(Photo by Collin Markle Photography)
Inside Line Promotions – TULARE, Calif. (Oct. 23, 2017) – Dominic Scelzi was exactly where he wanted to be entering the 24th annual Trophy Cup A Main on Saturday night at Thunderbowl Raceway.
Scelzi and his family owned, Roth Motorsports supported team ranked No. 1 out of approximately 90 drivers at the marquee event. That locked him into the main event that featured a 20-car inversion, which lined him up on the outside of the 10th row for the 50-lap showdown.
“To be the high-point guy was huge,” he said. “It was a dream come true and would have been a dream come true to win it, but overall we’ve come a long way.”
Unfortunately, Scelzi was involved in an opening-lap crash that hampered his chance at becoming the event champion for the first time in his career.
“We had an extremely good start and I got two or three guys,” he said. “We went through turn one and picked up another guy. Something happened in front of us on the backstretch. I had nowhere to go and got collected into it. We lost the nose wing, Jacob’s Ladder and the front end. My guys did a heck of a job getting me back out. I was trying to not go a lap down before the scheduled fuel stop midway, but I went down a lap on Lap 22. I passed the leader back to get my lap back before the yellow came out.
“My guys fixed everything under the red flag around Lap 28. We went from 22nd to 11th and with two laps to go I got into the wall and bent the front end so I pulled off.”
Here is a link to watch the A Main: https://youtu.be/TxSEMsF93Kk.
Scelzi, who was credited with a 22nd-place result, had a dominant car all weekend long. The three-race event began on Thursday when Scelzi qualified second quickest in his group. He then advanced from sixth to third place in a heat race to earn enough points to lock into the ninth starting position in the A Main.
“We were really good,” he said. “The track was tricky and I was making the middle work. I just had yellows come out at the wrong time. I think I got to fourth four different times and had a yellow come out at the wrong time to put me back to fifth.”
Scelzi finished fifth, which ranked him third in event points. Here is a link to watch the main event: https://youtu.be/kMjwMX_at50.
The strong start to the weekend continued on Friday as Scelzi set quick time during qualifying. However, he was caught up in a collision in his heat race, which relegated him to a sixth-place finish. A mechanical problem didn’t allow the team to take the green flag in the B Main.
Scelzi entered the finale on Saturday in a great points position and after charging from eighth to third place in a heat race he ranked No. 1 overall.
“We had a heck of a start that got us from eighth to fifth,” he said. “I passed a guy on the bottom and then got another to get to third. I knew that we did our job and it was going to put us in a good spot. We just had some misfortune to start the A Main.
“I’d give the weekend a double A-plus. I’m happy with how everything went. To go in there and qualify quick time and second quick and to be no worse than fourth in points the entire weekend was really good.”
Scelzi will take this weekend off before resuming competition on Nov. 4 at Stockton Dirt Track in Stockton, Calif., where he will compete with the King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Series and the Sprint Car Challenge Tour.
QUICK RESULTS –
Oct. 19 – Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare, Calif. – Qualifying: 2; Heat race: 3 (6); Feature: 5 (9).
Oct. 20 – Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare, Calif. – Qualifying: 1; Heat race: 6 (6); B Main: DNS (4).
Oct. 21 – Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare, Calif. – Heat race: 3 (8); Feature: 22 (20).
SEASON STATS –
66 races, 2 wins, 12 top fives, 19 top 10s, 32 top 15s, 48 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Nov. 4 at Stockton Dirt Track in Stockton, Calif., with the King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Series and Sprint Car Challenge Tour
MEDIA LINKS –
Website: http://www.GaryScelziMotorsports.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DominicScelzi41
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Scelzi41
VIDEO –
Here is a link to a highlight video: https://vimeo.com/161410751
Here is a link to a promotional video: https://vimeo.com/160322149
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 Al Pombo.”
Scelzi would also like to thank Whipple Superchargers, Fuel Delivery Services, Inc., Carlucci Transport, Panella Trucking, Red Rose Transportation, Inc., Roth Motorsports, Red Line Oil, NAPA Auto Parts, Todd Jorgensen, Weld Wheels, Schoenfeld Headers, FK Rod Ends, Brown and Miller Racing Solutions, Sparco, Simpson Race Products, Worldwide Bearings, Blast Tech, K&N Filters, ButlerBuilt Professional Seat Systems, Meridian Steel, Kenny’s Components, Auto Meter, Allstar Performance, DJS Safe Seats, Arctic Cat and Southern Pacific Farms 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 23, 2017
- Article Date: 10/23/2017 by Inside Line Promotions