Kyle Larson may be reigning supreme in NASCAR. However, the Hendrick Motorsports star’s sprint car racing career is under an enormous threat. That is none other than Rico Abreu, with whom Larson shares a long friendship since their dirt racing days. This year in August, Abreu snatched the lead from Larson in the final laps of the Knoxville Nationals to win.

Wondering where this 33-year-old speedster would have reached if he had entered the Cup Series? Well, definitely tremendous heights – if not for a few hiccups in his NASCAR journey. Rico Abreu proudly pursues a sprint racing career, carving his name as one of the legends of this field. At the same time, he reflects on missed opportunities.

Rico Abreu figures he went too fast

From his dad building a 1/8th-mile dirt track in his own backyard to ‘messing around’ on dirt bikes, Rico Abreu has honed himself for racing in many ways. When he was 23 in 2015, he was winning USAC races for Keith Kunz Motorsports, like the Turkey Night Grand Prix. His 2014 USAC National Midget Series title, 2015 Chili Bowl win, and several World of Outlaws trophies set the stage for his NASCAR entry. He enrolled in the NASCAR K&N Series, finishing in the top ten 8 times in 14 races. Then in 2016, Abreu earned a full-time spot in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series with ThorSport Racing. In 23 races, Rico drove to two top 5 finishes and a total of five top 10 finishes. However, he could not go further.

In a recent Dale Jr. Download episode, Rico Abreu recalled why his NASCAR ambitions hit the pause button. Getting to work with Mardy Lindley, who currently serves as the crew chief of Xfinity high-flyer Connor Zilisch, Abreu rushed. He said, “I would have needed to figure out how to do another year of racing with him. I think that’s where I kind of missed the boat…We got in a hurry, we pushed through the programs too quickly. And then I felt like when I got to the Truck Series, I was just so inexperienced. And these investments that people make to get those opportunities, it just didn’t align, really, with where I wanted to be.”

Despite his brief cameo in stock car racing, Rico Abreu cherished those times. Now, he has come full circle in partnering up with three-time Cup Series champion Tony Stewart. He continued, “It was an incredible experience. I got to learn a lot of new things, got to meet a lot of people, see the other side of the industry of motorsports from the grassroots racing side, what I grew up doing. If I were to do it again, I would do two years in the East stuff, the K&N stuff now, or the ARCA stuff now. And may have potentially moved to the Truck Series. But I think I moved too quickly.”

Presently, however, Rico Abreu is steadfastly focused on his goals. Yet he does want to tinker around with Tony Stewart’s new passion.

Rico Abreu is revitalizing his career

Tony Stewart Racing shocked fans recently by ending a nearly two-decade-old partnership with Donny Schatz. The program went from winning 10 World of Outlaws titles in a 14-year span to being winless so far this year. But while partnering with Rico Abreu, Tony Stewart had no qualms about his new driver’s talents. He is the second-winningest driver in Sprint Car racing since 2022 (Abreu’s 38 wins are behind only David Gravel’s 44). Stewart expressed his enthusiasm about having Abreu on board: “That’s what’s so great about partnering with Rico now and bringing him on board. I told (TSR public relations manager) Misha (Geisert) driving over here, I said, ‘I haven’t been this excited about Sprint Car racing in a long time.’ It’s always my No. 1 passion.”

What is more, Tony Stewart is even willing to let Rico Abreu take another wheel. Upon being asked by Dale Jr. if he would like to stray from sprint car racing, Abreu had his eyes on something. He said, “I told Tony I could get his Junior Dragster ready for dawn. I wouldn’t mind taking a crack at it.” And Stewart also responded positively, welcoming Abreu to his TSR Top Fuel ventures. Leah Pruett, Stewart’s wife, will take over the dragster from 2026 onwards after her pregnancy hiatus. Stewart said, “Oddly enough, it’s not a hard process. Of all people, he’s the kind of guy that’s actually, the way he adapts, he would figure it out pretty quickly.”

Evidently, Rico Abreu has a bright future ahead, regardless of missed opportunities in the past. Let’s wait and see how he performs in his new setup.