By Jacob Hord, @HordRaceWatcher
Rico Abreu and Tony Stewart Racing set off seismograph’s across the dirt racing landscape at 2:45pm Wednesday when it was announced-via Dale Earnhardt Jr’s “Dale Jr Download” podcast that Rico Abreu, and his crew, including HOF crew chief Ricky Warner would move over to the Tony Stewart Racing stable. It was a move not many expected to see, but the rumor mill really picked up once Rico tweeted his “raceday” tweet before the High Limit race at Lawrenceburg on Wednesday. The first letters of each row spelling out “TSR24.” The writing was either on the wall, or it was an all-time troll job. It was the former, and Rico has himself a new home for 2026, sorta. By the sounds of it, not much will be changing for Rico, the 24 team essentially staying the same, just racing under the TSR banner with TSR marketing partners and support. It was unexpected, but it makes total sense. Here are my unsolicited thoughts on the move.
- Tony Stewart was at a point where he needed a revival in his Sprint Car program. It was apparent that Donny Schatz and Tony were unhappy with their situation, and they split after the Knoxville Nationals. When Tony does something, he wants to win, he wants it to be top-of-the-line. Look at his plethora of championships and wins spread across dirt, NASCAR, and NHRA, and Eldora being the dirt track of dirt tracks. Bringing Rico and Co. TSR elevates his sprint car program back to National Tour Champion-level. With a driver like Rico joining the team, it’ll put TSR back at the forefront of Sprint Car Racing, and it will be done right.
- This gives Rico a little more flexibility to work on car performance. Before, Rico was running a team, getting marketing partners, driving, etc. Now with TSR, that takes out some of the “running the team” aspect, and eases the finding marketing partners aspect. TSR’s team will be staying on in shop-roles, which is one less thing for Rico to worry about.
- Tony has the pull to get major marketing partners on his car, and Rico is a marketing genius that knows how to make those partners happy and make them extremely visible to the dirt track fan. I could see this partnership acting as the starting point of more major sponsorships getting into sprint car racing, as long as drivers can mimic what Rico is doing for his brand, and his marketing partners brands. I couldn’t tell you the sponsors of most “National” level cars, but I can tell you Rico’s.
- With this move, TSR will be joining High Limit Racing, and won’t be on the World of Outlaws tour, which is crazy to think about. TSR, Donny Schatz, and the World of Outlaws have been synonymous with each other for years. I know the World of Outlaws have now lost KKR and TSR to High Limit the last few years, but I’m not sounding the alarms. The Outlaws aren’t going anywhere. It’s a huge get for High Limit Racing though, and solidifies that they are major players in the Sprint Car scene.
- With TSR joining High Limit, it was announced that TSR would be leasing the Rico Abreu Racing franchise, which also makes sense. In a way, it means that Rico is getting paid to race with TSR. That sounds like any other 9-5 job, but you probably know what I mean there.
- This does mean that there is one less “National” team out on the road, which is unfortunate. It’s also just the ebb and flow of the sport. Teams come and go. Some are around for decades, others make a splash for a couple years and shutter. Sprint Car racing is an expensive sport, and we can’t fault Rico for this move.
At the end of the day, I’m excited to see where this partnership goes. I think it elevates TSR back to the sprint car powerhouse it used to be, and I think it elevates Rico Abreu to a driver that could pull off some mid 2000’s to late 2010’s Donny Schatz-esque stats. The 2026 dominoes continue to fall…