ABREU’S FIRST 360 KNOXVILLE NATIONALS WIN!
By Bill Wright
KNOXVILLE, Iowa (August 2, 2025) – Rico Abreu stayed hot at Knoxville Raceway by winning the 35th Annual Xtream Powered by Mediacom 360 Knoxville Nationals Presented by Great Southern Bank on Saturday night.
After lap money, the St. Helena, California native banked $34,000 for his triumph. Kyle Larson was Rico’s closest competition (earning $11,000 for second), and Parker Price-Miller finished third ($5,000). The win was Abreu’s second of the weekend and his career in the 360, and his fifth overall at Knoxville Raceway this season.
Before a lap could be completed in the 30-lapper, Sawyer Phillips flipped in turn three. He walked away from the crash. Abreu led on the complete restart, ahead of Price-Miller, Carson McCarl, Larson and Justin Peck. Ryan Timms quickly moved into the top five, and then took fourth from McCarl on lap three.
Abreu was lapping traffic on the tenth circuit. McCarl got Timms back for fourth on lap 11. Larson tracked down Price-Miller on lap 14 and took over the runner-up spot. With 11 laps to go, Tanner Holmes turned over in turn two (he walked away), setting up a restart that saw Abreu leading Larson, Price-Miller, McCarl and Peck. Peck garnered fourth when that green flag fell, but only three more laps were in the books, before Kerry Madsen stopped in turn two.
Abreu again had Larson on his tail, followed by Price-Miller, Peck and McCarl. Abreu bobbled at the bottom of turn two, and Larson pounced on the high side taking the point. Then, on lap 24, Chris Martin suffered a flat tire and stopped on the backstretch.
It was Abreu’s turn to make a move and he slid by Larson in turns one and two to retake the lead and pull away the last six laps. Larson was second, followed by Price-Miller, Timms, who made a move above the cushion to jet from sixth to fourth with three to go and Peck. Carson McCarl, Austin McCarl, Hard-charger Gio Scelzi, James McFadden and Brian Brown rounded out the top ten.
Daison Pursley was the Jetco Rookie of the Year ($500). Ryan Leavitt won the DGRD Best Appearing Car ($360) for his livery paying tribute to his grandfather Eddie Leavitt’s 1975 Knoxville Nationals win. Scelzi earned a steering wheel from MPI for being the feature hard-charger.
Ryan Bickett won the 10-lap D main, Blake Hahn claimed the 12-lap C main and Pursley took the 18-lap B main. Tasker Phillips was a flip victim while battling inside the top four in the B main event. He was uninjured.
“It’s such a surreal feeling,” said Abreu in Victory Lane. “Those restarts, you have to hit your marks, and I kept getting a little tighter and tighter on the bottom of turn two. I missed it that one time and allowed the 57 car to get by me on the outside. These cars are so momentum based, so it’s so crucial to make sure you’re up to speed on those first few laps. I’m just thankful for my guys. I’m just thankful, man. I dream of these opportunities and I try to work really hard to put myself in these positions. You line up there with eight laps to go with the best sprint car driver in the world, and you know you have to hit your marks. I was thinking of ways to beat him into turn one, and he kind of opened the door up. I just ran it wide open there.”
“I was able to finally time the start as good as I could when I got the lead,” said Larson. “I was hopeful to stay green, because I knew if we had a caution, I would be in trouble. We wouldn’t take off. Maybe if I slid myself into turn one, maybe I give myself a little bit better of a shot. I was hoping to get wound up, but it is what it is. We had fun this weekend. I wish we could have been one spot better. I’m proud of the team, and proud of how we did. I was happy with my car, but Rico was a good car out there in clean air. He’s led a ton of laps here this year. He knows how to lead and pick his way through traffic. He’s going to be hard to beat.”
“Rico’s car must take off good at high RPM,” said Price-Miller afterwards. “We set a pretty fast pace coming to green, and I spun my tires the first time. I knew he was probably going to get the jump. The middle was slick and the bottom had good grip. I was worried about getting through one and two. He had a better pace. We were pretty good on the bottom, on the top we were a little free. It was still a really good car. Running third to those guys is a win, but obviously, we’d like a little more.”
Join us tomorrow night, Sunday, August 3, for the 14th Annual Avanti Windows & Doors Capitani Classic Presented by Great Southern Bank! For tickets or more information on the Knoxville Raceway, visit us online at www.KnoxvilleRaceway.com!
Photo: Rico Abreu wins Knoxville 360 Sprintcar Nationals Photo: Paul Arch.
