A superstar athlete in the world of Sprint Car Racing, California’s Rico Abreu needs little introduction. A multi-time national series race winner, Rico pilots his 900+ horsepower beast at circuits all over the United States and depends on PWR Advanced Cooling Technology products to keep his ride performing at optimum temperatures.
Get to know Rico and his racing prowess below, and why he chooses PWR.
Hey Rico, thanks for checking in with us! So, tell us a bit about yourself, the discipline you compete in, when you started racing, and your current class.
All good, thank you for the epic products and support! My name is Rico Abreu, and I’m a 32-year-old Sprint Car racer born in St. Helena, CA,
I started racing outlaw 500cc go-karts in 2008, competing in multiple classes per event to accelerate my racing experience. Then in 2011, I began racing sprint cars full-time, and from that moment on I was hooked. Briefly, in 2015, I competed in the NASCAR K&N East championship, and in 2016, I competed in the Camping World Truck Series, finishing with 4 top-5 finishes.
As of 2024, I race the Winged 410 sprint cars full-time as the driver of Rico Abreu Racing's #24 car.
Nice! Those Sprint Cars are pretty interesting machines - tell us a little more about yours and some of the unique specifications.
They are unique, that is for sure, and it takes a while to become fully in tune with them and understand how best to extract the performance out of them as drivers.
We compete weekly in the High Limit Sprint Car series in over 85 events a year, with our aluminium block, fuel-injected sprint car featuring 900+ horsepower on dirt oval race tracks. The extreme speeds are a result of the power-to-weight ratio, with the total car weight at 1425 lbs.
As with any discipline, being involved and heavily invested will show you sides of the sport and complexities of racing that the public doesn’t see. What are some of the nuances in Sprint Car Racing?
Oh for sure, there’s a lot below the surface that not a lot of people get to see.
Teams invest countless hours in preparation to consistently deliver great performances on the track at each event. Given the occurrence of multiple race events during a single weekend, it is essential to maintain excellent physical fitness to sustain high levels of endurance. Ensuring an efficient race shop setup is also crucial for quick turnarounds between events.
The efficiency side of things is vital to perform in this category, and that expands to every single team member, the race shop, and the physical preparation as an athlete to be able to perform at our best.
In terms of cooling, why is this a critical component of what you do, & how does it contribute to your success?
Cooling is one of the most critical aspects of Motorsports. It is called Motorsports for a reason—it all starts with the engine. Aluminium block 410cc fuel-injected engines require effective cooling to maintain maximum performance, and the team at PWR separates itself from others with their attention to detail and the quality of the products.
Proper water flow is essential, and it must flow efficiently - especially with the stress that we put on our engines which is quite high. Our team have complete peace of mind with utilizing the PWR products, and it’s one thing that not only do we not need to be concerned about, but it also provides us with a great performance gain, so it’s an understatement to say that we love our PWR products.
What are your ‘go-to’ PWR products, and why?
We work with the team at PWR on our Custom Sprint Car Radiator - the experience is seamless and allows for our water to flow correctly and efficiently, which benefits all the other moving parts.
That’s awesome, Rico - great to hear, we are thrilled to see your successes on track and wish you the best of luck in the future.
Thank you to the wider PWR team - it’s a pleasure to be involved and we are looking forward to continuing our successes together!
