DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — A full day of practice Thursday at Daytona International Speedway stretched into the early evening hours as the opening day of official competition for the 12th Running of the Historic Sportscar Racing Classic Daytona 24 Hour presented by Mission Foods and the accompanying HSR Daytona Historics went into the record books at the “World Center of Racing.”
The day’s highlight was the first race of a packed schedule of events this weekend that will stretch through Sunday afternoon at DIS.
A field of 30 entries took the green flag for a typically competitive and exciting SascoSports International/American Challenge sprint race Thursday afternoon.
Angus Rogers held off the Daytona debuting John Spiers to claim the overall victory while also securing Porsche class honors in his KMW Motorsports 1973 No. 15 Porsche 911 RSR. Rogers, who started from pole, faced an immediate challenge from Spiers who charged into the lead battle in second overall and took control of the American division on the opening lap in his Olthoff Racing 1967 No. 28 Ford Mustang Coupe.
Rogers maintained his narrow advantage throughout the eight-lap contest to take the checkered flag just ahead of Spiers, who crossed the line in P2 and first in American.
Ricky Park moved past AJR Heritage Motorsports teammate Dean DeSantis with two laps remaining to secure second in the Porsche class in the 1973 No. 44 Porsche 911 RSR and third overall. DeSantis completed the class podium in his 1969 No. 33 Porsche 911 RSR.
Olthoff Racing doubled down in the American division with Steve Piantieri securing second in his 1965 No. 95 Ford Mustang GT 2+2 prepared by the Dennis Olthoff-lead team. Joe Jacalone completed an all Ford “Pony Car” class podium in his Jacalone Racing 1965 No. 16 Ford Mustang.
Greg Ira made an early charge through the field on the opening lap, getting past Simon Foweather, and taking control of the International class for the victory in his 1972 No. 12 Datsun 240Z.
Foweather settled for second in his 2005 No. 81 BMW 330 while Austin Jabaley continued Olthoff Racing’s podium run with a third-place showing in his 1971 No. 71 Datsun 240Z.
Another Thursday highlight was the visiting Sixties’ Endurance by Peter Auto group running its first official laps on the legendary 3.56-mile Daytona road course. The 1965 No. 16 Shelby Cobra 289 of Damien Kohler and Michael Holden was fastest in the opening session as all of the guest competitors from overseas are impressed with their visit so far to the HSR Classic Daytona 24 Hour.
Many of the regular competitors in the France-based Peter Auto series are visiting or driving Daytona International Speedway for the first time, including Spiers, who also owns and co-drives the No. 26 1965 Jaguar E-Type Lightweight prepared by CKL Developments.
“Wow – just wow!” Spiers said. “I mean, there’s nothing like it that I’ve ever raced on before. Just tremendous, huge, and I’m so glad I came over. Peter Auto run a very professional race series for historic cars; we do a lot of rounds with them in Europe, and I think it’s brilliant that there’s collaboration going on. Both sides can learn from each other and broaden our experience.”
