Bosie (20); 16. 5-Danny Frye (18); 17. 5D-Zach Daum (1); 18. 72-Sam Johnson (10); 19. 28-Ace McCarthy (3); 20. 9-Daison Pursley (14); 21. 2H-Luke Howard (21); 22. 37-Karter Sarff (17).
Lap Leader(s); McCarthy 1-3; McIntosh 4-11; Gass 12-22; Abreu 24-30.
Hard Charger(s): Felker +15.

PEVELY, MO. (August 3, 2019) - Earning his 11th-career POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget League victory on Friday night, Rico Abreu did so in jaw-dropping fashion at the Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55. Driving from 14th-to-1st in 15 laps, Abreu put on a clinic as he marched through the field almost instantly and then ran away in the second half for a dominating triumph at the Pevely, Mo. 1/3rd-mile.

While Abreu took the green flag from the outside of the seventh row, it was Zach Daum of Pocahontas, Ill. in his Toyota No. 5D and C.J. Leary of Greenfield, Ind. aboard the Reynolds Racing, Lucas Oil, Ripper/SR-11 pacing the field out front.

Flying flat out into turn one, Leary accepted the early lead while Daum settled into second and the 30-lapper started to shake out. A lap five stoppage for an upside down, top-five running Noah Gass halted the field and shined the spotlight on Abreu, who had already stormed from 14th-to-seventh in five trips around.

While Leary maintained control out front, all eyes turned to the war for the runner-up spot as Jesse Colwell of Red Bluff, Calif. launched a lap ten slider on Daum and brought Abreu along with him. The trio of Colwell, Daum and Abreu went head-to-head swapping spots, switching lines and trading blows for several laps before a lap 11 caution bunched them back up.

Taking advantage of the break, Abreu regrouped and immediately went back on the attack as the green flag flew again. Nailing the turns one and two cushion, Abreu rocketed around Colwell to secure third and wasted no time pouncing on Daum, tossing a bomb-like slide job from the backstretch into turn three as he stole that spot away too.

A lap 14 break for an upside-down Austin O'Dell gave fans just what they wanted to see, a restart with the hard-charging Abreu right on Leary's back bumper. Gassing it right away and making his move, Abreu attacked with a turn one slider, but Leary proved ready and crossed him over.

Again, Abreu launched the three-story slider at Leary into turn three and the duo raced side-by-side down the front stretch with the cross flags waving and Abreu ahead by a nose. Racing wheel-to-wheel into turn one, Abreu edged Leary into the corner and drifted to the cushion before powering off and running away with the lead.

Going unchallenged from there, Rico Abreu of St. Helena, Calif. led the final 16 laps aboard his Keith Kunz Motorsports, Safelite Autoglass, Bullet/Toyota No. 97 and locked down his 11th-career POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget League win in dominating fashion. Driving all the way from 14th, an elated Abreu rose from the car in victory lane to a monstrous applause from the thrilled crowd at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55.

Jesse Colwell ended up with a runner-up finish for his Keith Kunz Motorsports, JBL Audio, Bullet/Toyota No. 71, extending his series points lead into the second half of the season. After controlling the opening half, CJ Leary faded in the end to a still strong third-place effort for his Reynolds Racing No. 21KS entry.

Rounding out the top five behind Abreu, Colwell and Leary was fourth-place finisher Zach Daum and fifth-place driver Tyler Thomas. Finishing out the top ten was Cannon McIntosh in sixth, Daison Pursley in seventh, Holley Hollan in eighth, Ace McCarthy in ninth and Jesse Love in tenth.

The "Ironman Weekend" at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 in Pevely, Mo. continues tomorrow Saturday, August 3 for the POWRi Lucas Oil National / West Midget League. If you can't attend this epic event in person, www.dirtvision.comhas you covered with a LIVE pay-per-view broadcast.

For more information on POWRi Racing, you can visit www.powri.comonline, follow @POWRi_Racing on Twitter and Instagram, or like POWRi on Facebook.

Auto Meter Heat One (8 Laps):
1. 97K-Jesse Love, Redwood City, CA (1); 2. 20G-Noah Gass, Mounds, OK (3); 3. 21KS-C.J. Leary, Greenfield, IN (8); 4. 3N-Jake Neuman, New Berlin, IL (9); 5. 97A-Austin O'Dell, Rochester, IL (5); 6. 72-Sam Johnson, St. Peters, MO (7); 7. 2-Luke Icke, Littleton, CO (2); 8. 9H-Emilio Hoover, Broken Arrow, OK (4); 9. 2H-Luke Howard, Overland Park, KS (6).

KSE Racing Products Heat Two (8 Laps):
1. 08-Cannon McIntosh, Bixby, OK (2); 2. 5D-Zach Daum, Pocahontas, IL (6); 3. 71-Jesse Colwell, Red Bluff, CA (4); 4. 50-Daniel Adler, St. Louis, MO (3); 5. 28-Ace McCarthy, Tahlequah, OK (5); 6. 97-Rico Abreu, St. Helena, CA (8); 7. 7S-Pat Schudy, Springfield, MO (1); 8. 67-Holley Hollan, Broken Arrow, OK (7); 9. 3B-Shelby Bosie, Sherman, IL (9).

Advanced Racing Suspensions Heat Three (8 Laps):
1.37-Karter Sarff, Mason City, IL (2); 2. 9-Daison Pursley, Locust Grove, OK (4); 3. 44S-Andrew Felker, Carl Junction, MO (1); 4. 7M-Chance Morton, Coweta, OK (3); 5. 91T-Tyler Thomas, Collinsville, OK (8); 6. 42-Hank Davis, Sand Springs, OK (5); 7. 8M-Kade Morton, Coweta, OK (7); 8. 5-Danny Frye, St. Peters, MO (6).

Rod End Supply B-Main (12 Laps):
1.72-Sam Johnson (1); 2. 3B-Shelby Bosie (9); 3. 7S-Pat Schudy (6); 4. 5-Danny Frye (7); 5. 42-Hank Davis (2); 6. 67-Holley Hollan (5); 7. 8M-Kade Morton (3); 8. 2-Luke Icke (4); 9. 2H-Luke Howard (10); 10. 9H-Emilio Hoover (8).

POWRi Lucas Oil National / West Midget League Main Event (30 Laps):
1. 97-Rico Abreu (14); 2. 71-Jesse Colwell (9); 3. 21KS-C.J. Leary (2); 4. 5D-Zach Daum (1); 5. 91T-Tyler Thomas (10); 6. 08-Cannon McIntosh (3); 7. 9-Daison Pursley (6); 8. 67-Holley Hollan (22); 9. 28-Ace McCarthy (16); 10. 97K-Jesse Love (7); 11. 72-Sam Johnson (17); 12. 44S-Andrew Felker (11); 13. 3B-Shelby Bosie (18); 14. 7S-Pat Schudy (19); 15. 5-Danny Frye (20); 16. 97A-Austin O'Dell (15); 17. 50-Daniel Adler (12); 18. 37-Karter Sarff (4); 19. 2H-Luke Howard (23); 20. 20G-Noah Gass (8); 21. 3N-Jake Neuman (5); 22. 7M-Chance Morton (13).
Lap Leader(s); Leary 1-14; Abreu 15-30.