After being out of the car for nearly four months to recuperate from a nasty crash, Rico Abreu piloted his Midget to a night two victory in the 32nd Chili Bowl Nationals at River Spirit Expo Center in Tulsa, OK, on Wednesday.

Abreu swept the event by winning his heat from sixth position and taking the A-Main after starting in second behind Tyler Thomas. 

From Victory Lane, Abreu summed up the race succinctly after locking up his spot for Saturday’s big show.

“That’s some intense shit,” said Abreu, who was one of three drivers injured during a hard crash at the Four Crown Nationals at Eldora Speedway in Rossberg, Ohio, in September.

Heavy racing started early in Wednesday's Feature as Abreu battled hard on the back bar of Tyler Thomas for four laps. On lap five, Kevin Thomas Jr. joined the mix and the trio went three wide. Kevin led the lap but couldn’t withstand Tyler’s speed as he took the position back before the first caution flew on lap seven for Parker Price-Miller.

Abreu and the pair of Thomases remained persistent through the entire race. The field restarted on lap six. Abreu shot low to steal second from Kevin. Three laps later Abreu made his move past Tyler for the lead off of the fourth turn.

Abreu and Tyler battled back and forth, swapping slide jobs until the next caution came out on lap 11. Tyler was in the lead at the time of caution. On the restart, Tyler held his ground on the bottom groove, leaving the top open for Abreu to shoot to the lead on lap 15.

Abreu and Tyler Thomas continued to swap sliders, but Abreu held the advantage at the line every time. The final caution came out with just two to go — and there was practically no lead over second to give up.

Abreu finished 0.666 seconds ahead of Tyler Thomas in second, and Kevin Thomas Jr. — who was once kicking for the lead — settled for third. Tyler and Kevin also transfer into Saturday’s A-main.

“I don’t think it gets any more intense than that, especially because you are racing for the lead,” Abreu said. “On these side jobs, people come up short and run into each other and that’s when you see wrecks, but I feel like it goes both ways in these situations where if you’re the leader getting slid, you let off the gas and let them slide across, then turn down and drive right back by him. That’s the way it was done tonight.”

Sammy Swindell was coming in hard battling Thomas Jr. for the final 10 laps before settling for fourth. Chris Windom narrowly edged Ryan Robinson for fifth.

Jason McDougal dominated last week’s Tulsa Shootout and used that experience to finish seventh. He advanced through the C- and B-Mains, passing a total of 34 cars during the night.

World of Outlaw Sprint Car champion Donny Schatz failed to finish and will have to go through the alphabet soup later in the week.

Top 10 Finishers
1. Rico Abreu
2. Tyler Thomas
3. Kevin Thomas Jr.
4. Sammy Swindell
5. Chris Windom
6. Ryan Robinson
7. Jason McDougal
8. JJ Yeley
9. Gary Taylor
10. Jeb Sessums