Selin Rollan finishes 2nd at the 2017 SCCA Runoffs at Indianapolis. FOUR Rossini drivers in the Top 10

Selin Rollan finishes 2nd at the 2017 SCCA Runoffs at Indianapolis. FOUR Rossini drivers in the Top 10

The 2017 SCCA Runoffs held at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway had the highest driver entry of any club race in the history of motor racing in the USA. Almost 1,000 drivers signed up to race in 26 classes.

To make it even more interesting, SCCA chose to run a unique layout of the track that no-one had access to drive prior to the event, meaning that all drivers got to run the final layout for the first time during the test days. This meant that there really was no home-track advantage to anyone.

Rossini Racing was represented by seventeen talented drivers in the Spec Miata class which had 88 entries necessitating running A and B qualifying sessions to solidify the fastest 60 drivers, and finally a Last Chance Qualifier Race in order to promote an additional 12 racers to the main event which would pit the fastest 72 Spec Miata drivers against each other. Rossini drivers Brian Wright and Mike Lamaina transferred from the LCQ to the main event, with Brian getting to stand on the podium at INdy. How cool is that. Pat McGovern, Derrick Luney and Ricky Thompson didn’t make the cut.

For the final grid, nothing could have made us more proud than realizing that out of the top 10 qualifiers, five were powered by Rossini Racing Engines!

The Race was an epic event, with many drivers including Selin Rollan and Michael Gagliardo, all trading places for the lead with Chris Haldeman and Preston Pardus. Michael Carter and Jonathan Davis were always in very close contention. Mike LaMaina was one of the hard chargers, moving up more than 20 positions.

The race was a grueling 19 lap event, and the final lap was an epic dual between Selin Rollan and Preston Pardus. We are so proud of Selin Rollan for his 2nd place finish at the 2017 SCCA Runoffs, and it was a pleasure to watch him share the podium with his father Papa Selin who has been his greatest supporter since he started racing karts many years ago.

Rossini powered drivers featured exceptionally well with Michael Carter in 4th place, Michael Gagliardo in 6th, Jonathan Davis in 7th, Clark Cambern in 19th Jason Connole in 23rd , Indy team owner Ricardo Juncos in 36th Chris Cuifo in 44th, and Brian Wright in 45th. Danny Steyn’s car was found to be non-compliant for a chassis component and was DQ’d from the event.

[Missing from the banner photo above – Mike LaMaina, Joe Schubert, Derek Luney and Ricky Thompson]