Rico Abreu Delivers First Win with Tony Stewart
CASA GRANDE, Ariz.—When Rico Abreu announced that he was joining Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing last fall, he felt like it was the culmination of a lifetime of a hard work. He also recognized that it was a great opportunity to take his career to the next level.
On Thursday at Central Arizona Raceway, the new driver and team pairing struck gold for the first time together and parked the Carquest Auto Parts No. 24 in Whiskey Myers Victory Lane after their fourth start with Interstate Batteries High Limit Racing.
Taking advantage of a wild and wacky opening to the Cactus Classic feature, Abreu watched as early leader Brad Sweet and then top-five runners James McFadden, Brian Brown, and Ryan Timms all dropped out of contention. From there, it turned into a battle between Abreu and Tanner Thorson, who controlled Laps 3-13.
The final restart is exactly what the doctor ordered for Abreu as he snatched command from Thorson on Lap 14 and never looked back from there - driving off to a 2.697-second margin of victory. The win marked the 26th of his career with Interstate Batteries High Limit Racing and made him the fourth different winner in four series races this season.
Tanner Thorson's remarkable start to the year continued with back-to-back runner-up finishes, keeping his perfect top-five streak alive with runs of 5th-4th-2nd-2nd over the last week. The Minden, Nevada native now controls the championship lead in the Rod Gross Motorsports No. 88.
Closing out the podium was Locust Grove, Oklahoma's Daison Pursley with his best run yet aboard the Kasey Kahne Racing, NAPA Auto Parts No. 49 - driving from 10th-to-3rd.
Closing out the top-10 on Thursday was Giovanni Scelzi, Joel Myers Jr, Kerry Madsen, Tanner Holmes, DJ Netto, Ryan Timms, and Tyler Courtney.
THE ALL-IN NOTEBOOK (3/19/26)
Central Arizona Raceway (Casa Grande, Arizona)
Cactus Classic presented by Avanti Windows & Doors
Dirt Draft Fastest in Hot Laps - Brian Brown
Capitol Custom Trailers QuickTime - Rico Abreu
TJ Forged Heat One Winner - Brad Sweet
DMI Heat Two Winner - Tanner Thorson
BR Motorsports Heat Three Winner - James McFadden
FK Rod Ends Dash Winner - Brad Sweet
Winters Performance B-Main Winner - Justin Peck
DURST Dice Roll Driver - Ryan Timms (7th-to-9th)
Jake’s Golf Carts Fastest Lap - Brad Sweet (14.462 seconds on Lap 2)
Rayce Rudeen Foundation Rookie of the Race - Tanner Holmes (7th)
Rod End Supply Hard Charger - D.J. Netto +14 (22nd-to-8th)
Whiskey Meyers Victory Lane Visitors - Ricky Warner, Zack Middlebrooks, Brady Forbrook
First to the Sunoco Checkered Flag - Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing #24
CASM Win Sticker - Rico Abreu
Angel Donor Charity - Jaxon's Superheroes ($1,500)
Lap Leader(s) - Brad Sweet 1-2; Tanner Thorson 3-13; Rico Abreu 14-25
Interstate Batteries A Feature (25 Laps): 1. 24-Rico Abreu[3]; 2. 88-Tanner Thorson[2]; 3. 9-Daison Pursley[10]; 4. 77-Giovanni Scelzi[12]; 5. 19JR-Joel Myers Jr[14]; 6. 55-Kerry Madsen[5]; 7. 13-Tanner Holmes[16]; 8. 88N-DJ Netto[22]; 9. 10-Ryan Timms[7]; 10. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[13]; 11. 26-Justin Peck[19]; 12. 9R-Chase Randall[21]; 13. 34-Sterling Cling[23]; 14. 15-Nick Parker[18]; 15. 21B-Brian Brown[6]; 16. 5-Brenham Crouch[17]; 17. 24D-Danny Sams III[15]; 18. 87X-Logan Seavey[11]; 19. 87-Aaron Reutzel[9]; 20. 42-Sye Lynch[20]; 21. W-Brad Sweet[1]; 22. 21-James McFadden[4]; 23. 19-Brent Marks[8]; 24. 17GP-Hank Davis[24]
Winters Performance B Feature (12 Laps): 1. 26-Justin Peck[2]; 2. 42-Sye Lynch[1]; 3. 9R-Chase Randall[3]; 4. 88N-DJ Netto[4]; 5. 34-Sterling Cling[6]; 6. 17GP-Hank Davis[5]; 7. 21P-Robbie Price[7]; 8. G5-Gage Pulkrabek[11]; 9. 6-JJ Hickle[12]; 10. 3-Cole Schroeder[8]; 11. 4-Tuesday Scearce[10]; 12. 45X-Don Grable[9]; 13. 73-Hunter Schuerenberg[13]
