Clean Sweep: Abreu Dominates Knight Before At Eldora

ROSSBURG, Ohio – Rico Abreu swept through the Knight Before the Kings Royal Friday at Eldora Speedway, during a program where all the chaos and drama was well behind him.

Abreu posted a perfect night at the historic half-mile dirt track, setting the overall fast time in qualifying before winning his heat race, topping the pole dash, and leading all 30 laps of the main event for a $25,000 payday.

The St. Helena, Calif., native survived multiple double-file restarts in the first half of the race, then pulled away during the back half en route to the latest big moment of his World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series career.

“I just had to really concentrate on not slipping the tires [on corner] exit,” Abreu noted afterward. “My car would sit in the left rear … and it was just something I had to focus on more and more there.

“To win in front of fans like this … they’re what make the sport so exciting, and I drive my ass off for them and really appreciate how it makes the buildup to these big events even bigger,” he added. “We’re out here racing against the greatest [sprint car] drivers of all time right now – Kyle Larson and David Gravel, Brad Sweet and Carson Macedo – they’re the fastest cars in the country right now and I give all the credit to this team that we’re able to come out here and contend with guys like that.”

It marked the 20th Outlaws victory of Abreu’s career in 313 feature starts and his second in a row in the prelude to the annual Kings Royal at Eldora. Abreu now has 10 sprint car wins overall on the year across all sanctions.

Saturday’s finale will pay out a $200,000 check to the winner. It’s a race Abreu has yet to conquer.

While Abreu was dominating up front, however, drama, intrigue, and carnage were all paramount in equal measures behind him.

It started in time trials, when incoming points runner-up Buddy Kofoid was light at the scales after his qualifying effort, mired deep in the alphabet soup and left as one of six Outlaw full-timers that needed a provisional just to start the feature.

That made for a 30-car field on a lightning-fast, high-risk racing surface. It didn’t take long for disaster to strike.

Though a slowing Corey Day drew the first yellow with six laps complete, it was three circuits later when the first major incident occurred, after Kasey Kahne went for a wild ride in turn one vicious enough that it tore the entire front axle assembly loose from his No. 9 machine.

Kahne climbed out and walked away, later noting that “nothing broke” on his race car to cause the wreck.

“It was just bad air,” Kahne elaborated. “I just screwed up.”

Abreu and Gravel lined up on the front row for the lap-10 restart, but it was Aaron Reutzel who surged from fourth to second after nearly sliding all the way to the lead in turns three and four.

Reutzel tried to settle in behind Abreu, but became the next casualty of turn one at Eldora a lap before halfway, when he hopped the cushion and flipped wildly in nearly the exact same spot as Kahne’s incident.

Since Reutzel was running second at the time, several cars behind him had nowhere to go to avoid being collected, with sixth-place Zach Hampton and eighth-running Steven Snyder Jr. – making his Outlaws debut – both sliding in and seeing their cars mangled as a result.

While all three climbed out under their own power, Reutzel was helped to the infield care center to be checked out by medical personnel after complaining of foot pain.

The crash led to an open-red stoppage, allowing crews to adjust on their race cars. It also allowed Larson to relay advice – through crew members – to Abreu, telling him to “stop taking off so early on restarts.”

It was guidance that Abreu heeded to start the final 16-lap run to the finish. He fired off with authority and never looked back, ultimately driving to the checkered flag by 1.381 seconds over Macedo in the end.

“I did wait a bit longer,” Abreu admitted when asked if he had gotten Larson’s message. “I think [firing sooner] just helps the initial starts a bit. When you set a faster pace [in the start zone], I feel like guys can time it a lot easier and stay with you … and the outside [lane] was probably taking off better from the momentum up against the banking.

“I just wanted to make sure I got my car wound up, because they got to my inside the restart before that and I could hear guys close to me,” he continued. “Once I got going, though, the track was so fast that I could keep my momentum up. … The racetrack was so demanding tonight; it was the polar opposite of [Thursday] night, and that’s what makes Eldora so unique.”

While Macedo was the runner-up, another story – and post-race theatrics – came from a battle for third between Larson and Gravel, culminating in a slider duel on the final circuit where Larson muscled past the defending Outlaws champion exiting the final corner to secure the final podium spot.

A frustrated Gravel then spun Larson out in turn two on the cooldown lap before driving back around to park there and express his displeasure verbally and through hand gestures.

The pair was summoned to a closed-door meeting with series director Carlton Reimers because of the fierce battle.

Kofoid was the night’s KSE Hard Charger, advancing from 25th to fifth after his provisional starting spot in the 13th row. Kerry Madsen, Emerson Axsom, Brad Sweet, Garet Williamson, and Chris Windom closed out the top 10.

Friday’s Knight Before the Kings Royal was the first Outlaws feature to have 30 or more cars start since March 18, 2023, when 30 cars also took the green flag at Pennsylvania’s Lincoln Speedway.

Ohio’s ‘Week of Money’ wraps up Saturday night with the 42nd running of the Kings Royal at Eldora, kicking off at 5:30 p.m. ET live on DIRTvision. A $200,000 payday awaits the feature winner.

