Abreu Untouchable at Utica-Rome; Second Win of ’24

Rico Abreu in Victory Lane with his dog after competing with High Limit Racing at Utica-Rome Speedway in Vernon, New York (Photo: Rico Abreu Racing Media)

VERNON, N.Y. — After competing at Outlaw Speedway on Thursday night, the High Limit sprint cars continued their run in the Empire State by going to Utica-Rome Speedway.

Brent Marks and Justin Peck led the 24-car field to start the A-Main. At the drop of the green flag, Marks zoomed to the lead, but second-place had a three-wide battle coming out of Turn 2 with Rico Abreu, Peck and Spencer Bayston. Abreu emerged victorious, rocketing ahead of Peck and Bayston.

Marks cruised in first and found the cushion on the top side. But with each passing turn, Abreu closed in more and more. He narrowed the gap between himself and Marks, getting faster with each lap as well.

On Lap 6, Marks drifted down the track to run the middle lane, which proved to be a big mistake on his part. Going down the backstretch, Abreu completely closed the gap between himself and Marks, going side-by-side for a couple of seconds with the leader and then creating a new gap by taking over the lead.

Marks realized his mistake and tried to get by Abreu coming out of Turn 4, but just couldn’t pull it off. Lap car Davie Franek got in the way of Marks’ pursuit, which allowed Peck to roar up and go side-by-side with him. Marks got by Franek, but so did Peck. Then, Peck used the drafting technique to pass him on the inside.

With 13 laps to go, Marks ran the top when he hopped the cushion and sailed over the edge. Luckily, he brought it back on the track to continue with the race, but it cost him a spot he otherwise wouldn’t have lost. This also put him back extremely close to “Sunshine” Tyler Courtney, who was also gunning for a win.

Courtney showed no mercy to Marks as he shot up beside him and stayed there as they raced down the backstretch. Going into Turn 3, they tried to split a lap car and did so successfully. Marks held the position as they crossed the line.

Rico Abreu competing with High Limit Racing at Utica-Rome Speedway in Vernon, New York (Photo: Rico Abreu Racing Media)

With five laps to go, James McFadden ran third and had his sights set on Peck a spot ahead. Running the high side, Peck got a little bit too high and followed the night’s proceedings of going over the brink. His right rear slightly clipped that oh-so-dangerous edge, but it caused Peck to lose enough space that McFadden got right beside him as they raced down the frontstretch. 

The two of them raced side-by-side throughout Turns 1 and 2, but McFadden passed him going into the next corner. But Peck wasn’t going to give up easy as he returned the favor to McFadden going into the second turn by reclaiming the runner-up spot.

Even though Peck was closing the gap between himself and leader Abreu, he didn’t have enough time to make a run for the win. Peck finished behind Abreu, who won for the first time with High Limit Racing in 2024.

High Limit Racing heads to Pennsylvania next week to take part in a two-day show at Port Royal Speedway.