Auto Racing Digest

Rico Abreu Wins 6th Straight Chili Bowl Prelim Night - advances to Saturday's A Main

Abreu took the checkered flag with a perfectly executed last-lap pass

Press release

Rico Abreu Wins 6th Straight Chili Bowl Prelim Night - advances to Saturday's A Main
Rico Abreu Wins 6th Straight Chili Bowl Prelim Night - advances to Saturday's A Main /

TULSA, Okla. (January 11, 2023) – Rico Abreu used a last-lap pass to take the lead from fellow Toyota driver Mitchel Moles in winning his sixth consecutive Smiley’s Racing Products Qualifying Night feature at the 37th annual Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals.

The victory is Abreu’s eighth preliminary night feature win in the last nine years, all coming in a Keith Kunz Motorsports Toyota. With the win, the two-time Chili Bowl champ will advance directly to Saturday’s A Main feature event. With Moles also advancing, Toyota-powered drivers have earned four of the six berths awarded for Saturday’s feature.

Moles, the 2022 USAC Rookie of the Year, started the race from the pole and led 29 of the 30 laps, but couldn’t hold off Abreu on the final lap when Abreu used the high side to power past him coming out of turn four, winning by approximately half a car length. Brent Crews would finish third, with Blake Hahn coming home in fourth and Kevin Thomas Jr. placed fifth to give Toyota four of the top-five finishers on the night.

Overall, nine Toyota-powered drivers advanced to tonight’s A Main, with Taylor Reimer (seventh) and Trey Gropp (tenth) also earning top-10 finishes.

The race was marred by a horrific accident that saw Ashton Torgerson taken to the hospital after flipping his car on lap 11.

This year’s Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals features 370 entries - each fighting for one of the 24 openings in Saturday night’s A Main feature event. Qualifying continues for each of the next two nights.

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Quotes:

Rico Abreu, Keith Kunz Motorsports Toyota: “That last restart with six to go, Mitchel went down low, and I wasn’t going to follow him. I was able to build up enough momentum on the top to get it done. I think my car is right where it needs to be for Sunday. There are a few things I could do to make my car better during the middle of the race, but we were really good at the end. It was a tough situation to be a driver after the crash, but we’re race car drivers, and we have to strap in when things go off. I just want Ashton Torgerson to be ok.”

Mitchel Moles, CB Industries Toyota: “I’m tired of losing here. You always want to win. The goal for the team is to try to finish in the top two, but I have to be a little better than that. Prayers to the Torgersons and for Ashton’s well-being.”

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Results:

Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals presented by General Tire
Tulsa Expo Raceway - Tulsa, Okla.
Wednesday, January 11, 2023
Smiley's Racing Products Qualifying Night

Car Count: 79
Event Count: 217

OERB Heat Races: Top 40 in passing points advance to Qualifiers.

OERB Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 57-Daniel Whitley[3]; 2. 4P-Kody Swanson[2]; 3. 4B-Chelby Hinton[7]; 4. 56-Mitchell Davis[5]; 5. 08G-Trey Gropp[9]; 6. 19N-Nathan Byrd[4]; 7. 99K-Robert Carson[6]; 8. 7L-Jarrad Warhurst[8]; 9. 57C-Adam Taylor[1]

OERB Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 1I-Ashton Torgerson[3]; 2. 52-Blake Hahn[7]; 3. 16C-David Camfield Jr[1]; 4. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[2]; 5. 6A-Kalib Henry[4]; 6. 55C-Angelo Cornet[9]; 7. 37-Ashton Thompson[6]; 8. 11C-Mike Woodruff[5]; 9. 17D-Wyatt Rotz[8]

OERB Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 7X-Thomas Meseraull[2]; 2. 24-Rico Abreu[3]; 3. 51R-Ricky Thornton Jr[1]; 4. 31H-Carson Hocevar[4]; 5. 01C-Carson Sousa[9]; 6. 2B-Tanner Berryhill[8]; 7. 14U-Cole Schroeder[7]; 8. 10M-Kort Morgan[6]; 9. (DNF) 8K-Jake Neal[5]

OERB Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 54-Matt Westfall[2]; 2. 5T-Kevin Thomas Jr[3]; 3. 67K-Cade Lewis[4]; 4. 45X-Roger Crockett[8]; 5. 11T-Tyler Baran[5]; 6. 7S-Parker Price Miller[7]; 7. 22X-Steven Shebester[9]; 8. 81C-Colten Cottle[6]; 9. 70-Cade Cowles[1]

OERB Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 98C-Chad Boespflug[4]; 2. 25M-Jake Andreotti[6]; 3. 68-Ronnie Gardner[3]; 4. 07W-Corey Day[5]; 5. 60-Landon Britt[1]; 6. 3W-Brandon Waelti[8]; 7. 73T-Tony Gomes[7]; 8. 23T-Tristan Lee[9]; 9. 68C-Ryder Laplante[2]