RESULTS: World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series; Eldora Speedway; Rossburg, Ohio; July 18, 2025

Honest Abe Roofing Qualifying Flight-A (best of two laps): 1. 41-Carson Macedo, 12.996; 2. 27-Emerson Axsom, 13.003; 3. 6-Zach Hampton, 13.004; 4. 71-Parker Price Miller, 13.004; 5. 19-Brent Marks, 13.031; 6. 23-Garet Williamson, 13.043; 7. 14-Spencer Bayston, 13.050; 8. 27H-Steven Snyder Jr., 13.059; 9. 21-Brian Brown, 13.062; 10. 1A-Ashton Torgerson, 13.080; 11. 2C-Cole Macedo, 13.086; 12. 13-Daison Pursley, 13.087; 13. 49-Brad Sweet, 13.091; 14. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild, 13.092; 15. 15C-Chris Andrews, 13.095; 16. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 13.117; 17. 7S-Chris Windom, 13.119; 18. 21T-James McFadden, 13.141; 19. 11N-Kasey Jedrzejek, 13.153; 20. 48-Danny Dietrich, 13.154; 21. 17B-Bill Balog, 13.190; 22. 88-Tanner Thorson, 13.208; 23. 19H-Kevin Thomas Jr., 13.210; 24. 9R-Chase Randall, 13.231; 25. 45-Devon Borden, 13.271; 26. 4-Zane DeVault, 13.283; 27. 69-Tyler Walker, 13.311; 28. 42-Sye Lynch, 13.406; 29. 32-Bryce Lucius; 30. 99N-Cameron Nastasi, DQ.

Honest Abe Roofing Qualifying Flight-B (best of two laps): 1. 24-Rico Abreu, 12.760; 2. 57-Kyle Larson, 12.873; 3. 10-Ryan Timms, 12.946; 4. 2-David Gravel, 12.967; 5. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 12.990; 6. 23D-Chase Dietz, 12.999; 7. 69K-Ryan Smith, 13.018; 8. 55V-Kerry Madsen, 13.051; 9. 5-Brenham Crouch, 13.071; 10. 9-Kasey Kahne, 13.074; 11. 28M-Conner Morrell, 13.089; 12. 45W-Cory Eliason, 13.107; 13. 39M-Anthony Macri, 13.119; 14. 24D-Danny Sams III, 13.125; 15. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg, 13.125; 16. 15-Donny Schatz, 13.135; 17. 14BC-Corey Day, 13.148; 18. 49X-Cale Thomas, 13.155; 19. 21H-Brady Bacon, 13.208; 20. 18T-Tanner Holmes, 13.217; 21. 7N-Darin Naida, 13.219; 22. 26-Justin Peck, 13.223; 23. 51-Joel Myers Jr., 13.276; 24. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss, 13.300; 25. 99-Skylar Gee, 13.319; 26. 45C-Derek Hagar, 13.356; 27. 17GP-Tim Shaffer, 13.360; 28. 23L-Jimmy Light, 13.495; 29. 83-Michael Kofoid, DQ.

Non-Qualifier #1 (8 laps, top two tag tail of heat races): 1. 88-Tanner Thorson [2]; 2. 45-Devon Borden [5] / 3. 69-Tyler Walker [7]; 4. 4-Zane DeVault [6]; 5. 9R-Chase Randall [4]; 6. 32-Bryce Lucius [9]; 7. 42-Sye Lynch [8]; 8. 99N-Cameron Nastasi [10]; 9. 19H-Kevin Thomas Jr. [3]; 10. 17B-Bill Balog [1].

Non-Qualifier #2 (8 laps, top two tag tail of heat races): 1. 26-Justin Peck [2]; 2. 7N-Darin Naida [1] / 3. 51-Joel Myers Jr. [3]; 4. 99-Skylar Gee [5]; 5. 45C-Derek Hagar [6]; 6. 17GP-Tim Shaffer [7]; 7. 23L-Jimmy Light [8]; 8. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [4]; 9. 83-Michael Kofoid [9].

Heat #1 (8 laps, top five transfer to A-Main): 1. 41-Carson Macedo[1]; 2. 6-Zach Hampton[2]; 3. 19-Brent Marks[3]; 4. 14-Spencer Bayston[4]; 5. 21-Brian Brown[5] / 6. 49-Brad Sweet [7]; 7. 2C-Cole Macedo [6]; 8. 7S-Chris Windom [9]; 9. 11N-Kasey Jedrzejek [10]; 10. 15C-Chris Andrews [8]; 11. 88-Tanner Thorson [11].

Heat #2 (8 laps, top five transfer to A-Main): 1. 27-Emerson Axsom [1]; 2. 71-Parker Price Miller [2]; 3. 27H-Steven Snyder Jr. [4]; 4. 23-Garet Williamson [3]; 5. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [7] / 6. 1S-Logan Schuchart [8]; 7. 13-Daison Pursley [6]; 8. 1A-Ashton Torgerson [5]; 9. 21T-James McFadden [9]; 10. 45-Devon Borden [11]; 11. 48-Danny Dietrich [10].

