Really, at the end of the day, Rico Abreu joining the full-time High Limit Racing roster was a no-brainer.
Both Kyle Larson and Brad Sweet are amongst his best friends and his No. 24 represented one of the handful of teams capable of beating them on a nightly basis over the course of a full season and the Midweek Money championship within a championship.
But he teased all sorts of decisions, in personal conversations and on social media, the possibility of racing World of Outlaws, High Limit or remaining the most prominent true outlaw of this decade.
But then he posted a picture of a lunch with Sweet, in which he tweeted that he had his poker face on, announcing shortly afterwards that he was racing full-time in High Limit Racing and without saying so, it was pretty much a no-brainer.
“It was fun,” Abreu said of the social media teases. “But my decision to go with Brad Kyle, and everything they’re doing for the sport, was pretty easy with how they are trying to elevate everything. I want to be behind people like that.
“I’ve been racing, this is my 14th season, so it starts with my relationship with Brad and Kyle, and them injecting a lot more revenue into the Sprint Car landscape and you want to see that.”
High Limit has a comparable package to the World Outlaws, less overall money, but the freedom to run as many races outside of the series as its full-time teams would like. In that sense, they can make up revenue by racing with the Outlaws and all the marquee national races too.
That doesn’t even include the impending charter system set to make its debut in 2026 — a model that aims to pay out broadcast revenue to the 10 participating teams.
“I think competition is really healthy right now because from the World of Outlaws, you don’t take away from anything, and the charter system is very appealing.
“If it can work, it’ll be really interesting to see. I feel like year one will be a lot of hype around the series, both series, and then year two is where you will see if this business is sustainable for Flo(Racing), Brad and Kyle and if they can make it work year in and year out.
“So, for it to work, they need the best quality of drivers and put on the best quality of racing for fans to come back and want to watch.”
Abreu had told people late last year that his biggest questions about High Limit regarded Sweet participating in the first place. Not so much what it means to have both owners racing in the series but more so how it could sustain itself if Sweet, who won the last five championships, was left unchallenged on a nightly basis.
That wouldn’t be fun to watch.
So, Abreu, alongside Tyler Courtney, Brent Marks and Justin Peck are all worth challengers to Sweet and will make up a compelling battle from February to October.
Outside of the 10-race High Limit mini-series last year, Abreu hasn’t chased a season long points race since his USAC Midget days. As a true outlaw, he has raced all over the country for big wins but never counted points.
So, what changes now?
“I think for me and my team, it’s just focusing on our consistency like we had last year and not getting wrapped up in the championship,” Abreu said. “Like, I just want to finish every race and be in the top-10 every race.
“In order to win these championships, you can’t have any DNFs so that’s one thing. That’s the thing with Brad. When he’s having a bad day, he doesn’t put himself in a bad position. That’s what makes him so successful over the past decade.
“Then you have a guy like Kyle who comes in and just wins all the time and doesn’t look at it like a championship. I’d like to be in between both of them in my first year in the High Limit or even five years from now if we’re back Outlaws racing and can go after that championship too.”
Matt Weaver is a Motorsports Insider for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter.