RICO ABREU, No. 98 Toyota Tundra, ThorSport Racing
What have you done to prepare yourself for the Truck Series?
“Just understood them and how they are so aero dependent and the long races and being able to just make sure to position yourself to be there at the end of them.”
What has Kyle Larson told you to help prepare for the season?
“A little bit about the speedway racing and just positioning yourself to be there at the end and being patient. He kind of told me that speedway racing’s fairly easy in the Truck Series and just like the biggest thing said was, ‘You’ve got to be there at the end and understand what’s going on and be good on pit road,’ and I feel like everyone at ThorSport Racing has done a great job preparing our trucks for these races and I’m looking forward to getting on track on Thursday in our ThorSport Racing Curb Records Toyota Tundra.”
Who else have you learned from?
“Fed off (Matt) Crafton a lot and just worked with him on how things go just throughout a race and what to do and what not to do when you’re on the race track. Crafton’s got a lot of experience Truck racing and he’s helped me a lot this year.”
Have you gotten used to turning a lot of heads?
“Yeah, I’ve gotten used to it, especially just seeing people notice me just because obviously I’m uniquely different and it’s great. It’s great for the sport and my whole goal is to be competitive and I think as long as I don’t get too caught up in it all, I’ll be just fine.”
How have they amended the Tundra for your use?
“The pedals are off the dashboard bar – they’re a little closer to me – and the seat is moved up about six inches. Everything is right at NASCAR requirements. Obviously the pedals are in a different position, but they’ve approved it all and they said it’s fine. The steering wheel is a little closer to me just because of my shortness in arms, but it’s all comfortable and safe and I’m excited to get going this year.”
BEN RHODES, No. 41 Toyota Tundra, ThorSport Racing
What are you most looking forward to?
“I’m looking forward to just being in the truck every week. Last year, it was really hard because being in and out for 10 races and watching everybody progress and get better and better – that was really hard for me. I did get advice off the track a lot from Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kevin Harvick – all my teammates. They really helped me off the track, but I was never able to apply it. It made it really difficult to just jump in the car after a month and half off, so now that I have every week – or once we get going in the season every week – and I have a crew chief (Kevin Bellicourt) that I’m really, really good friends with. Every time we go up to Sandusky (Ohio) where the team is at, we stay together. I stay at his house with his family and we’re practically like best friends, so I think that’s really going to lend itself to some great finishes this year.”
Is ThorSport letting you work on your own Tundras?
“Right now, since it’s a new team for me, they’re warming up to me and I’m warming up to them. In the past, all the way up to – actually 2015 was the only year I didn’t work on stuff – but all the way up to 2014, I always worked on my own stuff. Even in K&N, I wasn’t fabricating cars because I was up in the shop setting them up with my crew chief, you know what I mean? Not so much building them, but setting them all up and working on them once you got to the higher levels is what I really enjoyed doing and so there starting to let me do it.”
How do you distinguish yourself from the other young drivers?
“I’ve learned that it just comes down to on-track success. You’ve got to be a better driver than those guys or you’ve got to have more success and the best way to do that is surround yourself with a good team. If you aren’t with the best people you can communicate with, everybody that puts pride into their work and is 100 percent dedicated, you’re not going to go far in this sport. You have to have the best people around you, because it does take a team – it’s more of a team sport than what people realize and that’s why I’m proud and very happy to be with ThorSport Racing for 23 races this year. I have Kevin Bellicourt as my crew chief now and I think it’s going to be a really good year for that reason and hopefully we’ll separate ourselves from the pack and go out there and win a championship and we’ll be on the poster next year.”
