(Photo by Paul Trevino Racing Photos)
Inside Line Promotions – HANFORD, Calif. (March 15, 2021) – Dominic Scelzi is off to one of the hottest starts of his sprint car career.
Scelzi has captured a feature triumph during each of the last two weekends, producing two triumphs in a nine-day stretch with the Kings of Thunder 360 Sprint Cars.
“I felt like last year we really ended the year on a good note,” he said. “We started off this year the same way. We’re still learning each other and what we can get away with. We’re really coming into ourselves and I feel confident. It’s been a good start to the season. My confidence in Jimmy (Carr) and the team, and what we’re doing when we show up, is high. I feel good and I’m comfortable behind the wheel.”
That has been evident the last two weeks beginning on March 5 at Kern County Raceway Park in Bakersfield, Calif., where Scelzi opened the I-5 Classic by qualifying third quickest before he won a heat race, the dash and the main event. It marked his third straight victory at the track.
“We haven’t raced there a lot, but we’ve been competitive every time,” he said. “I feel like I have a good handle on the track itself. We qualified good and were able to win the heat race, which got us into the dash. We drew the No. 2 for the dash and we won the start again just like the heat race. In the feature we took the lead on the start and didn’t look back. We had one restart where I bobbled and got passed. I was running the top in turns one and two. There was a hole and I got into the cushion. Another driver rolled the bottom and slid up, but I got myself collected and passed him back going into turn three and we didn’t look back.”
The event concluded the ensuing night. Scelzi timed in second quickest and placed second in a heat race before ending the feature seventh.
“We qualified really good,” he said. “It put us on the front row of the heat race. On the start another driver beat me into turn three and won the heat. That took us out of a chance in the dash, but we were fast. We lined up seventh in the feature and the track was extremely slick. We tightened up quite a bit and they reworked it as we went out. We were just a bit off. We could have run fifth and could have run ninth. All in all, it was frustrating because we’re better than that, but to come away with a seventh-place finish and to be upset with it is good.”
Scelzi ventured to Keller Auto Speedway last weekend for a doubleheader featuring approximately 50 drivers that began on Friday. He qualified fifth quickest in his group and advanced a position in a heat race to lock into the main event. Scelzi elected to pull off the tricky track early in the feature to save his equipment and avoid a potential crash.
“It’s a track like I haven’t seen in a long time,” he said. “It was extremely wet and we didn’t qualify very well. The track still had grease in it for the heat race. We went green for the feature and didn’t make anything happen. The track was wide open, about 20 feet wide. I wasn’t making anything happen and decided to save our equipment so we pulled off.
“As soon as we rolled through the pit gate on Saturday we knew it’d be a different track. It was in pristine shape. It was slick and wide. We’ve worked really hard on slick tracks and we enjoy racing on it. We qualified good for when we went out. Then in the heat race we won it by three and a half seconds after having a caution halfway through.”
Saturday started on the right foot as Scelzi timed in second quickest before he scored a heat race win. A fourth-place finish in the dash lined him up on the outside of the second row for the Gregg Spanky Matthews Memorial A Main.
“I had a great start, but got racing with a car in front of me and that let someone by,” he said. “A yellow came out at the wrong time and I was fifth. We got up to fourth and then a guy spun and another got a flat tire so that moved us to second. We were right there on Austin McCarl for the lead. With seven laps to go he slid a lapped car into turns one and two. I stayed around the top, caught him and passed the lapped car. I slid (McCarl) into turn three. He slid me back going into turn one and I was able to turn under him.”
Scelzi led the remainder of the race to post his second win of the year to give him multiple victories in the same season for the fifth straight year.
On tap is the King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Sprint Car Series season opener this Saturday at Stockton Dirt Track in Stockton, Calif.
QUICK RESULTS –
March 5 – Kern County Raceway Park in Bakersfield, Calif. – Qualifying: 3; Heat race: 1 (2); Dash: 1 (2); Feature: 1 (1).
March 6 – Kern County Raceway Park in Bakersfield, Calif. – Qualifying: 2; Heat race: 2 (1); Feature: 7 (7).
March 12 – Keller Auto Speedway in Hanford, Calif. – Qualifying: 5; Heat race: 4 (5); Feature: DNF (18).
March 13 – Keller Auto Speedway in Hanford, Calif. – Qualifying: 2; Heat race: 1 (2); Dash: 4 (4); Feature: 1 (4).
SEASON STATS –
8 races, 2 wins, 4 top fives, 7 top 10s, 7 top 15s, 7 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Saturday at Stockton Dirt Track in Stockton, Calif., with the King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Sprint Car Series
MEDIA LINKS –
Website: http://www.GaryScelziMotorsports.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DominicScelzi41
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Scelzi41
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Scelzi would like to thank Red Rose Transportation, Inc., Scelzi Enterprises, Whipple Superchargers, Fuel Delivery Services, Inc., Roth Motorsports, Red Line Oil, NAPA Auto Parts, Todd Jorgensen, Schoenfeld Headers, Brown & Miller Racing Solutions, K&N Filters, Sparco, Allstar Performance, Meridian Steel, Kenny’s Components, Auto Meter and Worldwide Bearings for their continued support.
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- Shawn Miller on Mar 15, 2021
- Article Date: 3/15/2021 by Inside Line Promotions