Tony Stewart is a famous race car driver and team owner. Here, Rico talks about what it’s like to work for Stewart’s team and how Stewart stays involved when the team is winning or struggling.
“Dirt side of things” means racing on dirt tracks instead of pavement. Dirt racing is trickier because the surface changes, so the car and driving approach have to adapt.
A “championship caliber race team” is a top-level team that aims to win the season, not just have a good day. Rico says Stewart pays attention to results and the conversations change based on how the team is doing.
A “championship point leader” is the person leading the season standings. Rico is saying he’s in first place in points halfway through the season, which means he’s been doing really well overall.
Eagle Raceway is a dirt-racing track. Winning there matters because each track has its own surface and layout, so you have to drive and set up the car differently than at other tracks.
Place
Eldor race
“Eldor” sounds like a big dirt-racing event that drivers really want to do well at. It’s considered prestigious, so it’s a big deal when you race there and perform well.
Concept
search for grip
“Search for grip” means you’re trying to find where the tires can actually stick to the track. Dirt tracks can get slick or grabby in different spots, so the driver has to keep adjusting.
A “spring car race” is basically sprint-car racing on dirt. These races are short and intense, so the track and the car’s feel can change a lot during the run.
Fuel load just means how much fuel is in the car. As the race goes on and the fuel burns off, the car gets lighter, and that can change how it handles and sticks to the track.
That’s the size of the fuel tank—30 gallons. Because the tank is so big, the car’s weight changes a lot as the fuel runs down, and that can make the car feel different from start to finish.
“Wings” are parts on the car that push it down onto the track. That helps the tires grip better, and it can be adjusted to help the car handle as the race changes.
Streaming rights are the deals that decide which company or platform gets to show the races online. The guest is saying that competition for those deals is changing how fans watch and how teams get funded.
A sprint car team is the group that runs a sprint car race program. It includes the driver and the people who prepare the car and manage race weekends, and the guest is saying money from racing and fans helps keep the team going.
World of Outlaws is a big dirt-track sprint car racing series. The guest is saying High Limit is now letting drivers go race in those events too, not just stay inside one schedule.
The High Limit series is a sprint car racing tour. The guest is describing how it’s grown and how it’s changed the business side—like streaming and fan interest—so teams can keep operating.
The Craftsman Truck Series is NASCAR racing, but with race trucks instead of cars. The guest is saying he was in that series at one point and is reflecting on how different it was from sprint car racing.
Pit lane is the area next to the track where race teams go to work on the car during a race. The guest is saying the host was watching from that area while he raced.
Sprint car racing is a type of dirt-track race with open-wheel cars. The cars are made to be fast and handle really well on short, bumpy tracks.
Brand
TSR
TSR is the name of a racing team/operation mentioned in the conversation. The speaker is using it to talk about who’s running things day to day.
Term
road motorcycles
Road motorcycles are regular street bikes you can ride on public roads. The point here is that he had early experience riding and controlling bikes before getting into racing.
Brent Cady is the person who encouraged him and helped him move up by offering to build him a sprint car. It’s a turning point in how he got started in sprint-car racing.
“Sim stuff” means racing video-game/computer training. It helps drivers practice how to drive and learn tracks without using a real race car every time.
A sprint car driver races a specific type of race car on short tracks. These cars are built to be fast and agile, and the driving style is different from bigger stock-car racing.
Term
high limit schedule
A “high limit schedule” means a very busy season with lots of big races. It’s basically describing how many events you have to race in a year.
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Who's really the boss now? Is it still Tony or is Leah kind of running the show? What's the deal?
I knew something was up when I came in and there was a Leah Stewart racing logo on one of the trackers.
I said, I know who signs the checks in here now.
Hey everybody, welcome into a special edition of Kevin Harvick's happy hour presented by NASCAR on FOX.
Kevin Harvick, Katelyn Binsey, Mamba Smith, and we're so excited to have a special guest joining us from the racetrack, of course.
Where else would he be?
Rico Abru, thanks so much for hanging out with us. We're excited to have you.
