(Photo by Bryan Lugo Photography)
Inside Line Promotions – VISALIA, Calif. (June 29, 2014) – Giovanni Scelzi captured a victory and a trio of top fives last weekend during the Bud Cup at Plaza Park Raceway.
“It was really successful,” he said. “The first night we were about as good as we could get. Especially when you’re running against guys from Washington and Oklahoma as well. At least we got a win out of the weekend. You can’t really ask for much more than that.”
Scelzi opened the two-day event last Friday by establishing the fastest time during nonwing outlaw micro sprint qualifying. He then advanced from fourth to second place in his heat race and lined up on the outside of the third row for the main event following a six-car inversion.
“The track was really dry,” he said. “In turns one and two people were all over the place. We just picked them off one by one.”
Scelzi took the top spot approximately halfway through the 30-lap feature before he cruised to his fourth victory of the season.
“I was better than (the leader) in turns one and two,” he said. “I got a big run down the back straightaway and I slid him in turns three and four and that was it.”
Scelzi had a tougher task in the outlaw class, which he began by qualifying second quickest. However, after finishing fifth in his heat race, Scelzi missed a lock-in position to the feature inversion by one spot. Instead of starting fifth, he lined up on the outside of the seventh row for the main event.
“I was driving through the slick and catching the cushion coming off the corners,” he said of the feature. “We were really fast. I actually got to third and jumped the cushion and got passed with one lap to go.”
Scelzi capped the night by rallying from 14th to fourth.
He returned to the track on Saturday for another day of double duty.
“I missed my marks (during qualifying) in both classes so it put us behind the eight ball,” he said.
Scelzi qualified 10th quickest in the nonwing outlaw class and 14th quickest during outlaw time trials.
After winning his nonwing heat race, Scelzi started the main event on the inside of the fifth row.
“We put a special shock on and it ended up being really slick and that killed us,” he said.
Scelzi maneuvered from ninth to end with a fifth-place result.
He was on pace for another top five during the outlaw feature, which he started on the inside of the seventh row. However, a parts failure with approximately five laps remaining capped Scelzi’s weekend with an 18th-place finish.
“We were around fifth or sixth and the left front steering arm bolt ripped out,” he said. “It put me straight into the fence in turn two. It bent the front end back.
“Despite that it was a really successful weekend and I can’t thank everyone who helped enough.”
QUICK RESULTS –
June 27 – Plaza Park Raceway in Visalia, Calif. (Nonwing Outlaw) – Qualifying: 1; Heat race: 2 (4); Feature: 1 (6).
June 27 – Plaza Park Raceway in Visalia, Calif. (Outlaw) – Qualifying: 2; Heat race: 5 (4); Feature: 4 (14).
June 28 – Plaza Park Raceway in Visalia, Calif. (Nonwing Outlaw) – Qualifying: 10; Heat race: 1 (1); Feature: 5 (9).
June 28 – Plaza Park Raceway in Visalia, Calif. (Outlaw) – Qualifying: 14; Heat race: 3 (5); Feature: 18 (13).
SEASON STATS –
20 races, 4 wins, 12 top fives, 14 top 10s, 15 top 15s, 18 top 20s
UP NEXT –
TBD
MEDIA LINKS –
Website: http://www.GaryScelziMotorsports.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/GioScelzi
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Gary-Scelzi-Motorsports/225890834113599
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – Simpson Race Products
Simpson Race Products is a motor sports parts supplier for helmets, gloves, harness systems, driver suits, head restraints, shoes and more. For additional information, visit http://www.SimpsonRaceProducts.com.
“Simpson Race Products helmets are light and amazing,” Scelzi said. “Everything on their helmets are great.”
Scelzi would also like to thank Whipple Superchargers, Fowler Packing, Fuel Delivery Services, Inc., Carlucci Transport, Panella Trucking, Red Rose Transportation, AXA Equitable Insurance with Bob & Gina Estrada, Roth Motorsports, Scelzi Enterprises, Red Line Oil, Blast Tech, Tim Jones, G&J Truck Sales, K&N Filters, Sparco, Schoenfeld Headers and ButlerBuilt Professional Seat Systems 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 and to join Team ILP, contact Shawn at 541-510-3663 or InsideLinePromotions@gmail.com. For more information on Inside Line Promotions, visit http://www.InsideLinePromotions.com.
- Shawn Miller on Jun 29, 2014
- Article Date: 6/29/2014 by Inside Line Promotions