Piscitell Captures Second Straight ST TOTAL Pole Award

Called on to substitute for the second straight event, Justin Piscitell snared his second consecutive Street Tuner (ST) TOTAL Pole Award. Driving the No. 34 Twister Trailers Mazda MX-5, Piscitell shattered the track record with a lap of 2:23.900 (93.565 mph).

Piscitell opened the year filling in for Jeff Mosing at Murillo Racing, and won the pole at Daytona and finished second with Eric Foss in a Porsche Cayman. At Sebring he is driving for the new Alara Racing team, a partnership between Alara owner Ara Malcassian and Ken Murillo. “There’s a big difference between driving the Cayman and the Mazda,” said Piscitell. “The Porsche is faster in a straight line with a lot of downbite. When you hop in the MX-5 it’s like going into a small boxing ring. It’s revved up and happy; not quite as stable as the Cayman, but it handles nicely.“I have nothing lined up for Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca,” added Piscitell, who won his first ST pole at Watkins Glen in 2010 driving a Mazda Speed 3 for MER. “Hopefully, this will capture someone’s attention.” Adam Isman qualified second in the No. 18 Rennsport One Porsche Cayman with a lap of 2:24.655 (93.077 mph), followed by Mosing, who ran 2:24.695 (93.051 mph) in his return to the No. 56 Murillo Racing/Mosing Motorcars Porsche Cayman. Early session leader Chad McCumbee wound up fourth quickest, running 2:24.954 (92.885 mph) in the No. 5 CJ Wilson Racing Modspace Mazda MX-5.The Microsoft Visual Studio takes the green flag at 1:05 p.m. ET, and will be streamed live on IMSA.com.