(Photo by Matt Levonas Photography)
Inside Line Promotions – ANTIOCH, Calif. (Sept. 8, 2014) – Last weekend was bittersweet for Dominic Scelzi, who almost captured his first career top five with the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series during multiple races.
“We were great a couple of nights and just didn’t get the results we hoped for,” he said. “Thanks to Peter Murphy, my crew and my parents for giving me a great opportunity. Although we didn’t end with the finishes we wanted, we were fast and competitive at every race last weekend.”
The competition started last Wednesday at Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico, Calif., with a California Sprint Car Civil War Series event.
“We didn’t qualify as well as we wanted to,” he said. “We were a little free and I didn’t make the best laps so that put us behind the eight ball.”
Scelzi qualified 21st quickest, but he rallied from sixth to third place during his heat race to lock his Roth Motorsports backed entry into the main event.
“Qualifying like we did put us in the back,” he said. “In the main event it was really slick. I knew it was going to lay rubber. I moved my wing back and started working the middle. It was really tough to pass and it took rubber about six laps in.”
Scelzi rallied from 18th to post an 11th-place result.
He then tackled a trio of World of Outlaws events, beginning on Friday at Silver Dollar Speedway. Scelzi qualified a career-best eighth and he finished third in his heat race, which lined him up on the inside of the sixth row for the main event.
“The track was really patchy,” he said. “It was really slick in spots and had grip in others. I kinda found my comfort on the bottom of turns one and two and the middle of turns three and four. I was biding my time and we got by a couple of cars.
“On a late restart I went from sixth to fourth and was battling for third. I just about got it. Unfortunately I rolled up behind a car in turns one and two. It got aero tight and knocked me off the edge of turn two. When I got back on the track my left front came off the bead. I realized I wasn’t going to be able to limp it around so I pulled into the infield.”
Scelzi, who was battling for third place with only a handful of laps remaining prior to that incident, was credited with a 20th-place result.
Bad luck also plagued him on Saturday at Silver Dollar Speedway during the 61st annual Gold Cup. He qualified 17th quickest – only one spot out of the heat race inversion – and then placed fourth in his heat to lock himself into the main event.
“In the main the track was really slick and wide,” he said. “We were just phenomenal. The car was absolutely perfect. I was able to run the top, the bottom, the middle. As the race went on we really figured out the top in turns three and four. As the rubber started coming down with about 10 laps to go I really figured it out in turns one and two. But on a restart we had a harder right rear and it kinda killed us. We spun the tires and it started sputtering because we were running out of fuel.”
Scelzi, who was up to fifth, pulled to the infield with a couple of laps remaining. He ended 17th.
The weekend concluded on Sunday with the World of Outlaws at Antioch Speedway.
“I’ve always been good at Antioch,” he said. “Unfortunately we were one out of the heat race invert again and that put us behind the eight ball.”
Scelzi qualified 13th quickest and finished fifth in his heat race, which started him 13th in the feature.
“In the main event it was not racy,” he said. “Toward the end of the race turns three and four widened out to where you could barely go two wide. It was really, really tough to get around lapped traffic.”
Scelzi advanced into the top 10 before losing a handful of positions in traffic during the final laps. He finished 14th.
He will return to action this weekend with the King of the West 410 Sprint Car Series on Friday at Santa Maria Speedway in Santa Maria, Calif., and on Saturday at Ventura Raceway in Ventura, Calif.
QUICK RESULTS –
Sept. 3 – Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico, Calif. – Qualifying: 21; Heat race: 3 (6); Feature: 11 (18).
Sept. 5 – Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico, Calif. – Qualifying: 8; Heat race: 3 (3); Feature: 20 (11).
Sept. 6 – Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico, Calif. – Qualifying: 17; Heat race: 4 (5); Feature: 17 (16).
Sept. 7 – Antioch Speedway in Antioch, Calif. – Qualifying: 13; Heat race: 5 (5); Feature: 14 (13).
SEASON STATS –
31 races, 0 wins, 4 top fives, 9 top 10s, 15 top 15s, 22 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Friday at Santa Maria Speedway in Santa Maria, Calif., and Saturday at Ventura Raceway in Ventura, Calif., with the King of the West 410 Sprint Car Series
MEDIA LINKS –
Website: http://www.GaryScelziMotorsports.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DominicScelzi41
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Gary-Scelzi-Motorsports/225890834113599
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – Scelzi Enterprises
In 1979, brothers Mike, James and Gary Scelzi began manufacturing their line of flatbeds out of their company’s 4,500-square-foot facility in Fresno, Calif. They added truck service bodies and crane bodies to their line in 1990. Today, Scelzi Enterprises is the Valley’s largest manufacturer and supplier of truck bodies and parts. The operation includes 16 acres with more than 200,000 square feet of manufacturing facilities in Fresno alone. Scelzi Enterprises creates custom truck bodies for a wide range of customers, from single vehicles for individuals to entire fleets for some of California’s largest companies and utilities. For more information, visit http://www.SEInc.com.
“Scelzi Enterprises has been around long before my brother and I,” Scelzi said. “My dad and uncles have been involved in racing for years. They owned a sand dragster when my dad was young and started racing, and my uncle owned a very famous hard top years ago with many famous California drivers behind the wheel, including the one and only Dave Pombo Sr.”
Scelzi would also like to thank Whipple Superchargers, Fowler Packing, Fuel Delivery Services Inc., Carlucci Transport, AXA Equitable Insurance with Bob & Gina Estrada, Panella Trucking, Roth Motorsports, Red Rose Transportation, FK Rod Ends, Kaeding Performance, Brown and Miller Racing Solutions, Sweet Manufacturing, Weld Wheels, Simpson Race Products, Blast Tech, Tim Jones, G&J Truck Sales, Red Line Oil, K&N Filters, Schoenfeld Headers, Sparco, ButlerBuilt Professional Seat Systems and Automotive Racing Products for their continued support.
INSIDE LINE PROMOTIONS –
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- Shawn Miller on Sep 08, 2014
- Article Date: 9/8/2014 by Inside Line Promotions