OERB Heat 6 (8 Laps): 1. 55A-Jake Swanson[4]; 2. M1-Colby Stubblefield[2]; 3. 08K-Karsyn Elledge[6]; 4. 80A-Chris Schmelzle[5]; 5. 06-Rylan Gray[7]; 6. 9P-Kevin Cook[9]; 7. (DNF) 8AJ-AJ Johnson[8]; 8. (DNF) 25V-Billy VanInwegen Jr[1]; 9. (DNF) 0G-Glenn Styres[3]

OERB Heat 7 (8 Laps): 1. 71M-Brent Crews[4]; 2. 91X-Danny Wood[6]; 3. 56X-Mark Chisholm[1]; 4. 2X-Landon Brooks[8]; 5. 7J-Shawn Jackson[7]; 6. 7JR-JD Black[9]; 7. 72W-Tye Wilke[3]; 8. 5H-Casey Hicks[2]; 9. 77J-John Klabonde[5]

OERB Heat 8 (8 Laps): 1. 19Z-Hayden Reinbold[4]; 2. 17-Travis Berryhill[2]; 3. 80S-Kaden Honeycutt[3]; 4. 71L-Charlie Louden[5]; 5. 57H-Steve Hix[7]; 6. 00H-John Heitzman[1]; 7. 76X-Tom Savage[8]; 8. 42-Patrick Prescott[6]

OERB Heat 9 (8 Laps): 1. 89X-Mitchel Moles[2]; 2. 25K-Taylor Reimer[4]; 3. 1G-Justin Peck[8]; 4. 1-Sammy Swindell[3]; 5. 35-Tyler Robbins[6]; 6. 2Y-Dave Axton[5]; 7. (DNF) Z8-Max McLaughlin[7]; 8. (DNF) 2C-JR Ewing[1]

D-Features: Top 4 advance to corresponding C-Feature

D Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 23T-Tristan Lee[2]; 2. 77J-John Klabonde[8]; 3. 11C-Mike Woodruff[5]; 4. 68C-Ryder Laplante[9]; 5. 37-Ashton Thompson[1]; 6. 5H-Casey Hicks[6]; 7. 2C-JR Ewing[7]; 8. (DNF) 81C-Colten Cottle[4]; 9. (DNF) 7L-Jarrad Warhurst[3]; 10. (DNS) 70-Cade Cowles

D Feature 2 (10 Laps): 1. 25V-Billy VanInwegen Jr[6]; 2. 0G-Glenn Styres[8]; 3. 8K-Jake Neal[7]; 4. 17D-Wyatt Rotz[5]; 5. 10M-Kort Morgan[3]; 6. 42-Patrick Prescott[4]; 7. (DNF) 57C-Adam Taylor[9]; 8. (DNF) 72W-Tye Wilke[2]; 9. (DNF) Z8-Max McLaughlin[1]

C-Features: Top 4 advance to corresponding B-Feature.

C Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 31H-Carson Hocevar[1]; 2. 3W-Brandon Waelti[3]; 3. 7S-Parker Price Miller[5]; 4. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[2]; 5. 6A-Kalib Henry[4]; 6. 60-Landon Britt[6]; 7. 14U-Cole Schroeder[9]; 8. 19N-Nathan Byrd[8]; 9. 77J-John Klabonde[12]; 10. 23T-Tristan Lee[11]; 11. 00H-John Heitzman[10]; 12. (DNF) 8AJ-AJ Johnson[7]

C Feature 2 (12 Laps): 1. 1-Sammy Swindell[1]; 2. 2B-Tanner Berryhill[2]; 3. 22X-Steven Shebester[5]; 4. 11T-Tyler Baran[3]; 5. 73T-Tony Gomes[9]; 6. 25V-Billy VanInwegen Jr[11]; 7. 35-Tyler Robbins[4]; 8. 0G-Glenn Styres[12]; 9. 76X-Tom Savage[7]; 10. 99K-Robert Carson[10]; 11. 2Y-Dave Axton[6]; 12. 7JR-JD Black[8]

Team Toyota Qualifiers: Top 16 in combined passing points advance to the A-Feature.

