(Photo by Wildlight Motorsports Photography)
Inside Line Promotions – TULARE, Calif. (Oct. 25, 2023) – Dominic Scelzi produced one of his most successful weekends during the famed 29th annual Abreu Vineyards Trophy Cup presented by Rudeen Racing.
Scelzi was one of 60-plus drivers who invaded Thunderbowl Raceway last weekend for the marquee 360ci winged sprint car event. He recorded a top-five finish each night before finishing fourth in the overall points standings.
“It’s hard to be thrilled, but hard to be upset,” he said. “I’m happy with our consistency night in and night out. We had good speed. We had a good car all weekend long. We just didn’t get the yellows when we needed them or the breaks. At the end of the day we weren’t good enough to win the Trophy Cup.”
The action got underway last Thursday with Scelzi qualifying ninth quickest in his group. A run from fourth to second place in a heat race and from sixth to third place in a B Main earned a spot in the main event as the fifth starter.
“We were pretty good,” he said. “The track was really slick. We were able to run guys down off turn two when they’d hang and I’d slide them into turn three. We got to second and got to the leader and a yellow came out with about nine laps to go. I tried to do the diamond move again. I didn’t hit it as good as I needed and Rico (Abreu) was able to get by me and the leader. The track started to lay a little bit of rubber. I slipped out of it in turn two and that cost me another spot so I finished fourth.”
Scelzi showcased similar results on Friday, timing in sixth quickest in his group before maneuvering from fifth to third place in a heat race and from sixth to third place in a B Main. He started and finished fourth in the feature.
“We made some changes to get ourselves better and it wasn’t as good as we normally are,” he said. “We were still good, but I never made any ground on anybody.”
Scelzi started the finale on Saturday by placing seventh in a heat race, which lined him up on the outside of the third row in the 50-lap A Main.
“It started off fast, but we were really good,” he said. “We got right to fourth and it took us some time to work to third. We kept getting better and was all over second place. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get by before the halfway race stop. After we restarted the race track was really fast and when it slowed down I got racing for second. I got chopped a couple of times and short slid back. I wasn’t able to put second place away. On a restart I tried to hail mary the top and got passed.”
Scelzi ended fourth, but moved up a position when another driver was disqualified. His third-place result marked his 35th top five of the season.
Next up will be a NARC 410 Sprint Car Series event this Saturday at The Dirt Track at Kern County Raceway Park in Bakersfield, Calif. Scelzi enters the event ranked third in the championship standings.
QUICK RESULTS –
Oct. 19 – Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare, Calif. – Qualifying: 9; Heat race: 2 (4); B Main: 3 (6); Feature: 4 (5).
Oct. 20 – Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare, Calif. – Qualifying: 6; Heat race: 3 (5); B Main: 3 (6); Feature: 4 (4).
Oct. 21 – Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare, Calif. – Heat race: 7 (7); Feature: 3 (6).
SEASON STATS –
51 races, 12 wins, 35 top fives, 41 top 10s, 45 top 15s, 49 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Saturday at The Dirt Track at Kern County Raceway Park in Bakersfield, Calif., with the NARC 410 Sprint Car Series
MEDIA LINKS –
Website: http://www.GaryScelziMotorsports.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DominicScelzi41
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Scelzi41
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – Meridian Steel
Meridian Steel manufactures steel for a variety of uses, including 80 percent of the steel used by Scelzi Enterprises. For more information, visit http://www.MeridianSteel.com.
“Sam at Meridian Steel has been a supporter for us for several years and is tied in with our family business,” Scelzi said. “Not only is he a sponsor of our race team, but he enjoys racing in general. We’re grateful to have his support.”
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.
INSIDE LINE PROMOTIONS –
Inside Line Promotions specializes in affordable public relations and media management for motor sports drivers, teams, sponsors, tracks, series, events, organizations and manufacturers. ILP Founder Shawn Miller leverages professional journalism with new media technologies and social networking to improve your exposure and the return on investment for your sponsors.
To meet the media relations needs of your program by joining Team ILP, contact Shawn at 541-510-3663 or Shawn@InsideLinePromotions.com. For more information on Inside Line Promotions, visit http://www.InsideLinePromotions.com.
- Shawn Miller on Oct 25, 2023
- Article Date: 10/25/2023 by Inside Line Promotions