FK Rod Ends Dash (7 Laps): 1. W-Brad Sweet[2]; 2. 88-Tanner Thorson[1]; 3. 24-Rico Abreu[3]; 4. 21-James McFadden[6]; 5. 55-Kerry Madsen[4]; 6. 21B-Brian Brown[5]
TJ Forged Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. W-Brad Sweet[2]; 2. 10-Ryan Timms[1]; 3. 24-Rico Abreu[4]; 4. 9-Daison Pursley[3]; 5. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[5]; 6. 13-Tanner Holmes[6]; 7. 26-Justin Peck[7]; 8. 88N-DJ Netto[8]; 9. 21P-Robbie Price[10]; 10. 4-Tuesday Scearce[9]; 11. 73-Hunter Schuerenberg[11]
DMI Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 88-Tanner Thorson[1]; 2. 19-Brent Marks[2]; 3. 55-Kerry Madsen[4]; 4. 87X-Logan Seavey[3]; 5. 19JR-Joel Myers Jr[6]; 6. 5-Brenham Crouch[5]; 7. 9R-Chase Randall[9]; 8. 17GP-Hank Davis[8]; 9. 3-Cole Schroeder[10]; 10. G5-Gage Pulkrabek[7]
BR Motorsports Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 21-James McFadden[2]; 2. 87-Aaron Reutzel[1]; 3. 21B-Brian Brown[4]; 4. 77-Giovanni Scelzi[6]; 5. 24D-Danny Sams III[3]; 6. 15-Nick Parker[7]; 7. 42-Sye Lynch[5]; 8. 34-Sterling Cling[8]; 9. 45X-Don Grable[10]; 10. 6-JJ Hickle[9]
Capital Custom Trailers Qualifying (2 Laps): 1. 24-Rico Abreu, 13.212[26]; 2. 55-Kerry Madsen, 13.312[29]; 3. 21B-Brian Brown, 13.348[22]; 4. 10-Ryan Timms, 13.434[31]; 5. 88-Tanner Thorson, 13.493[30]; 6. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 13.517[5]; 7. W-Brad Sweet, 13.552[20]; 8. 19-Brent Marks, 13.569[2]; 9. 21-James McFadden, 13.600[13]; 10. 9-Daison Pursley, 13.620[24]; 11. 87X-Logan Seavey, 13.626[17]; 12. 24D-Danny Sams III, 13.631[11]; 13. 7BC-Tyler Courtney, 13.660[18]; 14. 5-Brenham Crouch, 13.672[25]; 15. 42-Sye Lynch, 13.692[12]; 16. 13-Tanner Holmes, 13.706[9]; 17. 19JR-Joel Myers Jr, 13.709[28]; 18. 77-Giovanni Scelzi, 13.719[1]; 19. 26-Justin Peck, 13.753[15]; 20. G5-Gage Pulkrabek, 13.760[4]; 21. 15-Nick Parker, 13.775[23]; 22. 88N-DJ Netto, 13.776[16]; 23. 17GP-Hank Davis, 13.805[7]; 24. 34-Sterling Cling, 13.822[6]; 25. 4-Tuesday Scearce, 13.846[10]; 26. 9R-Chase Randall, 13.853[8]; 27. 6-JJ Hickle, 13.892[27]; 28. 21P-Robbie Price, 13.986[14]; 29. 3-Cole Schroeder, 14.272[3]; 30. 45X-Don Grable, 14.341[19]; 31. 73-Hunter Schuerenberg, 55:55.555[21]
NEW 2026 Interstate Batteries High Limit Racing Championship Standings (After 4/64 Races):
1. Tanner Thorson - Rod Gross Motorsports #88 (272 pts... -)
2. Rico Abreu - Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing #24 (263 pts... -9)
3. Giovanni Scelzi - Spire Motorsports #77 (245 pts... -27)
4. Aaron Reutzel - Ridge & Sons Racing #87 (237 pts... -35)
5. Daison Purlsey - Kasey Kahne Racing w/ Mike Curb #9 (231 pts... -41)
6. Tyler Courtney - Clauson-Marshall Racing #7BC (218 pts... -54)
7. Kerry Madsen - Vermeer Motorsports #55 (218 pts... -54)
8. Justin Peck - Rudeen Racing #26 (204 pts... -68)
9. Tanner Holmes - Buch Motorsports #13 (198 pts... -74)
10. Brent Marks - Brent Marks Racing #19 (178 pts... -94)
11. Sye Lynch - Mosites Lynch Racing #42 (168 pts... -104)
12. Brenham Crouch - CJB Motorsports (154 pts... -118)
13. Chase Randall - Chase Randall Racing #9R (148 pts... -124)
14. Danny Sams III - Randerson Racing #24D (142 pts... -130)
15. Hank Davis - Michael Dutcher Motorsports #17GP (138 pts... -134)
WHAT’S NEXT: The second-annual Cactus Classic presented by Avanti Windows & Doors continues at Central Arizona Raceway on Friday and Saturday for Interstate Batteries High Limit Racing. Tickets are available for purchase at HighLimitRacing.com, or you can watch every lap live on FloRacing.
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