The Rico Abreu Racing trailer traveled 2,635 miles without Jac Haudenschild jumping in to see what was inside.

It was not due to a lack of effort.

On Wednesday night, the car was briefly unloaded, and the 63-year-old made a beeline from his hotel room to the hauler but was intercepted by his team. This wasn’t the time for the 73-race World of Outlaws winner to see what was inside.

That came on Thursday afternoon when the door was lowered and out rolled the Pennzoil No. 22 made famous by Haudenschild when he drove for Jack Elden from 1993 to 1999. During that tenure, he twice won the Kings Royal, Historical Big One and two Gold Cups.

The Jack Elden Pennzoil 22 is back for Jac Haudenschild's farewell season. pic.twitter.com/FrBuVOfjwN

— Matt Weaver (@MattWeaverAW) April 22, 2021

The 2021 season is the final frontier for Haudenschild, who will retire at the end of the season, and Abreu felt like this was the only way to send the living legend out before he walks away.

"All for Jac, man," Abreu said. "This is a special moment for Sprint Car racing, this partnership for Jac. I'm grateful for the opportunity to bring a company like Pennzoil into Sprint Car racing. It's an iconic car and I just felt like it was meant to be for Jac to race it this year."

The car will run at least 30 times this season and the schedule includes marquee events like the Kings Royal, Williams Grove National Open and Ironman 55. The Knoxville Nationals is not included on this partnership yet, although it could.

"I wasn't expecting nothing like that," says Jac Haudenschild who had no idea Rico Abreu and Frank Bolter had put together a deal with Pennzoil for him to run the Jack Elden No. 22 again.

Also Jac on returning to Bristol Dirt for the first time since 2001. pic.twitter.com/W4vRiFjc8B

— Matt Weaver (@MattWeaverAW) April 22, 2021

Haudenschild was visibly emotional upon seeing the car for the first time and was just thrilled to be able to drive it once more.

"I had no idea, and wasn’t expecting anything like this at all," he said. "I still feel pretty good, last year I felt pretty good and I’m looking forward to running with Rico this year."

That partnership was announced during the winter, with Abreu wanting to honor one of his heroes, who he started following as a new Sprint Car fan in the early 2000s.

"I never got to see this car race," Abreu said. "It was just photos and doing research and appreciating its place in history."

Now he can.

To make this a reality, Abreu consulted his friend and business partner Frank Bolter, who also brokered the deal with Rowdy Energy over the winter. Bolter is a championship and Indianapolis 500 winning spotter, executive and marketing manager, who pitched the idea to Pennzoil.

"it’s been a long time since Jac drove that car so the people there aren’t familiar with it," Bolter said. "So that was the first thing we had to do was make them aware of how much he accomplished with them. They loved the idea and it was exciting to see them get behind the idea."

How Rico Abreu kept the Pennzoil throwback scheme from Jac Haudenschild, what this means to them, and how often we're going to see these colors this year. pic.twitter.com/g5h04UeMKQ

— Matt Weaver (@MattWeaverAW) April 22, 2021

Abreu said Bolter worked tirelessly to make sure this happened after the initial pitch. 

"Frank Bolter is the man," Abreu said. "He spotted for me in the Truck Series and K&N when we got our first win at Columbus. These partnerships are hard and I just appreciate how hard Frank works when we get good ideas like this."

Having made so many memories in the Pennzoil No. 22, Haudenschild will get at least 30 more chances to make a few more.

"This is a special day," Haudenschild said. "Just a really special day. I can’t wait to get going."