Rico Abreu & Pat Ward Headline Utica-Rome Friday ‘Double Down’ at Utica-Rome
Written by Chris Moore
VERNON, NY – Double Down.
The Kubota High Limit Series clicked off a caution free 25-lap A-Main at Utica-Rome Speedway, and Rico Abreu picked up the $12,000 payday on Scenic View Campground/Christian Fabrication and Broedel Fuel Group night.
The Helena, Calif., native drove by Brent Marks for the lead on lap seven and never looked back for the Empire State Victory.
“No matter the highs and lows of this sport,” Abreu explained. “This is what makes it all worth it, being in victory lane.”
The win was Abreu’s first of the 2024 season with High Limit in what was his first ever appearance at Utica-Rome Speedway.
“We have such great fans,” Abreu proclaimed. “I hope they go home with a great experience from here.”
Monrovia, Ind.’s Justin Peck came home with a runner-up finish.
“We were a little loose to start,” the runner-up stated. “The car came around for me though and I felt like we were really good.”
Australia’s James McFadden rounded out the podium finishers.
“We normally struggle on a surface like this,” McFadden said of the slick half-mile. “We’ve tried a lot of different stuff and I feel like we might’ve found something.
Myerstown, Pa.’s Brent Marks came home fourth and Indianapolis, Ind.’s Tyler Courtney rounded out the top five.
In 3 Bastards Brewing Modifieds competition, Genoa, N.Y.’s Pat Ward picked up a crowd-pleasing victory in the 30-lap affair.
Ward passed Willy Decker on a midrace restart to take the lead and led the final 16 laps of the affair to pick up the victory.
The win made Ward the oldest Modified winner in the history of Utica-Rome Speedway, besting Jack Johnson by three years.
“It’s no secret that we’ve struggled on coils for two or three years,” Ward proclaimed. “We’ve just kept plugging away at it and the car was really good tonight.”
A yellow with three laps to go reset the field, putting Alex Yankowski and Matt Sheppard on Ward’s back bumper.
Ward was up to the task however and picked up his 27th career victory at Utica-Rome Speedway.
Covington Township, Pa.’s Alex Yankowski and Savannah, N.Y.’s Matt Sheppard rounded out the podium.
Roscoe, N.Y.’s Michael Trautschold came home fourth and York, N.Y.’s Justin Wright rounded out the top five.
Finishing sixth through 10th, respectively, were East Greenbush, N.Y.’s Bobby Hackel IV; Vernon, N.Y.’s Willy Decker; Johnstown, N.Y.’s Rocky Warner; Unadilla, N.Y.’s Brandon Walters; and Little Falls, N.Y.’s Cody Clark.
Racing continues tonight at Utica-Rome Speedway with a full night of racing, headlined by another 3 Bastards Brewing Modified feature at Utica-Rome Speedway. Also on the card are the Taylor’s Trailers Crate 602 Sportsman, Next Generation Graphix Pro Stocks, Fastline Performance Limited Sportsman, and Fonda Fair Four Cylinders. The Senior Services Inc. All-Star Slingshots and Junior Slingshots will be in action on the inner oval.
All fans who were in attendance for the High Limit Sprint Car event can bring their wristbands back for $5 off general admission for tonight’s event.
The event will be broadcast live on FloRacing (www.floracing.tv).
Utica-Rome Speedway is located at 5591 NY-5 (Seneca Turnpike) Vernon, NY 13476. The official website is www.uticaromespeedway.com and the speedway can be reached by phone at 315.953.4097. Like Utica-Rome Speedway on Facebook or follow us on Twitter @UR_Speedway.
SCENIC VIEW CAMPGROUND/CHRISTIAN FABRICATION & BROEDEL ENERGY ‘DOUBLE DOWN’ RESULTS SUMMARY – UTICA-ROME SPEEDWAY FRIDAY, MAY 17, 2024
3 Bastards Brewing Modified Feature Finish (30 laps): 1. 42P-Pat Ward[6]; 2. 84Y-Alex Yankowski[10]; 3. 9S-Matt Sheppard[12]; 4. 28T-Michael Trautschold[7]; 5. 19W-Justin Wright[9]; 6. 97-Bobby Hackel IV[8]; 7. 1X-Willy Decker[1]; 8. JS98-Rocky Warner[11]; 9. 22W-Brandon Walters[15]; 10. 4-Cody Clark[14]; 11. 23-Brandon Loucks[3]; 12. 76-Jamike Sowle[2]; 13. 9J-Jim Becker[16]; 14. 16S-Jeremy Slosek[21]; 15. 82H-Ron Holmes[18]; 16. 34-Dave Constantino[13]; 17. 96-Andy Graves[20]; 18. 8M-Tim Mayne[19]; 19. 16-Aaron Jacobs[26]; 20. 369-Jim Walsh[24]; 21. 77-Alan Barker[5]; 22. 12B-Addison Bowman[17]; 23. 27-Jason Reome[22]; 24. 1Z-Jessica Friesen[4]; 25. 7H-Allan Hodge[25]; 26. 441-Boyd MacTavish[23]
High Limit Racing 410 Sprint Car Feature Finish (30 laps): 1. 24-Rico Abreu[3]; 2. 13-Justin Peck[2]; 3. 83-James McFadden[5]; 4. 19-Brent Marks[1]; 5. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[7]; 6. 49-Brad Sweet[9]; 7. 5-Spencer Bayston[4]; 8. 9P-Parker Price Miller[6]; 9. 14-Corey Day[8]; 10. 10B-Kerry Madsen[11]; 11. 39M-Anthony Macri[10]; 12. 79-Jordan Thomas[15]; 13. 66-Ryan Newton[16]; 14. 48-Danny Dietrich[14]; 15. 26-Zeb Wise[12]; 16. 55-Chris Windom[18]; 17. 28-Jordan Poirier[13]; 18. 1A-Jacob Allen[19]; 19. 88-Tanner Thorson[22]; 20. 42-Sye Lynch[23]; 21. 10-Mark Smith[20]; 22. 1-Brenham Crouch[17]; 23. 88C-Chad Miller[21]; 24. 28F-Davie Franek[24]
Did Not Qualify: Kasey Kahne, Jonathan Preston, Dylan Norris, Cory Eliason, Denny Peebles, Reese Nowotarski, Dave Axton, Parker Evans, Logan McCandless, Chase Moran, Matt Farnham, Joe Kata, Shawn Donath, Danny Varin, Jordan Hutton, Sammy Reakes IV.