Rico Abreu Holds Off Kyle Larson for Knoxville Victory

📸 Trent Gower

KNOXVILLE, IA (April 19, 2025) - Mother Nature made us wait until the sixth attempt in the last three years for a World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car race at Knoxville Raceway in April, but it was worth every second of the wait.

“The Sprint Car Capital of the World” gave fans all they could ask for. A wide track with multiple grooves and plenty of racing room. An early battle for the lead. Cars charging through the field. And a drag race to the checkered flag.

It was St. Helena, CA’s Rico Abreu who made the coveted right turn into Knoxville Victory Lane when all was said and done. He snatched the lead from Aaron Reutzel on Lap 9 and then narrowly held off Kyle Larson’s final corner Hail Mary to win the Premier Chevy Dealers Clash.

“I knew someone was coming,” Abreu admitted. “I just appreciate Ricky Warner, his critical thinking, thoughtfulness, and execution on this race car and Zack (Middlebrooks) and Brady (Forbrook). We put these packages together and come here just to race against the best guys in the business.”

Abreu’s victory was his 18th with The Greatest Show on Dirt, equaling him with Brad Doty for 33rd all-time. He’s now topped eight 410 Sprint Car races at the iconic half mile and extended his streak to six straight years of winning there. Knoxville becomes the 11th different track where he’s officially won with the World of Outlaws.

The key to scoring Saturday’s main event was picking the right spots in traffic. Lapped cars became a major factor late, and Abreu negotiated them just enough to stay ahead of Larson when the checkered flag flew.

“I’m just thinking through the process and dissecting my car in lapped traffic,” Abreu explained. “I’ve really got to think about hitting my marks. I knew somebody was going to be coming with how much I had to move around on the racing surface. Knoxville Raceway is definitely becoming one of my favorite tracks in the world.”

Larson’s runner-up finish marked his eighth consecutive podium with the World of Outlaws aboard the Silva Motorsports No. 57. A few mistakes in traffic prevented “Yung Money” from scoring his third straight win with The Greatest Show on Dirt going back to February’s DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia Speedway Park.

“I wish I wouldn’t have had to try a Hail Mary,” Larson said. “I wish I would’ve just not made so many mistakes. Once I got to second I could piece a couple good laps together, and then I’d push a little too hard and mess up. The bottom if you could hit it was really fast, but if you missed it, it was worth probably more than you could gain. I screwed up a few times and kind of lost touch of him but was able to piece together a really good (Turns) 1 and 2 there on the last lap. We just had that lapper in front of us and was kind of stuck. I got there, but I was just too stuck to have enough clean air on exit.”

Logan Schuchart and the Shark Racing crew rounded out the podium, logging their third consecutive top three. The Hanover, PA native reclaimed second in points with Saturday’s effort. Schuchart started on the pole for the 25-lap finale but simply needed a little more speed to contend for his second win of 2025.

“We weren’t as good as what we needed to be,” Schuchart said. “I wish I would’ve got to the top in the very beginning and just ripped around there, but it’s hard as the leader when you start like that to know where to go. I felt like we were good. We actually started catching back up to them the last few laps in traffic. It was a good run, a podium finish here at Knoxville with close to 70 cars and as good of a field as you’re going to see in August lining up on Saturday night.”

Tyler Courtney and Aaron Reutzel completed the top five.

A 25th to 12th run gave Buddy Kofoid the KSE Hard Charger.

Rico Abreu earned his 19th career Simpson Quick Time in Honest Abe Roofing Qualifying.

Heat Races were won by Rico Abreu (NOS Energy Drink Heat One), Emerson Axsom (Real American Beer Heat Two), Logan Schuchart (WIX Filters Heat Three), and Gio Scelzi (TheGreatestStoreonDirt.com Heat Four).

Logan Schuchart topped the Toyota Dash after getting the SPA Technique #1 Redraw.

J.J. Hickle won the Micro-Lite Last Chance Showdown.

The Smith Titanium Brake Systems Break of the Race went to Carson Macedo.

UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars take on two straight bullrings with trips to Illinois’ Jacksonville Speedway (April 25) and Haubstadt, IN’s Tri-State Speedway (April 26). For tickets to Jacksonville, CLICK HERE. For tickets to Tri-State, call (812) 768-6025.

For the complete 2025 World of Outlaws schedule, CLICK HERE.

If you can’t make it to the track, catch every lap live on DIRTVision.

FEATURE RESULTS:

NOS Energy Drink Feature (25 Laps): 1. 24A-Rico Abreu[3]; 2. 57-Kyle Larson[9]; 3. 1S-Logan Schuchart[1]; 4. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[4]; 5. 87-Aaron Reutzel[2]; 6. 2-David Gravel[10]; 7. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[5]; 8. 88-Austin McCarl[12]; 9. 49-Brad Sweet[16]; 10. 27-Emerson Axsom[7]; 11. 21-Brian Brown[6]; 12. 83-Michael Kofoid[25]; 13. 2C-Cole Macedo[13]; 14. 14-Spencer Bayston[15]; 15. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[27]; 16. 10-Ryan Timms[11]; 17. 15-Donny Schatz[28]; 18. 27M-Carson McCarl[8]; 19. 9R-Chase Randall[22]; 20. 55V-Kerry Madsen[19]; 21. 71-Parker Price Miller[17]; 22. 22-Riley Goodno[14]; 23. 2M-JJ Hickle[21]; 24. 23-Garet Williamson[18]; 25. 17B-Bill Balog[24]; 26. 7S-Chris Windom[20]; 27. 41-Carson Macedo[23]; 28. 3P-Sawyer Phillips[26]

For complete results, CLICK HERE.