Calistoga Speedway
August 31, 2014
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RICO ABREU WINS CALISTOGA’S LOUIE VERMEIL CLASSIC

by Lance Jennings
CALISTOGA, CA – SEPTEMBER 2, 2014... In his second non-winged start, Rico Abreu of Rutherford, California won the finale of “7th Annual Louie Vermeil Classic.” Taking the lead from Christopher Bell on lap twenty-two, Abreu claimed Sunday’s $5,000 Amsoil USAC/CRA Sprint Car triumph at Calistoga Speedway. Kevin Thomas Jr., Bell, “The Human Highlight Reel” Geoff Ensign, and hard charger Colby Copeland followed Rico to the checkered flags.

Piloting his #24 Abreu Vineyards / Stadelhofer Construction machine, Rico Abreu qualified fourth overall out of the twenty-four racers in the pit area. Abreu went on the score the 8-lap Extreme Mufflers Heat Race #1 victory and sits thirty-fifth in points.

Cullman, Alabama’s Kevin Thomas Jr. stormed to second in the Louie Vermeil Classic after starting eighth. Racing Keith Ford’s #73X Berry Pack / King Racing Products Spike, Thomas was fifth quick in time trials and placed fifth in his heat race. In limited starts, the USAC National Sprint Car regular is twentieth in points with one heat race victory and three top-10 finishes.

After winning the previous night, Christopher Bell of Norman, Oklahoma ran third in the Sunday main event. Driving Dennis Roth’s #83 Roth Enterprises / Revcon Suspension KPC, Bell qualified second overall, ran second to Ryan Bernal in his heat race, and led 18 laps of the feature. Currently, the USAC Midget regular is twenty-fourth in the standings with 26 feature laps led to his credit.

Sebastopol, California’s “The Human Highlight Reel” Geoff Ensign raced to fourth at Calistoga from the twelfth starting spot. Piloting Ted Finkenbinder’s #3F Western Industrial X-Ray Eagle, Ensign was twelfth fast in time trials and placed third in his heat race. In limited starts, the former USAC Western Classic Champion sits thirty-third in the point chase with two top-10 finishes.

Bradley Terrell of Sebastopol, California charged to fifth in the 30-lap feature from sixteenth. Racing the family owned #43 Millhouse Glass / Papa Enterprises A.R.T., Terrell qualified sixteenth overall and placed fifth in his heat race. To date, the Petaluma regular is forty-fourth in the point chase with one Keizer Wheels / Racing Optics Hard Charger Award and two top-10 finishes on the year.

Roseville, California’s Colby Copeland earned the night’s Keizer Wheels / Racing Optics “Hard Charger / Best Passing Job” with a sixth place run from eighteenth. Driving Annette VanLare’s #5V Bianchi Farms / VanLare Steering Repair ART, Copeland was eighteenth quick in time trials and took fifth in his heat race. The versatile driver has climbed to seventeenth in the points with four top-10 finishes in the campaign.

Ryan Bernal of Hollister, California won the night’s 8-lap DJ Safety Heat Race #2. Piloting Mike Phulps #56 Tri-L Mandarin Ranch / Core Power ART, Bernal qualified eleventh overall and scored seventeenth in the main event. Currently, the defending USAC Western Classic Champion is twelfth in the standings with three heat race victories, three top-10 finishes, and 12 feature laps led.

Concord, California’s “The Demon” Damion Gardner won the Saldana Racing Products / Circle Track Performance Heat Race #3. Racing Mark Alexander’s #4 Scott Sales Company / J&D Performance Spike, Gardner was sixth fast in time trials and claimed tenth in the main event. To date, the point leader has a 176-point advantage with seven feature wins, five Woodland Auto Display Fast Time Awards, twelve heat race victories, thirteen top-10 finishes, and 154 feature laps led to his credit.

AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT RACE RESULTS
August 31, 2014 – Calistoga, California – Calistoga Speedway
“California Sprint Week” / “Louie Vermeil Classic”
 
QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Matt Mitchell, 37, Mitchell-19.589; 2. Christopher Bell, 83, Roth-20.040; 3. Mike Spencer, 50, Chaffin-20.049; 4. Rico Abreu, 24, Abreu-20.060; 5. Kevin Thomas Jr., 73X, Ford-20.219; 6. Damion Gardner, 4, Alexander-20.222; 7. Brody Roa, 91R, BR-20.276; 8. Austin Williams, 2, Jory-20.284; 9. Cody Williams, 44, Jory-20.318; 10. Bud Kaeding, 69, Bowman-20.323; 11. Ryan Bernal, 56, Phulps-20.346; 12. Geoff Ensign, 3F, Finkenbinder-20.386; 13. D.J. Johnson, 33, Johnson-20.486; 14. Jake Swanson, 92, Sertich-20.510; 15. Robert Ballou, 73, Ford-20.548; 16. Bradley Terrell,43, Terrell-20.801; 17. Scott Hall, 77J, Campanile-20.822; 18. Colby Copeland, 5V, VanLare-20.938; 19. Tim Barber, 3T, Finkenbinder-21.272; 20. Marty Hawkins, 3M, Hawkins-21.382; 21. Logan Williams, 5, Jory-21.490; 22. Adam Brenton, 28, Brenton-21.557; 23. Terry Schank, 1, Gleeson-21.574; 24. Chris Gansen, 4G, Gansen-21.992.
 
FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Abreu, 2. Mitchell, 3. Roa, 4. Kaeding, 5. Terrell, 6. Johnson, 7. Barber, 8. Brenton. NT
 
SECOND HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Bernal, 2. Bell, 3. Swanson, 4. A.Williams, 5. Thomas, 6. Schank, 7. Hawkins, 8. Hall. NT
 
THIRD HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Gardner, 2. Ballou, 3. Ensign, 4. C.Williams, 5. Copeland, 6. L.Williams, 7. Gansen, 8. Spencer. NT
 
FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Rico Abreu, 2. Kevin Thomas Jr., 3. Christopher Bell, 4. Geoff Ensign, 5. Bradley Terrell, 6. Colby Copeland, 7. Cody Williams, 8. Mike Spencer, 9. Matt Mitchell, 10. Damion Gardner, 11. D.J. Johnson, 12. Terry Schank, 13. Marty Hawkins, 14. Logan Williams, 15. Scott Hall, 16. Adam Brenton, 17. Ryan Bernal, 18. Tim Barber, 19. Chris Gansen, 20. Robert Ballou, 21. Brody Roa, 22. Jake Swanson, 23. Austin Williams, 24. Bud Kaeding. NT

**A.Williams & Ballou flipped during the feature.
 
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-3 A.Williams, Laps 4-21 Bell, Laps 22-30 Abreu.

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HONDA USAC WESTERN MIDGET DIRT RACE RESULTS
August 31, 2014 – Calistoga, California – Calistoga Speedway – “Louie Vermeil Classic”
 
QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Rico Abreu, 97, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-20.320; 2. Christopher Bell, 71, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-20.405; 3. Tanner Thorson, 67, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-20.416; 4. Shane Golobic, 26, Bock-20.576; 5. Ronnie Gardner, 68, Six8-20.694; 6. Trey Marcham, 73, Ford-20.973; 7. Scott Pierovich, 35, Pierovich-21.000; 8. Taylor Simas, 62, Bock-21.077; 9. Alex Schutte, 28, Schutte/McElwee-21.244; 10. Jarid Blondel, 98, Blondel-21.251; 11. Cody Swanson, 71S, Swanson-21.356; 12. Brian Gard, 88, Arata-21.396; 13. Nick Chivello, 27, Chivello-21.525; 14. Scott Kinney, 27C, Blackwell-21.815; 15. Lance Hallmark, 8H, Hallmark-22.730; 16. Michael Pickens, 25, Rodela-NT; 17. Randi Pankratz, 8, Pankratz-NT; 18. Chad Nichols, 17, Nichols-NT; 19. Britton Bock, 35X, Pierovich-NT; 20. David Prickett, 27B, Blackwell-NT.
 
FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Abreu, 2. Pierovich, 3. Chivello, 4. Blondel, 5. Golobic. NT
 
SECOND HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Gardner, 2. Bell, 3. Simas, 4. Kinney, 5. Swanson, 6. Prickett, 7. Pankratz. NT
 
THIRD HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Thorson, 2. Marcham, 3. Schutte, 4. Gard, 5. Hallmark, 6. Nichols. NT
 
FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Christopher Bell, 2. Tanner Thorson,3. Ronnie Gardner, 4. Cody Swanson, 5. Nick Chivello, 6. Brian Gard, 7. Lance Hallmark, 8. Jarid Blondel, 9. Trey Marcham, 10. Rico Abreu, 11. Scott Pierovich, 12. Alex Schutte, 13. Taylor Simas, 14. Scott Kinney, 15. Shane Golobic, 16. Randi Pankratz, 17. David Prickett, 18. Britton Bock, 19. Chad Nichols. NT

*Schutte and Abreu flipped during the feature.
 
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-13 Marcham, Laps 14-25 Thorson, Laps 26-30 Bell.