The Californian gives Tony Stewart Racing its 14th Charlotte score in thrilling fashion
Rico Abreu brought the “Rushville Rocket” No. 14 to North Carolina, and it’s living up to its name.
The ride pays homage to his boss at Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing, Tony Stewart himself. The team has run the car at some of the sport’s biggest races this year and opted to do it again at the Dave Smith Motors World of Outlaws World Finals as the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series closes out the 2026 campaign.
Abreu began the week by sweeping both Simpson Quick Times during Wednesday’s Honest Abe Roofing Qualifying Night. That lined him up on the pole for his Thursday Heat Race, which he won. A third-place finish in the Toyota Dash put the St. Helena, CA native in row two for the 25-lap main event.
Abreu patiently waited for the right time to strike as Bill Balog led much of the race. The No. 14 machine searched all the lines at The Dirt Track at Charlotte for grip while Balog remained committed to the cushion. Abreu found what he needed with less than five circuits remaining as a run off the bottom of Turn 2 sent him sailing by the No. 17B as they slid into the set of corners. That proved to be the winning move as Abreu rocketed away to Victory Lane.
“My car launched really well on the starts,” Abreu said. “When I got to the outside row, the 7BC (Tyler Courtney) peeled off to try to pass the 17B (Bill Balog), and I got a full clean lane up top. These guys kept working on this thing. I was a little concerned mid-race there if we were going to be too aero tight to get to the front. Things kind of played out, and I just kept trying to not forfeit positions. Ricky (Warner), Zack (Middlebrooks), Brady (Forbrook), and Todd (Devnich), just this whole organization, they keep fighting.”
Thursday gave Abreu 11 overall Sprint Car scores in 2026, including a pair with The Greatest Show on Dirt. It’s the 332nd World of Outlaws victory for Tony Stewart’s operation, and 14 of those have now come at the Concord, NC track. That puts it in a tie with The Dirt Track at Las Vegas and River Cities Speedway for the fourth most responsible track for those 332 checkered flags. It was Abreu’s second Charlotte triumph, making him the 13th different multi-time winner there.
Tyler Courtney wheeled by Balog late to grab the second spot in the Clauson Marshall Racing/NOS Energy Drink No. 7BC.
Bill Balog completed the podium after leading the most laps.
Buddy Kofoid and Garet Williamson completed the top five.
David Gravel and Big Game Motorsports effectively clinched their consecutive World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car championship with a sixth-place effort. They simply need to show up for the final two nights of racing to officially claim the title.
NIGHTLY NOTES
Heat Races belonged to David Gravel (NOS Energy Drink Heat One), Bill Balog (TheGreatestStoreonDirt.com Heat Two), Rico Abreu (WIX Filters Heat Three), and Buddy Kofoid (Golf Cart Services Heat Four).
The SPA Technique #1 Redraw went to Garet Williamson.
Williamson also topped the Toyota Dash.
Parker Price-Miller won the Micro-Lite Last Chance Showdown.
Chase Randall marched from 22nd to 14th to earn the KSE Racing Products Hard Charger.
Logan Schuchart was the Tub O’ Towels Seventh Place Finisher.
Emerson Axsom was the Five Star Bodie Rookie of the Race.
Bill Balog clocked the ACME Trading Company Fast Lap.
The Smith Titanium Brake Systems Break of the Race went to Sheldon Haudenschild.
UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series takes on another $15,000-to-win Dave Smith Motors World of Outlaws World Finals program on Friday, Nov. 6 to set the stage for Saturday’s $25,000-to-win season finale. For tickets, CLICK HERE.
Where can you watch every World of Outlaws race? Live on DIRTVision.
Where can you see the World of Outlaws in 2026? Click to see the full schedule.
FEATURE RESULTS:
NOS Energy Drink Feature (25 Laps): 1. 14-Rico Abreu[3]; 2. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[4]; 3. 17B-Bill Balog[2]; 4. 83-Michael Kofoid[6]; 5. 23-Garet Williamson[1]; 6. 2-David Gravel[5]; 7. 1S-Logan Schuchart[8]; 8. 77-Giovanni Scelzi[7]; 9. 71R-Logan Rumsey[16]; 10. 17-Spencer Bayston[15]; 11. 51-Steven Snyder Jr[17]; 12. 41-Carson Macedo[11]; 13. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[14]; 14. 9-Chase Randall[22]; 15. 71-Parker Price Miller[21]; 16. 13-Tanner Holmes[12]; 17. 15-Donny Schatz[19]; 18. 19-Brent Marks[18]; 19. 39M-Anthony Macri[13]; 20. 7S-Chris Windom[24]; 21. 2C-Cole Macedo[20]; 22. 27-Emerson Axsom[25]; 23. 6-Bryce Lucius[27]; 24. 15K-Creed Kemenah[23]; 25. (DNF) 28M-Conner Morrell[28]; 26. (DNF) 69K-Buddy Schweibinz[9]; 27. (DNF) 18-Sheldon Haudenschild[10]; 28. (DNF) 16C-Skylar Gee[26]
For complete results, CLICK HERE.