Rossini driver Preston Pardus shows his form at Daytona SARRC Race

This past weekend, Central Florida SCCA played host to the inaugural “SCCA Showcase” at Daytona International Speedway. Preston Pardus immediately put his Rossini powered Spec Miata on pole for Race 1 with fellow Rossini drivers Nick Malatesta, Alex Acosta and John Wilding in 3rd, 4th and 7th respectively. Perennial front runner Selin Rollan would have to start from the back as he missed qualifying to attend his college graduation!

In Saturday’s Sprint Race, Preston got to the front but with the typical bump drafting shuffle it want long before he was back in 4th place, possibly the best place to launch an attack on the last lap. Sure enough, Preston got hooked up with Cory Collum to slingshot past John Davison and Selin Rollan for the win. The winning margin was 39/1,000ths of a second over Cory Collum and Selin Rollan who have moved from the back to finish on the podium. Nick Malatesta finished 6th with Papa Rollan in 8th.

Sunday’s Feature Race was an intense battle with the top nine drivers exchanging positions at the front in the drafting battle. It appeared as if there were no long term commitments to drafting partners and everyone took what they could, forming partnerships of convenience. Often the top 6 drivers would cross the start finish line 3 wide, two deep, all banging off the rev limiter wishing they had another gear.

Towards the end of the race, an ill-timed pass put Cory Collum and Selin Rollan out of the running, leaving the front 6 drivers to fight it out. Jeff Labounty won with John Davison 2nd, and four Rossini team mates in a row, with Alex Acosta finishing 3rd on the podium Nick Malatesta in 4th, John Wilding in 5th and Papa Rollan in 6th.

Thanks to Dave Green at Flag to Flag Photography for several of these great images from Daytona

Watch Preston Pardus’ in car video of Race 1