After a brief break in the 2026 High Limit Racing Interstate Batteries Series schedule, the series returned to action Friday night at Lawrenceburg Speedway, nicknamed “The Berg.” Rico Abreu took home the checkered flag after starting in the second position and fending off a hard-charging Kyle Larson in the closing laps to win $25,000 in the main event for his 27th career High Limit victory.
The series last raced at Grandview Speedway on May 19, and the race aired on Fox Sports 1; Aaron Reutzel won. Following Grandview. They were supposed to have a three-day show at Port Royal Speedway on Memorial Day weekend, but it was rained out all three days.
However, with the series returning to action Friday night, this marks the start of a busy stretch that will see nine nights of racing from now through Thursday, June 11, at Shelby County Speedway.
For tonight’s portion, there were 29 cars on site at the speedway, including former series champion and two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, Larson, back in the field. His first race since competing in the two-day show at the Texas Motor Speedway dirt track, when he claimed night 1. Additionally, he won the past four of five races at Lawrenceburg.
Three heat races took place before the A-feature. Winning those races were Tanner Thorson in Heat 1, Parker Price-Miller in Heat 2, and the series all-time wins leader, Rico Abreu, in Heat 3. The dash feature, which sets the top six, featured Abreu, Retuel, Larson, Price-Miller, Thorson, and Scelzi. The race feature would go to Reutzel, who would start on pole position in the main event. Abreu was second, with Larson in third, Price-Miller in fourth, Thorson in fifth, and Scelzi rounding out the top six.
In the B-main, which took the top six, Sprint Car veteran and Aussie, Kerry Madsen, won the 12-lap feature, followed by Cale Thomas, Joel Myers Jr, Chase Randall, Cody Bova, and Leyton Wagner. All transferred to the A-feature.
When the green flag flew for the 30-lap main event, Reutzel and Abreu led the field into Turn 1. Coming out of Turn 1, Abreu passed race leader Reutzel on the outside, taking the lead on the backstretch. With 24 laps to go, Abreu was already catching lap traffic, which allowed Reutzel to close back in. At 22 laps to go, Larson passed Price-Miller for the third position.
Unfortunately, just a couple of laps later, with 20 to go, Larson suffered a flat right rear tire while running in the third position. He would go back behind the wall and his No. 57 Paul Silva team changed the tire.
After a brief caution period, the race resumed. Abreu broke away from Reutzel and Thorson to lead the top three. The racing would be brief, however, as Larson and Zane DeVault made contact with each other off Turn 4. Larson went sliding up the track, then Joel Myers Jr ran into the back of DeVault.
The race went back green with 17 laps to go, with Rico Abreu as the leader. At 11 laps to go, Abreu once again caught the back of the field and Reutzel closed in again. While Reutzel was trying to catch Abreu, Thorson was making ground as well. During the process, Thorson attempted a slider to pass Reutzel for second, but the two made contact off Turn 4. Thorson was unsuccessful with the slider and clipped the left rear of Reutzel.
Reutzel, the championship points leader, wound up flipping upside down and hitting the wall, suffering major damage to his Sprint Car.
The accident resulted in a red flag period for cleanup. Once the red flag was over and the race went back to green conditions with nine laps to go, Abreu checked out as the leader once more. While Abreu was leading the way, Larson began making ground and passing multiple cars in the waning laps.
Larson’s efforts fell short, as Abreu went on to take the checkered flag in his No. 24 Carquest Tony Stewart Racing Sprint Car team. It was his second High Limit Racing win of the season. The victory was also his first since the Thursday feature at Central Arizona Raceway on March 19. Unofficially, Abreu took over the championship points standings as well.
“I was really just trying to hit my marks, “Rico Abreu said to Flo Racing in his post-race interview. “The track gets really difficult and these guys with the Tony Stewart Racing team, Ricky Warner and Zach Middlebrooks. My mother is here and my wife as well, and Gus (Rico’s dog). Everyone just works really hard to get this car fast. These wins get emotional because they’re so hard to get and it’s a real dream come true for me to be able to race in front of such amazing fans. Our sport is unbelievable right now and to see the fans during fan fest, and the line, along with packed merchandise trailers.
“Just the product that our sport is creating right now. You have guys going from the back to the front and it’s very intense. I try to hold my own and keep my composure, knowing it’s a long season here. Things change and fluctuate throughout the season. It’s just an honor to race with Ricky Warner. We got one of the best in the stands tonight, Karl Kinser, watching us. It was really cool to see Karl and Ricky have a moment before the races.”
Due to Larson climbing up through the field and finishing in the runner-up spot, he earned the hard charger award.
“I had a really good car, I love this track too,” Larson told Flo Racing on the frontstretch. “It was finally opening up above the cushion and I could build big runs on the backstretch, and slide people in (Turns) 3 and 4, so made up a lot of ground doing that. It was unfortunate to get the flat there early. I felt like I just got to third and they were right in front of me, and I felt like I was getting to work in some lines that were going to generate some runs. It’s a bummer, but I recovered way better than I thought I would, especially after spinning again.
“It was chaos back there. My car was really fast. Thanks to Paul (Silva, Team Owner) and Trevor (Canales), and everybody on this car. Thanks to all my sponsors and everybody who is a part of this thing. It’s cool to get to run quite a bit here, coming up with you guys. Looking forward to that.”
Official Race Results Following Lawrenceburg Speedway
- Rico Abreu
- Kyle Larson
- Parker Price-Miller
- Giovanni Scelzi
- Tyler Courtney
- Tanner Holmes
- Justin Peck
- Brent Marks
- Kalib Henry
- Sye Lynch
- Brenham Crouch
- Cale Thomas
- Hank Davis
- Kerry Madsen
- Daison Pursley
- Tanner Thorson
- Keith Sheffer Jr
- Chase Randall
- Danny Sams III
- Leyton Wagner
- Cody Bova
- Aaron Reutzel
- Zane DeVault
- Joel Myers Jr
The next event in the High Limit Series is set for Saturday night, May 30, at Butler Speedway, live on Flo Racing.