35th Annual Xtream Powered by Mediacom Knoxville 360 Nationals Presented by Great Southern Bank Results
D main (started), 10 Laps, NT: 1. 17B-Ryan Bickett, Ramona, SD [2]; 2. 23W-Scott Winters, Butterfield, MN [5]; 3. 16G-Austyn Gossel, Fort Collins, CO [6]; 4. 2J-Zach Blurton, Quinter, KS [8]; 5. 91-Preston Lattomus, Lewes, DE [12]; 6. 7C-Chris Morgan, Topeka, KS [14]; 7. 33-Alan Zoutte, Knoxville, IA [10]; 8. 39JR-Brayden Mount, Rapid City, SD [7]; 9. 83-Kurt Mueller, Reynolds, IL [9]; 10. 29-Emilio Hoover, Broken Arrow, OK [13]; 11. 13V-Seth Brahmer, Wisner, NE [15] / 12. 31-McCain Richards, Burlington, IA [16]; 13. 1M-Sean McClelland, Tulsa, OK [20]; 14. 7W-Justin Zimmerman, Athens, TX [17]; 15. 14-Aidan Zoutte, Knoxville, IA [19]; 16. 4C-Tuesday Calderwood, Goodyear, AZ [11]; 17. 7B-Ben Brown, Marshall, MO [4]; 18. T4-Tyler Graves, Chariton, IA [18]; 19. 3R-Russell Potter, Boonville, MO [1]; 20. 38-Logan Alexander, Lacona, IA [3] DNS – 88R, Ryder LaPlante, Calera, OK; 88T, Terry Easum, Broken Arrow, OK; 1A, John Anderson, Des Moines, IA; 11B, Kaylee Bryson, Muskogee, OK; 2N, Shad Petersen, Casper, WY; 49, Brad Sweet, Grass Valley, CA
C main (started), 12 Laps, NT: 1. 52-Blake Hahn, Sapulpa, OK [1]; 2. 23-Chase Dietz, York, PA [6]; 3. 55B-Chase Brown, Yutan, NE [7]; 4. 7-Tyler Lee, Cedar Rapids, IA [4]; 5. 86-Timothy Smith, Rocheport, MO [3]; 6. 77X-Alex Hill, Six Nations, ONT, Can. [9]; 7. 45X-Kyler Johnson, Quinter, KS [10]; 8. 71-Brady Baker, Alexander, AR [11]; 9. 157-Cam Sorrels, Hallsville, MO [5]; 10. 5A-Alex Vande Voort, Knoxville, IA [12]; 11. 11N-Kasey Jedrzejek, Lagrange, OH [13]; 12. 23W-Scott Winters [15]; 13. 13M-Brett Moffitt, Mooresville, NC [8]; 14. 17B-Ryan Bickett [14]; 15. 29-Emilio Hoover [23]; 16. 7C-Chris Morgan [19]; 17. 2J-Zach Blurton [17]; 18. 16G-Austyn Gossel [16]; 19. 91-Preston Lattomus [18]; 20. 39JR-Brayden Mount [21]; 21. 83-Kurt Mueller [22]; 22. 33-Alan Zoutte [20]; 23. 35-Skylar Prochaska, Lakefield, MN [2]; 24. 13V-Seth Brahmer [24] DNS – 3, Daryn Pittman, Owasso, OK; 95, Matt Covington, Glenpool, OK; 5, Brenham Crouch, Lubbock, TX; 17A, Jack Anderson, Newton, IA; 17, Tyler Groenendyk, Oskaloosa, IA; 11x, Hank Davis, Sand Springs, OK; 10L, Landon Britt, Memphis, TN
B main (started), 18 Laps, NT: 1. 13-Daison Pursley, Locust Grove, OK [1]; 2. 55-Kerry Madsen, St. Mary’s, NSW, Aust. [2]; 3. 6-Dustin Selvage, Indianola, IA [6]; 4. 27B-Jake Bubak, Arvada, CO [5]; 5. 2M-Ryan Giles, Grimes, IA [3]; 6. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr., Sunnyvale, TX [15]; 7. 22-Riley Goodno, Knoxville, IA [11]; 8. 01-Colby Copeland, Roseville, CA [13]; 9. 03-Jack Dover, Springfield, NE [14]; 10. 09-Matt Juhl, Tea, SD [12]; 11. 2JR-Kelly Miller, Coaldale, ALB, Can. [4]; 12. 36-Jason Martin, Lincoln, NE [7]; 13. 23-Chase Dietz [19]; 14. 52-Blake Hahn [18]; 15. 7-Tyler Lee [21]; 16. 99-Tony Rost, Utica, NE [9]; 17. 77X-Alex Hill [23]; 18. 14T-Brooke Tatnell, Sans Souci, NSW, Aust. [16]; 19. 55B-Chase Brown [20]; 20. 3F-Derek Hagar, Marion, AR [17]; 21. 86-Timothy Smith [22]; 22. 1TAZ-Tasker Phillips, Pleasantville, IA [8]; 23. 45X-Kyler Johnson [24]; 24. 24H-Kade Higday, Knoxville, IA [10] DNS – 9, Kasey Kahne, Enumclaw, WA; 25, Tim Kaeding, San Jose, CA; 4w, Jamie Ball, Knoxville, IA
A main (started), 30 Laps, NT: 1. 24R-Rico Abreu, St. Helena, CA [1]; 2. 57-Kyle Larson, Elk Grove, CA [4]; 3. 71P-Parker Price Miller, Kokomo, IN [2]; 4. 10-Ryan Timms, Oklahoma City, OK [5]; 5. 26-Justin Peck, Monrovia, IN [6]; 6. 27-Carson McCarl, Altoona, IA [3]; 7. 88-Austin McCarl, Altoona, IA [11]; 8. 7BC-Giovanni Scelzi, Fresno, CA [17]; 9. 21T-James McFadden, Alice Springs, NT, Aust. [9]; 10. 21-Brian Brown, Grain Valley, MO [16]; 11. 87-Justin Sanders, Aromas, CA [8]; 12. 9R-Chase Randall, Waco TX [13]; 13. 40G-Clint Garner, Sioux Falls, SD [10]; 14. 55-Kerry Madsen [22]; 15. 24-Terry McCarl, Altoona, IA [15]; 16. 4-Cameron Martin, Ankeny, IA [12]; 17. 13-Daison Pursley [21]; 18. 63-JJ Hickle, Quilcene, WA [14]; 19. 6-Dustin Selvage [23]; 20. 27B-Jake Bubak [24]; 21. 40-Ryan Leavitt, Knoxville, IA [19]; 22. 44-Chris Martin, Ankeny, IA [7]; 23. 18T-Tanner Holmes, Jacksonville, OR [20]; 24. 3P-Sawyer Phillips, Pleasantville, IA [18]. Lap Leaders: Abreu 1-22, Larson 23-24, Abreu 25-30. MPI Hard-charger: Scelzi.
