CHILI BOWL: Abreu scores repeat victory

Rico Abreu started fourth, got shuffled back to seventh and then moved up to the high groove to sweep under and past Bryan Clauson to win Saturday night’s 30th annual Chili Bowl.

Abreu led four Toyotas into the top-five on his way to becoming just the second driver in history to win consecutive Chili Bowl Nationals titles. He started from the fourth position, then moved past fellow Toyota driver Zach Daum for second on lap 41 and then eventually powering past Clauson for the lead.

"This is my favorite race of the year, espcially after winning last year," said Abreu, the 2015 USAC Midget Car champion who announced earlier in the week that

he would be competing in NASCAR's Truck Series

this year. "It has a special place in my heart. I was opening my entry up into Turn Three and was able to carry more power exiting to pass Bryan.

"This is one of the toughest tracks to lead at because of how much the track changes throughout the race, so I just tried to stay smooth and consistent after taking the lead. I just want to say thank you to everyone at Toyota and Keith Kunz Motorsports."

For Clauson it was a tough loss since he led 34 of the first 44 laps and opened up more than a straightaway lead on a couple of occasions before being slowed by three caution periods and a red flag.

“I just got a little tight and that allowed Rico to reel me in and I managed to get freed up the last five laps and get back on his bumper but he was probably playing it a little safe and I just came up short,” said the Noblesville native after getting beat by a couple car lengths. “Rico did a nice job.”

Joining Abreu on the podium was Daum, who placed third, one spot ahead of Jerry Coons Jr. in fourth.

"The pole shuffle helped us move up to eighth and then we were able to move up through the field to fifth pretty quickly and then worked our way up to second (on lap 17)," said Daum, a two-time POWRi champion. "We were decent, but not great. We were just way too tight, but there's 330 drivers here who would trade places with us."

Kyle Larson placed fifth, Tanner Thorson was ninth and Christopher Bell finished 12th as Keith Kunz Motorsports earned four of the top-12 finishing positions. In the early going, Bell looked to be the dominant car on the racetrack as he quickly moved into the lead after starting from the outside of the front row. He then pulled away in leading the first 10 laps before he spun while trying to avoid slower lapped traffic.

Tracy Hines rounded out the Toyota contingent with a 17th-place finish. Overall, seven of the 19 Toyota powered cars entered this week qualifed for Saturday's A Main, while three others advanced to the B Main.

"We couldn't be prouder of Rico and I can't say enough about Keith Kunz, who's the architect behind this program," said David Wilson, president of TRD USA. "Without Keith, we wouldn't be in this position. For Rico to win the Chili Bowl once is an amazing feat, to do it back-to-back is one for the history books. Really, we're proud of all of our teams and to have four Toyotas in the top-five is a great accomplishment. Hopefully, we can make it three in a row next year."

This year's Chili Bowl Nationals featured a record 335 entries.

BELOW: Jeremy McCune got a lot of elevation during the K feature Saturday.