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WA sprint car driver ‘scarred for life’ after being released from US jail

By Sarah Brookes and Ezra Holt

A Perth racer jailed in California over a head-on collision that killed two people touched down in Perth on Wednesday afternoon after being released from a US prison.

Luke Nardini, 32, was embraced by his family when he arrived in Perth, and said he had been living a nightmare and is ready for a fresh start.

Nardini was just one day away from returning to Australia after a three-week trip to the US when he crashed his BMW head-on into a Ford SUV near the forested mountainous area of La Honda, about 50 kilometres south of San Francisco.

Husband and wife Jack and Linda Davis, who were in the back seat of the Ford, died.

“I’m scarred for life because of it, mentally, physically, emotionally,” Nardini told 9 News Perth after arriving at Perth Airport.

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Nardini admitted to “misdemeanour vehicular manslaughter” and was sentenced to 60 days in prison.

“I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. It’s been a nightmare, being trapped in a foreign country, unable to do a lot of things, limited rights, isolated,” he said.

“I’ve done what needs to be done, I’d like to carry on and go from there.”

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Now free, Nardini remains on probation and is required to speak at local schools about driver safety.

The Nardinis are a well-known family in WA’s Narrogin township, in the state’s South West. Luke and his brother Jamie are both sprint car racers.

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Original URL: https://www.smh.com.au/national/western-australia/wa-sprint-car-driver-freed-from-us-jail-after-fatal-crash-20250109-p5l31o.html