Yeah, thank you guys for having me on. I'm a big follower, so this is cool to be on the show.
Well, we're excited.
Yeah, we appreciate it. And like Katelyn said, thanks for taking the time.
All right, so my first question. Look, I'm going to get right into this because I'm super curious because when I went to work for Tony Stewart,
like I got hired and he was still driving, but I rarely saw him and he would call every once in a while and say, Hey, what's up, man?
Why we're winning a lot of races. Good job. How, how has it been working for Tony and being successful so far?
And is he tough boss, easy boss? Has he changed any? I need to know.
He's definitely changed a lot. It's been a lot of fun to navigate just being a part of his organization here on the dirt side of things.
And continuing to set that bar as a championship caliber race team. He calls when we run good and he calls when we run bad.
And the conversations are quite different, but it's really good for me to kind of have somebody in the industry that I can lean on a lot.
And I think I've found a huge advantage in that is for myself, you know, from coming from a team owner side of things for regrow ABER racing
and now being a part of an organization of Tony Stewart racing and having an actual boss now where I'm not my own boss anymore.
It's been quite interesting to work back and forth with Tony on things.
So it's been a lot of fun, you know, just to, he's been really excited and very in tuned with what we're doing.
And now to be the championship point leader, you know, halfway through the season has been pretty cool.
And I think to, you know, get a few big wins, Eagle Raceway, we got a big win earlier in June.
You know, it's just been really fun for him to see. I know that.
Yeah, you mentioned the high limits, of course, is where you're competing leading in the championships right now.
The Eldor race is 70 stern on Thursday. We're looking forward to seeing it.
What is so cool about racing to Eldor? It holds so much prestige and notoriety for dirt racing community.
What do you love about that place? Eldor has just always been my favorite racetrack by far getting to compete there.
I've just had a real natural, successful style of racing there.
Just the flows of the track and where you're able to search for grip around that facility and get your car right.
I've had really good mechanics that have worked on my race car.
I think that's been a big thing for me, you know, just to be able to be really aggressive.
And then as I've matured through my career, allow these races to play out, you know, 40 laps in a spring car race is quite a bit.
The cars change as the fuel load burns off.
So we have these big 30 gallon fuel tanks on the back of our cars and it's met then all is like six pounds a gallon.
So you do the math there and, you know, we burn about a gallon a lap.
So the cars change throughout a race quite rapidly.
And, you know, I just like to adjust to that with our wings and get the car really fast at the end of the race.
So we start on the tighter side and the cars just kind of come to me and I've allowed it to just make sure I'm in good spots at the end of the race and finishing the races is the most important part.
Rico, you got what we're always talking about personalities here on our side of the world, but you've never struggled with that.
You've always been one of the best personalities, one of the best people in the garage.
Your fan base is huge.
How do you keep them engaged?
Like, what are the important things that you would like to remind your fan base about, you know, who Rico Hebrew is?
Yeah, I mean, I think the power of what social media has done now and where I'm able to showcase my personality to these fans and allow fans to be really comfortable and approachable to me.
I think that's been a big thing that I've absorbed in my life, you know, growing up around racing and people interested in our sport.
You know, all the way from when I did my stock car stuff to sprint car racing now is, you know, our sport is growing so rapidly with, you know, these streaming outlets fighting over rights to races and being on FS1 and Amazon Prime and what flows done, the money they've injected into sprint car racing has really allowed me to
generate more revenue as a previous team owner and now the marketing side of things from what social media has created and to showcase my personality when people, they feel comfortable being around me coming to the races.
They want to buy my merchandise. They want to be a part of my race team. I've really tried to create a storyline where I see people engaged in what I'm doing at the races and at home.
And I think that you just run neck and neck with that and it's been a lot of fun.
As you've gone through this transition, obviously world of outlaws was the sprint car place. We see high limits start. You talk about FS1 and the streaming side of things.
How has that changed the dynamic of where you race, when you race and what you want to do in a year? Is it all just high limits? I know you guys have split some of them up.
And just explain the evolution to the fans of just what's happened to sprint car racing over the last three years, I guess it's been.
