SCCA

Miata Cup: Road Atlanta race 1 notes

Coello Brothers finish 1-2 in Mazdaspeed Miata Cup Atlantic Tour Race at Road Atlanta BRASELTON, Ga. (April 24, 2004) -- Brothers Niki Coello, of East Troy, Wis., and Tony Coello, of Waukesha, Wis., finished 1-2 in Round One of the SCCA Pro Racing ...

Published: Apr 26, 2004, 3:11 PM

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Coello Brothers finish 1-2 in Mazdaspeed Miata Cup Atlantic Tour Race at Road Atlanta

BRASELTON, Ga. (April 24, 2004) -- Brothers Niki Coello, of East Troy, Wis., and Tony Coello, of Waukesha, Wis., finished 1-2 in Round One of the SCCA Pro Racing Mazdaspeed Miata Cup Presented by Hankook Atlantic Tour at Road Atlanta, as part of the inaugural Drift Atlanta. Ryan Pilla, of Amagansett, N.Y. finished third.

Polesitter Niki Coello, who piloted the No. 81 pouredfoundations.com Mazda Miata, made it look easy as he drove flag-to-flag to capture his sixth career Miata Cup Atlantic Tour win. At one point in the race, Niki Coello led by nearly nine seconds as he cruised to a 5.828-seconds margin of victory at an average speed of 83.901 mph on the 12-turn, 2.54-mile circuit.

"At the start, I wanted to try to get a good lead because I know how important the draft is here, especially with the cars being so close," Coello said. "And, I knew the other guys would start battling and I could just get a comfortable lead and set the cruise control.

"It's hard having a brother out there, because I am looking at the battle [behind me] and trying to root him on without losing focus."

Tony Coello, who qualified his No. 17 pouredfoundations.com/Decal Works machine third on the grid, spent much of the race battling to stay in the top three. Running in fourth with six laps remaining, Coello made a move past Chip Herr, of Lititz, Pa., to move into third and with two laps remaining Coello was able to rundown and pass Pilla to finish second. Coello set the race's fastest lap on lap 14 with a 1:48.103 (84.586 mph).

Driving the No. 10 Car Doctor World Mazda Miata, Pilla moved up from his seventh qualifying spot to second place by lap six. Pilla spent 10 laps in that position trying to rundown race leader Niki Coello, but was unable to catch him and subsequently finished third.

Herr and Shawn Dewey, of Townsend, Del., finished fourth and fifth respectively.

The SCCA Mazdaspeed Miata Cup Presented by Hankook Tires Atlantic Tour Round Two race is set for 12:00 (EDT) Sunday, April 25 at Road Atlanta, as part of Drift Atlanta.

-scca pro racing-

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