page_title: Rico Abreu
section_title: Early career and dirt racing
hierarchical_section_title: Rico Abreu / Racing career / Early career and dirt racing
caption_attribution_description: The midget car of Rico Abreu racing at w:Angell Park Speedway. The event was co-sanctioned by USAC, POWRi, and BMARA. He was the 2014 USAC National Midget champion and he races for w:Curb Racing.
context_page_description: Rico Emanuel Abreu is an American professional dirt track and stock car racing driver. Abreu won the 2014 USAC National Midget Series championship, and previously competed in the K&N Pro Series East in 2015 scoring one win.
context_section_description: Abreu first began racing dirt bikes, but after watching an Outlaw kart race in Vallejo, California, started to race shifter karts. When he turned 15, he was given his first Outlaw kart. To support his career, his father built a ​¹⁄₈th-mile asphalt oval in his backyard.  On January 24, 2009, Abreu made his Outlaw kart debut at Lakeport Indoor Speedway, finishing fourth, and scored his first Outlaw win at Cycleland Speedway. During the year, local driver Kyle Larson met Abreu at a charity karting event held at Abreu's backyard oval and, in 2011, introduced him to sprint cars. During the year, he made his Chili Bowl Nationals debut, along with running his first World of Outlaws sprint car race. He would eventually win the 2011 360 Winged Sprint Car Series Rookie of the Year Award.  In 2012, Abreu raced in the USAC National Midget Series, clinching Rookie of the Year, while qualifying for the A-main at the Chili Bowl. The next year, he won the Belleville Midget Nationals, the Johnny Key Classic at Ocean Speedway, the  4 Crown Nationals  at Eldora Speedway and the USAC Gold Crown at Tri City Speedway. In 2014, he won his first WoO race at the Thunderbowl Raceway and later won the USAC Honda Midget Series national title.
  On January 17, 2015, Abreu returned to the Chili Bowl. On lap 26 he passed the previous year's winner Bryan Clauson and held off four-time Chili Bowl winner Kevin Swindell to win. The win was Toyota's first Chili Bowl victory and the first for owner Keith Kunz since 2002. The following year, Abreu repeated his Chili Bowl win after defeating Clauson and Zach Daum.
caption: Abreu's midget at Angell Park Speedway
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