Heat #3 (8 laps, top five transfer to A-Main): 1. 24-Rico Abreu [1]; 2. 87-Aaron Reutzel [3]; 3. 10-Ryan Timms [2]; 4. 14BC-Corey Day [9]; 5. 5-Brenham Crouch [5] / 6. 39M-Anthony Macri [7]; 7. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [8]; 8. 26-Justin Peck [11]; 9. 21H-Brady Bacon [10]; 10. 28M-Conner Morrell [6]; 11. 69K-Ryan Smith [4].

Heat #4 (8 laps, top five transfer to A-Main): 1. 57-Kyle Larson [1]; 2. 2-David Gravel [2]; 3. 55V-Kerry Madsen [4]; 4. 23D-Chase Dietz [3]; 5. 9-Kasey Kahne [5] / 6. 45W-Cory Eliason [6]; 7. 15-Donny Schatz [8]; 8. 49X-Cale Thomas [9]; 9. 18T-Tanner Holmes [10]; 10. 7N-Darin Naida [11]; 11. 24D-Danny Sams III [7].

Dash (6 laps, sets first four rows of A-Main lineup): 1. 24-Rico Abreu [2]; 2. 2-David Gravel [3]; 3. 87-Aaron Reutzel [6]; 4. 71-Parker Price Miller [1]; 5. 6-Zach Hampton [4]; 6. 57-Kyle Larson [7]; 7. 41-Carson Macedo [5]; 8. 27-Emerson Axsom [8].

D-Main (8 laps, top two transfer to C-Main): 1. 69-Tyler Walker [1]; 2. 51-Joel Myers Jr. [2] / 3. 17GP-Tim Shaffer [8]; 4. 99-Skylar Gee [4]; 5. 4-Zane DeVault [3]; 6. 9R-Chase Randall [5]; 7. 23L-Jimmy Light [10]; 8. 99N-Cameron Nastasi [11]; 9. 83-Michael Kofoid [14]; 10. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [12]; 11. 45C-Derek Hagar [6]; 12. 32-Bryce Lucius [7]; 13. 42-Sye Lynch [9]; 14. 19H-Kevin Thomas Jr. [13]; 15. 17B-Bill Balog [15].

C-Main (10 laps, top two transfer to LCS): 1. 21H-Brady Bacon [2]; 2. 18T-Tanner Holmes [4] / 3. 21T-James McFadden [3]; 4. 11N-Kasey Jedrzejek [1]; 5. 51-Joel Myers Jr. [13]; 6. 7N-Darin Naida [6]; 7. 45-Devon Borden [7]; 8. 15C-Chris Andrews [5]; 9. 69K-Ryan Smith [8]; 10. 88-Tanner Thorson [9]; 11. 24D-Danny Sams III [10]; 12. 48-Danny Dietrich [11]; 13. 69-Tyler Walker [12].

Micro-Lite Last Chance Showdown (12 laps, top four transfer to A-Main): 1. 1A-Ashton Torgerson [1]; 2. 49-Brad Sweet [3]; 3. 39M-Anthony Macri [4]; 4. 1S-Logan Schuchart [5] / 5. 2C-Cole Macedo [7]; 6. 15-Donny Schatz [10]; 7. 13-Daison Pursley [9]; 8. 45W-Cory Eliason [6]; 9. 26-Justin Peck [12]; 10. 49X-Cale Thomas [13]; 11. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [8]; 12. 7S-Chris Windom [11]; 13. 18T-Tanner Holmes [15]; 14. 21H-Brady Bacon [14]; 15. 28M-Conner Morrell [2].

NOS Energy Drink A-Main (30 laps): 1. 24-Rico Abreu [1]; 2. 41-Carson Macedo [7]; 3. 57-Kyle Larson [6]; 4. 2-David Gravel [2]; 5. 83-Michael Kofoid [25]; 6. 55V-Kerry Madsen [12]; 7. 27-Emerson Axsom [8]; 8. 49-Brad Sweet [22]; 9. 23-Garet Williamson [15]; 10. 7S-Chris Windom [28]; 11. 19-Brent Marks [9]; 12. 1S-Logan Schuchart [24]; 13. 14-Spencer Bayston [13]; 14. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [19]; 15. 21-Brian Brown [17]; 16. 5-Brenham Crouch [18]; 17. 15-Donny Schatz [26]; 18. 17B-Bill Balog [27]; 19. 99-Skylar Gee [30]; 20. 10-Ryan Timms [10]; 21. 23D-Chase Dietz [16]; 22. 2C-Cole Macedo [29]; 23. 87-Aaron Reutzel [3]; 24. 6-Zach Hampton [5]; 25. 27H-Steven Snyder Jr. [11]; 26. 71-Parker Price Miller [4]; 27. 9-Kasey Kahne [20]; 28. 39M-Anthony Macri [23]; 29. 1A-Ashton Torgerson [21]; 30. 14BC-Corey Day [14].

Lap Leader(s): Rico Abreu 1-30.

KSE Hard Charger: 83-Michael Kofoid (+20)