(Photo by Devin M. Photography)
Inside Line Promotions – ALGER, Wash. (June 28, 2022) – Dominic Scelzi enjoyed another successful trip to the Northwest last week when he garnered a podium during the 50th annual Jim Raper Memorial Dirt Cup at Skagit Speedway.
Scelzi, who captured the event title the previous year, kicked off the King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Series event last Thursday by setting quick time during qualifying out of the 43 drivers. He then advanced from eighth to fifth place in a heat race to rank second in points. A 16-car inversion lined Scelzi up on the inside of the eighth row in the main event.
“The only time we struggled all weekend was the Thursday main event,” he said. “We never were able to get rolling. There were two open reds and a bunch of cautions. We’d go green and jump up top and someone would jump the cushion and we’d have to slow up. We’d dive down low and someone would slow down to the hit the bottom. We never got in a rhythm and didn’t get to put a bunch of laps together. It was unfortunate we didn’t have a better night to capitalize on our quick time, but at the end of the night we were tied for fifth in points.”
Scelzi placed 12th for only his seventh time of being outside the top 10 all season.
The team kicked off Friday’s action by timing in 16th quick in qualifying.
“We went out super late, but we recovered by going 16th quick and then we went fifth to second in the heat race,” Scelzi said. “That started us sixth in the feature and we got up there quickly to battle for the lead. I think we passed Trey (Starks) for the lead three times. The first time we got by him the yellow came out. The second time we got by him he got us back. The third time a yellow came out again. I couldn’t seem to stay past him, but at the end of the day we were right there and ran second, which gave us good points going into Saturday.”
Scelzi’s runner-up result was his 18th top five of the season. He ranked third in overall points following the two preliminary nights. That locked him into the pole shuffle on Saturday. Scelzi won twice to advance into the final.
“In the pole shuffle I beat (Justin) Sanders on the outside and was able to get down to the bottom,” he said. “With Tyler (Courtney) I did the same thing in the final round, but I didn’t have enough room to chop him into turn one. He got back underneath me to win the pole shuffle. I felt it was an advantage to start up there on the outside in the feature. He beat me to the flagstand, but I was able to rip by him in turns one and two. He slid me in turns three and four, but I got around him. If we wanted to win it we had to lead the first lap. With the way the track was, being so top dominant, you had to lead right away.”
Scelzi led the first 24 laps of the 50-lap main event, earning him $24,000 in bonus money with $1,000 for each lap led.
“We went unchallenged for 24 laps,” he said. “We got to traffic and it was really tough. Tyler slid me and I tried to turn down the hill. We drag raced him into turn three and I wasn’t able to clear him. I followed him around for about 10 laps and slid him into turns three and four. As I slid him the yellow flag was coming out for the planned stoppage. For the amount of traffic we were in I saw our chances sort of slip away with that red, but that was part of it. For the last 15 laps I don’t feel we got better or worse, but I was starting to struggle getting through the hole in turn four. It allowed Kerry (Madsen) to slide me and I wasn’t able to get back by him so we ended up third.
“We came away with a $42,000 payday and led 24 laps and we were in contention to win the Dirt Cup again. As disappointing as it was to leave without the win and the big check, we showed our speed all weekend. I’m already looking forward to next year. I want to take the crown home.”
Scelzi will take this weekend off before returning to action on July 8 at Keller Auto Speedway in Hanford, Calif., and July 9 at Petaluma Speedway in Petaluma, Calif., with the King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Series.
QUICK RESULTS –
June 23 – Skagit Speedway in Alger, Wash. – Qualifying: 1; Heat race: 5 (8); Feature: 12 (15).
June 24 – Skagit Speedway in Alger, Wash. – Qualifying: 16; Heat race: 2 (5); Feature: 2 (6).
June 25 – Skagit Speedway in Alger, Wash. – King of the Hill: 2; Feature: 3 (2).
SEASON STATS –
29 races, 5 wins, 19 top fives, 22 top 10s, 26 top 15s, 26 top 20s
UP NEXT –
July 8 at Keller Auto Speedway in Hanford, Calif., and July 9 at Petaluma Speedway in Petaluma, Calif., with the King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Series
MEDIA LINKS –
Website: http://www.GaryScelziMotorsports.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DominicScelzi41
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Scelzi41
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“Red Line Oil is hands down the best oil in the racing industry,” Scelzi said. “They have supported my family for as long as I can remember and have been a big part of my career.”
Scelzi would like to thank Red Rose Transportation, Inc., Scelzi Enterprises, Whipple Superchargers, System 1, Fuel Delivery Services, Inc., Red Line Oil, FK Rod Ends, Schoenfeld Headers, Roth Motorsports, K&N Filters, Brown & Miller Racing Solutions, NAPA Auto Parts, Todd Jorgensen, Sparco, Allstar Performance, Meridian Steel, Auto Meter, Kenny’s Components and Worldwide Bearings for their continued support.
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- Shawn Miller on Jun 28, 2022
- Article Date: 6/28/2022 by Inside Line Promotions