(Photo by Collin Markle Photography)
Inside Line Promotions – VISALIA, Calif. (Nov. 24, 2015) – Giovanni and Dominic Scelzi combined to capture two runner-up finishes and four top fives last weekend during the Turkey Night micro sprint doubleheader at Plaza Park Raceway.
Both drivers competed in the winged and nonwing classes on Friday and Saturday at the bullring, which featured elbows-up racing on a tricky track to wrap up the 2015 season.
Giovanni Scelzi was a contender both nights in the winged division as he qualified third quickest and transferred through a heat race each night to make the feature inversion. He lined up on the outside of the second row for Friday night’s main event.
“The track was really heavy both nights,” he said. “We got two brand new motors and they ran great. It was a big confidence booster to be able to qualify good. I don’t think we’ve been on the board this year because it only shows three cars.
“In the feature the three guys in front of us were really good. I just couldn’t run them down. We were all the same speed. I biked really hard on the last restart and got passed for fourth. If you started up front you stayed up front. It was hard to make stuff happen because you had to go to the extreme part of the race track where no one was.”
Scelzi scored a fifth-place result. He then took advantage of starting Saturday’s winged main event on the outside of the front row.
“We were good in the winged car all night,” he said. “In turns three and four we were as good or better than the leader, but turns one and two were so rough. If lapped traffic would have gone our way we would have had a chance at winning, but we just couldn’t get by the leader.”
Scelzi garnered a runner-up finish.
Unfortunately, the nonwing competition didn’t bode as well. Scelzi qualified 11th both nights, but ran into a problem during Friday’s heat race. That forced him to run the B Main, where he charged from 10th to second place. Scelzi then rallied from 18th to ninth in the main event.
“That’s the first time I’ve run nonwing all year,” he said. “We didn’t know what to expect Friday night. We were pretty far off on shocks and bars to start. We just got going too late. Plus, the track was so narrow and it wasn’t very racy. If it would have been slick and slow we would have been ok.”
The weekend wrapped up on Saturday with Scelzi placing third in a heat race to earn the 10th starting position in the feature. Unfortunately, a clutch problem forced him into the pits midway through the race as he was running in the top 10. Scelzi was credited with an 18th-place result.
His older brother, Dominic, also enjoyed a strong outing. He drove Steve Hamblin’s nonwing micro sprint to a runner-up finish during Friday’s main event and a fifth-place result on Saturday.
“I had so much fun,” he said. “It was an absolute blast to race with all three of the people who owned the cars. It was such a fun weekend and a good way to end the year to race with my brother.”
Scelzi also drove for Donavon Holland in the winged division on Friday, but the team lost an engine early in the main event.
With that car out of commission for Saturday’s event Scelzi teamed up with David Key. They were competing in the top 10 with only a handful of laps remaining when a mechanical issue sidelined them.
“I want to thank all three car owners for the opportunity to just have fun last weekend,” he said. “It was a great way for us to wrap up the season.”
QUICK RESULTS –
Giovanni Scelzi:
Nov. 20 – Plaza Park Raceway in Visalia, Calif. (winged) – Qualifying: 3; Heat race: 3 (4); Feature: 5 (4).
Nov. 20 – Plaza Park Raceway in Visalia, Calif. (nonwing) – Qualifying: 11; Heat race: DNF (2); B Main: 2 (10); Feature: 9 (18).
Nov. 21 – Plaza Park Raceway in Visalia, Calif. (winged) – Qualifying: 3; Heat race: 2 (4); Feature: 2 (2).
Nov. 21 – Plaza Park Raceway in Visalia, Calif. (nonwing) – Qualifying: 11; Heat race: 3 (2); Feature: 18 (10).
Dominic Scelzi:
Nov. 20 – Plaza Park Raceway in Visalia, Calif. (winged) – Qualifying: 8; Heat race: 1 (2); Feature: 22 (8).
Nov. 20 – Plaza Park Raceway in Visalia, Calif. (nonwing) – Qualifying: 2; Heat race: 3 (4); Feature: 2 (2).
Nov. 21 – Plaza Park Raceway in Visalia, Calif. (winged) – Qualifying: 10; Heat race: 1 (1); Feature: 15 (9).
Nov. 21 – Plaza Park Raceway in Visalia, Calif. (nonwing) – Qualifying: 13; Heat race: 2 (1); Feature: 5 (12).
GIOVANNI’S SEASON STATS –
31 races, 3 wins, 13 top fives, 17 top 10s, 20 top 15s, 29 top 20s
MEDIA LINKS –
Website: http://www.GaryScelziMotorsports.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/GioScelzi
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Gary-Scelzi-Motorsports/225890834113599
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – Southern Pacific Farms
Southern Pacific Farms is a vineyard located in Raisin City, Calif.
“Larry Moles, who owns Southern Pacific Farms, built us a motor for this past weekend,” Scelzi said. “He was a huge help and we look forward to working together in the future.”
Scelzi would also like to thank Whipple Superchargers, Fowler Packing, Fuel Delivery Services Inc., Panella Trucking, Carlucci Transport, Red Rose Transportation, AXA Equitable Insurance with Bob & Gina Estrada, Roth Motorsports, Scelzi Enterprises, Red Line Oil, Metric Cycles Racing Engines, Weld Wheels, Schoenfeld Headers, FK Rod Ends, K&N Filters, Kaeding Performance, Brown and Miller Racing Solutions, Worldwide Bearings, Sweet Manufacturing, Blast Tech, Tim Jones, Todd Jorgensen, G&J Truck Sales, Sparco, Simpson Race Products, ButlerBuilt Professional Seat Systems, Big & Deep Ag Development, ARP, Red Fuel, Meridian Steel and Kenny’s Components 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 Nov 24, 2015
- Article Date: 11/24/2015 by Inside Line Promotions