Just kind of explain the evolution of what's happened because like you say, I mean, we're talking about a race at El Dorre that's going to be on FS1.
The streaming is like you say, through the roof, the merchandise, everything, but just explain to the fans how we got here.
So what's been created here is you have two series fighting over streaming rights to events and these events, this anticipation, there's obviously the streaming side of things behind the scenes.
And these fans are watching on two different platforms at two different separate events. It's creating just great anticipation.
And what's been happening is this funding has been injected into these series, which franchise or high roller cars have been created for high limit.
But I think the biggest thing is that the transparency from high limit for the team owners and now the team owners are becoming in position to financially be sustainable to run a sprint car team at a high level.
And I think that's what's been so exciting for me on the business side. And I've been so intrigued with how to get a sprint car team to operate at a financial stable level by what's, you know, race winning merchandise streaming revenue.
It's all being injected into these race teams and are showing up at the races and sprint cars racing is you're going to great racetracks.
You know, I think that's a big thing that Brad sweet and Kyle have done with high limit is we only compete at great racetracks that produce good racing side by side racing all the time.
And I think that's very important that the fans see that in the efficiency in the events were a two hour window so two and a half hours.
So we start at 7pm and we're over at 930 and you have so many other things going on that you're able to do.
And you know, and one thing about High Limit too is they've opened these events up to be able to go to other races.
So if you're on an off weekend, you can go compete at a World of Allah race and you see it where the world of Allah is evolving to that now too, which is interesting.
It's been really cool to see the creation and evolution of the High Limit series.
But I remember when you were in NASCAR with us in the craftsman truck series because I was covering you on pit lane at that time.
What do you remember about that point in your career and being a part of the truck series in a NASCAR? Would you ever come back?
Yeah, I mean, I was really green. You know, I looking back at it all now.
I wish I would have done it two years in each series and I think I would have adapted a lot quicker.
I was with some really good people and, you know, going back to the Canaanese stuff, my good friend Marty Lindley getting to race with him, you know, and then going to Thor Sport.
And if I would have done the East stuff two years and then the truck stuff two years, I feel like I would have been in a way better spot.
And just being around the right people, I think was the big thing there in the second stage of that.
And I fell in love with sprint car racing and I'm sticking to it.
Hey, man, you're crushing it over there. So Kevin says, Kevin says, just keep doing what you're doing on that side.
Again, I would love to see you over here some more, but you know, you're crushing it.
Kevin, Kevin with his race team, like I knew everyone knew Delano was really the boss. You know what I mean?
So now with Leah in the picture over at TSR, like who's really the boss now?
Is it still, is Tony still the boss or is Leah kind of running the show? What's the deal?
I knew, I knew things were, you know, Leah and Tony are great to be around and I know with how busy their lives are.
They don't get to the shop much, but I knew something was up when I came in and there was a Leah Stewart racing logo on one of the tractors.
I said, I know who signs the checks in here now.
That's funny.
Hey, explain to me how you got started in racing. What's your background, you know, from where you started to get to the point where you are?
Yeah, so I started racing at 16 years old. So I went through middle school, you know, elementary school and I played sports,
little league and road motorcycles and my, my parents were in the wine industry.
So my father's a vineyard manager of viticulture is very well known in the wine industry and does an amazing job with his business.
And I've always been outdoors and around tractors and driving tractors at a young age and my neighbors actually when I was 10 or 11 years old started racing go-karts.
So I started going to the go-kart races with them and that's what got me really interested in just that side of motor sports.
You know, and then when I turned 16, I went to a couple different races and got to practice out of track and then eventually built a racetrack in my backyard at 16 years old.
I got out of middle school. I wrestled in elementary school and middle school, so I was a big time wrestler and I got to high school and the lowest weight class was 103s and I was still 70 pounds.
The kid was six foot tall, 103 pounds and I was 70 pounds at probably like three and a half foot tall.
So I had a little disadvantage there and I, you know, it was right when racing was becoming a big part of my life and really motivated to be a race car driver at that time and kept racing go-karts.