Toyota Qualifier 1 (10 Laps): 1. 4P-Kody Swanson[1]; 2. 45X-Roger Crockett[2]; 3. 54-Matt Westfall[3]; 4. 52-Blake Hahn[6]; 5. 19Z-Hayden Reinbold[5]; 6. 01C-Carson Sousa[7]; 7. 57-Daniel Whitley[4]; 8. 7J-Shawn Jackson[10]; 9. 16C-David Camfield Jr[9]; 10. (DNF) 56-Mitchell Davis[8]

Toyota Qualifier 2 (10 Laps): 1. 89X-Mitchel Moles[3]; 2. 1I-Ashton Torgerson[4]; 3. 25M-Jake Andreotti[5]; 4. 07W-Corey Day[8]; 5. 51R-Ricky Thornton Jr[9]; 6. 67K-Cade Lewis[7]; 7. 98C-Chad Boespflug[6]; 8. 2X-Landon Brooks[2]; 9. M1-Colby Stubblefield[1]; 10. (DNS) 57H-Steve Hix

Toyota Qualifier 3 (10 Laps): 1. 24-Rico Abreu[2]; 2. 25K-Taylor Reimer[3]; 3. 4B-Chelby Hinton[4]; 4. 17-Travis Berryhill[1]; 5. 55A-Jake Swanson[6]; 6. 68-Ronnie Gardner[7]; 7. 91X-Danny Wood[5]; 8. 56X-Mark Chisholm[9]; 9. 80A-Chris Schmelzle[8]; 10. 55C-Angelo Cornet[10]

Toyota Qualifier 4 (10 Laps): 1. 5T-Kevin Thomas Jr[2]; 2. 08G-Trey Gropp[1]; 3. 7X-Thomas Meseraull[4]; 4. 71M-Brent Crews[6]; 5. 80S-Kaden Honeycutt[7]; 6. 1G-Justin Peck[5]; 7. 06-Rylan Gray[9]; 8. 08K-Karsyn Elledge[3]; 9. 9P-Kevin Cook[10]; 10. 71L-Charlie Louden[8]

Dave.com B-Features: Top 4 advance to the A-Feature.

Dave.com B Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 07W-Corey Day[1]; 2. 17-Travis Berryhill[4]; 3. 68-Ronnie Gardner[6]; 4. 2X-Landon Brooks[8]; 5. 91X-Danny Wood[3]; 6. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[15]; 7. 01C-Carson Sousa[5]; 8. 80A-Chris Schmelzle[10]; 9. 08K-Karsyn Elledge[7]; 10. 31H-Carson Hocevar[11]; 11. 1G-Justin Peck[2]; 12. 7S-Parker Price Miller[13]; 13. 9P-Kevin Cook[9]; 14. 71L-Charlie Louden[12]; 15. (DNF) 3W-Brandon Waelti[14]; 16. (DNS) 57H-Steve Hix

Dave.com B Feature 2 (15 Laps): 1. 67K-Cade Lewis[5]; 2. 80S-Kaden Honeycutt[3]; 3. 51R-Ricky Thornton Jr[1]; 4. 57-Daniel Whitley[4]; 5. 22X-Steven Shebester[15]; 6. 16C-David Camfield Jr[9]; 7. 56-Mitchell Davis[11]; 8. 56X-Mark Chisholm[8]; 9. 06-Rylan Gray[6]; 10. 1-Sammy Swindell[13]; 11. 2B-Tanner Berryhill[14]; 12. 7J-Shawn Jackson[7]; 13. 11T-Tyler Baran[16]; 14. 98C-Chad Boespflug[2]; 15. 55C-Angelo Cornet[12]; 16. (DNS) M1-Colby Stubblefield

A-Feature: Top 2 advance to Saturday's A-Feature.

Smileys Racing Products A Feature (30 Laps): 1. 24-Rico Abreu[6]; 2. 89X-Mitchel Moles[1]; 3. 71M-Brent Crews[5]; 4. 52-Blake Hahn[4]; 5. 5T-Kevin Thomas Jr[7]; 6. 51R-Ricky Thornton Jr[22]; 7. 25K-Taylor Reimer[8]; 8. 7X-Thomas Meseraull[10]; 9. 55A-Jake Swanson[13]; 10. 08G-Trey Gropp[16]; 11. 54-Matt Westfall[14]; 12. 57-Daniel Whitley[24]; 13. 4P-Kody Swanson[11]; 14. 80S-Kaden Honeycutt[20]; 15. 67K-Cade Lewis[18]; 16. 45X-Roger Crockett[12]; 17. 19Z-Hayden Reinbold[15]; 18. 2X-Landon Brooks[23]; 19. 4B-Chelby Hinton[9]; 20. 68-Ronnie Gardner[21]; 21. 25M-Jake Andreotti[3]; 22. (DNF) 07W-Corey Day[17]; 23. (DNF) 1I-Ashton Torgerson[2]; 24. (DNF) 17-Travis Berryhill[19]

Lap Leader(s): Mitchel Moles 1-29; Rico Abreu 30

Hard Charger: Ricky Thornton, Jr. +16 

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