Davide Dallara comments on his first EuroNASCAR race since 2022, stating his happiness to be back despite a challenging set of results at Vallelunga.
The 2020 Challenger Trophy winner Davide Dallara has made his return to EuroNASCAR for his first race in nearly two years. The Italian joined Lucas Lasserre’s powerhouse team SpeedHouse Racing for his home race at Autodromo Vallelunga.
As it has been a while since his last race, Dallara understandably had to lower his expectation down for the race. Despite this, he was very happy to be able to return to the sport after a long time away.
“I was missing the EuroNASCAR family and the EuroNASCAR car a lot, but it was also very difficult because after two years, you need to get more confidence and I was only at home for these past two years,” admits Dallara to Andre Wiegold.
Fortunately for Dallara, the fears of “ring rust” materialized less than what he expected. A 15th place result in Qualifying was enough to place him second in the Challenger Trophy, just behind Club Motorsport’s Riccardo Romagnoli.
Unfortunately for him, NASCAR is a contact sport. Things started to go south in the opening lap of Race 1 as multiple contacts resulted in an unscheduled visit to the pits, relegating him to 22nd place at the checkered flag.
“There was some overdriving and some mistakes, but I’m happy because in Qualifying I was in a good position,” said Dallara on his Saturday performance.
“I started well in Race 1 but I got hit four times, so you know, in NASCAR it can happen.”
His fortunes turned for the better in Race 2. Starting from 21st position, Dallara kept his car clean and made important overtakes to move up the running order.
In the end, he was rewarded with a third place finish in the Challenger Trophy after finishing in 15th position.
With him completing his first taste of driving the SpeedHouse machines, Dallara will be working hard to achieve his dream of going back full-time in 2025.
“This weekend was a rollercoaster of emotions!” said Dallara after the race in SpeedHouse’s official press release. I cannot thank SpeedHouse Racing enough for the great car they have given me.”
“I will work hard to make my full-time comeback with them in 2025. We can do great things together, I’m sure!”
Disclaimer: Credits for all photos are listed underneath each image.