And then Brent Cady and actually came up to me at a racetrack, a go-kart race and said that he could build me a sprint car and at 18 years old, it kind of all took off from there for me.
And I just, I turned 34 in January, so I've been racing for about 15 years sprint cars.
That is awesome. And I know you met Kyle Larson at a charity event and he kind of had a hand in introducing the sprint car side too.
What's he kind of meant to your career and your life over the years?
Yeah, absolutely. Kyle's been a great friend of mine and, you know, he's actually, he's actually like, I don't tell a lot of people, but he's actually been like the rabbit I get to chase every day for my racing career and on the success side of things and just keeping me motivated.
So it's been great to come up through his generation and you see this generation of race car drivers, they're younger and they're more and more talented at such a young age.
And I think, you know, the sim stuff has really evolved that for our generation and these kids get in multiple different race cars and are very competitive right away.
And it's very interesting looking back on my career where I feel like I had to work really hard to be where I'm at right now, but it's really kept me so motivated and grounded and humbled to be, you know, when we win these races to know really what got us in this position.
So it's been an honor to transition the race for Tony and get to the next step where I want to be in my career as a sprint car driver.
Rico, you were talking about when you're in high school and wrestling and the advantages and disadvantages, right? So you got at an early age, you kind of got introduced to what those were going to be kind of for the rest of your life.
But I feel like you've been able to turn whatever those were into all positives and really shine a light for other people in similar situations. How important is that to you?
I know that we've talked a lot about that and just kind of, you know, making sure everyone knows that everyone's welcome in our space.
Yeah. I mean, I've, my parents really pushed me when I was a young child and those traits I just never forgot, you know, growing up around an average size family, you know, my father and mother always pushed me to do normal things.
And so I didn't really know any different until I got, you know, into the real world on my own and things were a little more challenging.
But I still had that mentality of pushing myself and just surrounding myself by some incredible people that were, you know, hard on me when they needed to be hard on me, but also lifted me up when I was having down times.
And it's really allowed me to become this inspiring person to other people that have challenging days. And I think that I've just absorbed that over time and really embraced that life and showing people that anything is possible.
And I think the older I get, the more comfortable it's become for me. So it's been really exciting. And I've been really big into fitness and just racing and being, you know, an athlete as a race car driver.
And just those little things is what keeps me going every day. And I, you know, I have an amazing foundation and wife and dog that comes to all these races with me and just get to live this awesome life out on the road racing 85 times a year at a sprint car race.
Kevin, you don't want to wrestle him now. I just want to let you know my boy is yelts.
I was ready to ask that. But now that you told me you're a wrestler, it doesn't surprise me that you that you work out a lot because you know how to, to look after your body, but I'm going to ask you anyway.
And just so you know, I was 86 pounds looking looking to be a 98 pounder in high school. So it was it was definitely a big transition to to from my freshman year to my senior.
I think I went from 86 pounds to 140. But anyway, I see a lot of workout flexing photos on on your your social media.
Now, did we go from wrestling and take a break on the workout thing? Is this new over the last couple of years that you've gone like heavy back into it? Where are we on the fitness thing? Is this an all time for the sense?
Yeah.
The lifestyle that I live of being on the road every single day. I live in hotel rooms about 200 and something days a year racing high limit and outlaws and selling merchandise to my wife and, you know, just managing a race team for Tony.
So I feel like there's mentally challenging days to all this and poor performing days at the racetrack. I take my racing very serious. I've built an unbelievable race team and I feel like I find that comfort inside the gym or inside workouts for
myself, my quiet space where I get all my thinking done on how I'm going to navigate my days and navigate my races. And when you race for an 80, you know, 62 race high limit schedule of a championship, it gets really challenging at certain points of the year.
When we have a bad race, we have to get in a vehicle or my vending trailer with my wife and I have to drive down the road and think about that race for the next 24 hours until we get in the race car the next day and run another race.
And, you know, I've really taken pride in running for a championship and winning championships and winning races. You know, we were the winningest car in the country last year. And right now I think we're second or third, maybe fourth on the list in earnings to the season at this point.
