Column: Rico Nearly Takes Nationals Prelim Glory; Macedo Strong All Thursday Night At Knoxville
News Director 
Column By: ALEX NIETEN / WORLD OF OUTLAWS – KNOXVILLE, IA – Rico Abreu came home second Thursday night at Knoxville Raceway and was only a couple laps short of Nationals prelim glory.
The St. Helena, CA driver earned some valuable lessons as he prepares to chase his first Knoxville Nationals title on Saturday. He’ll line up sixth.
“I’ve got to do a little better job managing traffic and knowing the race pace,” Abreu said. “I felt like I left the bottom open there, but I just wanted to keep it up on the pipes toward the end of the race. The top was just really far around. On the cushion my right front would get up a little bit where I had to give up some in the center. Other than that, Ricky (Warner), Zack (Middlebrooks), and Brady (Forbrook) did an awesome job.”
Rounding out the Knoxville Nationals prelim podium was Carson Macedo and the Jason Johnson Racing crew. It was a strong night from beginning to end that will set them up fourth in the lineup for Saturday’s finale.
“The race was in stages for me,” Macedo said. “I feel like early I got my wing back too far, and I had to push it back forward. I started catching them back once we got to traffic. I felt pretty good. And then once we got to traffic I felt really good. I could maneuver really nicely anywhere I wanted to go. I got to Rico when he kind of got messed up with a lapper and thought I was going to be able to squeeze underneath him and then just had to pace behind him for a minute.”
Tyler Courtney and Bill Balog rounded out the top five. A 23rd to 13th run in the Roth Motorsports ride earned James McFadden the KSE Racing Hard Charger. Daryn Pittman claimed Simpson Quick Time honors in Sea Foam Qualifying.
Your Life Iowa Heat Races One, Three, Four, and Five belonged to Daryn Pittman, Tasker Phillips, Carson Macedo, and Ayrton Gennetten. Milton Hershey School Heat Two went to Hunter Schuerenberg. Dusty Zomer won the Micro-Lite Last Chance Showdown.
16 KNOXVILLE NATIONALS CHAMPIONSHIP FEATURE LOCK-INS:
Row 1: Kyle Larson – Daryn Pittman
Row 2: Tyler Courtney – Carson Macedo
Row 3: Giovanni Scelzi – Rico Abreu
Row 4: Brian Brown – Anthony Macri
Row 5: Brady Bacon – Scott Bogucki
Row 6: Corey Day – Brent Marks
Row 7: Bill Balog – Sheldon Haudenschild
Row 8: Chase Randall – Jacob Allen
UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars take on FVP “Hard Knox” Preliminary Night on Friday, August 9 with four more tickets up for grabs to Saturday’s $190,000-to-win NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s finale.
