“One hell of a headache,” groaned Tony Stewart after his wild NHRA top fuel crash at Maple Grove Raceway on September 14, where the safety crew had to scramble into action. And it is no less than a miracle to see him up and about three days after his wreck. Race car drivers, like football players, have reason to be concerned about brain injuries because a history of concussions can lead to chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), an untreatable brain disease characterized by toxic proteins accumulated in the brain. And Rico Abreu spotlights these very deep, long-term dangers of the sport.

At Eldora Speedway’s 2017 4-Crown Nationals, Rico Abreu’s night went from green flag to horror show in a heartbeat. Charging into turn one on the first lap of his heat, his car smacked the wall and catapulted into a series of bone-jarring flips that shredded metal and sprayed clay. When the car finally came to rest, the grandstands fell into a stunned hush. Abreu climbed out, but his shaky steps toward the ambulance told a darker truth: he wasn’t okay. Diagnosed with vertigo and lingering concussion symptoms, he spent three months on the sidelines, uncertain if he would ever raise the same age again. That wreck at Eldora became a turning point, forcing him to reckon with the lasting cost of sprint car racing and the mental battle of finding his way back.

Speaking on the Dale Jr. Download, the 33-year-old didn’t hold back on his learnings: “I think that you, you know, you can put yourself in big, big bad spots, and it can be catastrophic at times if you take those big wrecks and then you got to turn around and race the next night. That’s the toughest part. Uh, so it’s, you know, I’ve really tried to learn not to put myself in badspots and um, you know, if I have a 15th-place car, I’m going to finish 15th tonight and I’m going to make sure this car rolls into the trailer so we can work on it and get better for the next giant ’cause everything just starts right over and it’s you got to appreciate it and you got to respect the sport that we’re doing out there.”

One of Rico’s more vivid near-disasters came at Lakeside Speedway in early May this year. During the Kansas City Chaos event, four of the top six contenders were eliminated in a single-lap 10 crash when Rico and Kerry Madsen went side-by-side down the backstretch. Madsen’s car spun, Rico’s hopped, and then Brad Sweet slammed into Madsen, slipping widely. Kyle Larson also got caught in the melee and took a hard hit. Though Rico somehow escaped that wreck with minimal damage and eventually took the win, the extent of chaos in those few seconds is the kind of incident that leaves drivers with rattled heads, even if nothing breaks visibly. And as Rico understands and respects the sport better, Dale Jr. couldn’t help but raise alarms about the risk.

Dale Jr., in utter amusement, said, “But then to see you guys out there in the race, dodging each other for clean air, dodging what’s happening to the racetrack as it starts to sort of degrade in certain areas. I, you know, it’s just I don’t know if I guess it’s so risky. I guess you have to kind of compartmentalize that and set that on the sidelines and not worry about it ever, right? About what might or could happen when things go wrong, because you know we’ve seen some pretty scary things happen in that type of racing.”

Sprint cars, especially 410ci winged cars in series like the World of Outlaws, can top 145 mph on a half-mile oval, with radar-recorded peaks up to 173 mph. Dirt tracks make this even trickier, as loose surfaces demand constant control. Even Plymouth and Knoxville have had tense moments. After a rear axle failure caused Kyle Larson to flip violently at Plymouth, Rico had to battle Michael Buddy Kofoid, avoid wreck-prone traffic, and make a dramatic save in the closing lap. Rico nearly found himself in contact with Michael but managed to keep control, hold the lead, and win. Mistakes in that environment are easy, and they tend to be costly.

Tony Stewart added, “Yeah, that’s the hard part about it, too, is you know, you take a traveling series like High Limit or World Outlaws and they’re going to a track that is a weekly track. Well, yeah, he can study the guys he’s racing with every week that are running the touring deal. But now you roll into a place, you don’t know this guy, this guy, this guy, this guy, and you don’t know what their characteristics are. You don’t know how they race. You don’t know if they’re respectful or if they’re guys that kind of race a little on the dirty edge, you know. ” 

Stewart is well aware of his risks, too. During the second round elimination of the NHRA Top Fuel event at the Reading Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway, Doug Kalitta’s dragster suffered a left front wheel failure at over 335 mph, veering into Tony Stewart’s lane, and because of it, he flipped the 54-year-old’s car onto its side before it landed upright and struck the guard wall. Both drivers exited their vehicles under their own power and were even evaluated by NHRA medical staff. Tony later reported a concussion, and one that he couldn’t remember. Yet the drivers put themselves into the cars, very well knowing the risks that come with it. And amid the new partnership between Stewart and Rico in 2026, Abreu has broken another myth.

Rico Abreu defends Tony Stewart’s persona in motorsports

Rico Abreu has been in Tony Stewart’s orbit for over a decade, ever since their paths crossed at the 2012 Chili Bowl Midget Nationals. While many motorsports fans know the three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion for his fears, reputation, and uncompromising style, Rico sees the side that often goes unnoticed. Ahead of his new partnership with Tony Stewart racing for the upcoming sprint season, Rico emphasized qualities in Tony that go beyond toughness and competitiveness.

In a bold admission, he said, “People see the other side of Tony Stewart. The part of him that is a gruff hard a**, but all I’ve ever seen from Tony is kindness. Someone kept breaking into our shop, and Tony told me to come over and work out of his place…He always treated me with respect. He respected me as a racer. I haven’t always had confidence; as a little person… I learned a lot about leadership from Tony. And above all else, when we got done doing (Dale Jr. Download), I just sent him a thank you text for all of that because I don’t know that I would have made it without people like him who made me feel welcome here in the first place.”

Rico’s reflections of a deeper perspective on Tony Stewart challenge not just fans but also fellow drivers, including Ryan Blaney, Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, and Kyle Larson, to reconsider the personalities behind the competitive edge in NASCAR and NHRA.