And we have the biggest races of the year. So I think in order for me to beat these or I know in order for me to beat my competitors is I have to outwork them in different ways than just showing up to the racetrack and being a race car driver because I've just always known that it's going to be more challenging for me.
So I just take my fitness and my health very seriously. And I find that when you work harder in the gym, nothing else comes any harder on the racetrack or with daily things you have to deal with throughout the day of your life.
So is this an active conversation that you have with your team owner about how much he works out and the things that he does when his fitness plan?
Yeah. I better be careful what I say on here.
That's funny. So Kevin referenced he saw your fitness routine kind of through social media. I saw your professor rocket videos on social media. These are hilarious. How did you guys even come up with this and how do you kind of tap into your acting skills?
Yeah. I mean, I have a I just have a great instinct on what my fan base wants to see and they want to have fun and they want to see my light and my personality. And I think that it's not all about being serious until you get to the racetrack.
So it's a great balance for me to kind of show some of that humor that I have behind the scenes around, you know, my friends and family and my fans. And it just allows them to buy into the personality and people like happiness, right?
That's true. Yeah.
Hey, man. Some of that always makes me happy. We share a partner in Elliott's Custom Trails and Cards, Cindy Elliott and that group out in Brownsville. Cindy's great.
So she's so awesome and it helps so many different races all over the country. What's it been like working with like partners like her? Because, you know, you've always been able to just keep pushing them and getting them in the spaces that they need to be in.
Yeah, I mean, I think that, you know, this is it's a great great opportunity for a partner like Cindy or the TSR partners, Carquess, Sugarbee Apples, Mobile One is a big partner at TSR and having the ability to market brands like that.
You know, that was one thing Tony and I talked about when we sat down and met about this partnership that we created was me having access to those Fortune 500 companies, those companies that have massive brands that are greater than mine.
And I've worked so hard on my personal partnerships and got to bring them to TSR with me. And now, you know, the partners that are coexisting with TSR, existing with TSR, you know, bringing them a part of what I do on my daily basis has been incredible.
And, you know, it's just icing on the cake for them to get the opportunity to work with me and for me to get the opportunity to work with them.
So High Limits Eldora is coming up after this, but what do the fans have to look forward to for the next stretch of races for the series?
Yeah, there's going to be a lot of race and there's like six races in the next seven days, I think six in a row possibly so four in a row at Eldora starting on Wednesday, a race on FS one, I think Thursday night at like 7pm.
I think that's huge. Last year that there was like record viewership at that race at Eldora. I think I finished third to Larson. And so this year I'm setting a statement.
I haven't ran off the podium at Eldora in the last 11 races. So if I don't win all four nights coming up, I'm going to be pretty disappointed.
What a bar to say. No pressure, Biden. No pressure.
I love the pressure. I love it.
That's awesome. Yeah. Well, we look forward to watching all of it and we do appreciate you taking some time out of your busy racing schedule that you're clearly at right now as we speak to come join us here on happy hour.
Wishing you all the best of luck at Eldora and down the line in the High Limit series this season.
Thank you guys. Thank you.
Appreciate you big guy.
Yeah.
About this episode
Rico Abreu talks about joining Tony Stewart’s organization on the dirt side and how Stewart’s involvement shifts depending on results. He describes leading the championship points halfway through the season, then gets into sprint-car strategy—how “The cars change as the fuel load burns off” and why he adjusts with “our wings” late in races. Abreu also discusses sprint-car growth through streaming and High Limit’s transparency, his path from go-karts, and how sim racing helps younger drivers get competitive quickly.
Rico Abreu is ON TOP of the sprint car world! In this episode of Kevin Harvick's Happy Hour, Kevin, Mamba Smith, and Kaitlyn Vincie sit down with the current leader of the High Limit Sprint Car Series. We dive deep into what makes High Limit Racing so incredibly competitive, his unique relationship with Tony Stewart, how he approaches the brutal physical demands of sprint car racing, and whether he has any unfinished business in pavement racing. Whether you're a die-hard dirt fan or a NASCAR loyalist, you do NOT want to miss this raw, candid conversation with one of motorsport's most beloved personalities.
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