(Photo by Paul Trevino Photo)
Inside Line Promotions – TULARE, Calif. (March 29, 2021) – Dominic Scelzi is certainly off to the best start of his sprint car career following a weekend sweep of the Kings of Thunder 360 Sprint Cars doubleheader at Thunderbowl Raceway.
Scelzi won the feature on Friday and Saturday to give him four triumphs in his last seven races. The four wins mark Scelzi’s most in a season since recording eight triumphs in 83 races in 2019.
“It’s a weird point in time for me,” he said. “From life outside of racing to work to racing, I’m in a really good place. I almost feel like that’s why things are going so smooth at the track. We’ve really started to come into ourselves and we’ve seen it from the first race of the year.”
Last weekend started on Friday with Scelzi qualifying third quickest out of the 29 entrants. He then advanced from fourth to third place in a heat race, which locked him into the dash.
“We went out late in qualifying,” he said. “The cushion was really big. We did exactly what we needed to do and qualified really strong. We were right there on top of first and second. We had good speed and made good laps. They reworked the track and it got hooked up and rough, which is the type of track where we struggle the most. We decided to test for the heat race. We tried some stuff and it didn’t work the way we wanted. We drew the No. 1 for the dash and the moves we made weren’t the right decision so we made some big changes for the main event.”
Scelzi placed second in the dash to line up on the outside of the front row for the 30-lap main event.
“We took the lead going into turn one and didn’t look back,” he said. “We were way better than what we were through the first three quarters of the night. I ran the bottom on both ends. When I got into traffic I moved up. I could go through the holes and above the holes. For me it was a big win because when tracks are like that I struggle. We were able to use the night as a test and we gained on it. That’s a testament to where we’re at as a team.”
Scelzi was locked into Saturday’s dash thanks to the podium performance on Friday. He drew the No. 5 for the dash and gained a position to finish fourth, putting him on the outside of the second row for the 30-lap feature.
“The track was a complete 180 from Friday and was slick to the fence,” he said. “It had a small cushion against the fence and you could pretty much run around the infield wall. I felt pretty good on both ends when we hot lapped. For the dash the track was really slick. I felt good and we had the second fastest lap in the dash. I felt confident going into the main event.
“They reworked the track a little bit. We knew the moisture would be around for five or six laps and then the track would go slick. We stayed pretty tight. We got the lead on Lap 3 and then I was up to the fence. It was as wide as that place can get and about as good as you’ll see that track. With about 12 laps to go we were in heavy traffic. The cars were all over the track in front of me. (D.J.) Netto slid me in turns three and four and I turned it under him to stay in the lead. A couple of laps later we had a restart and I slid myself into turn one. He got a run on me and slid me into turn three, but I was able to turn underneath him again and we never looked back.”
Scelzi will be off this weekend before returning to action on April 10 at Keller Auto Speedway in Hanford, Calif.
QUICK RESULTS –
March 26 – Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare, Calif. – Qualifying: 3; Heat race: 3 (4); Dash: 2 (1); Feature: 1 (2).
March 27 – Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare, Calif. – Dash: 4 (5); Feature: 1 (4).
SEASON STATS –
11 races, 4 wins, 7 top fives, 10 top 10s, 10 top 15s, 10 top 20s
UP NEXT –
April 10 at Keller Auto Speedway in Hanford, Calif.
MEDIA LINKS –
Website: http://www.GaryScelziMotorsports.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DominicScelzi41
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Scelzi41
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – Red Line Oil
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“Red Line Oil is hands down the best oil in the racing industry,” Scelzi said. “They have supported my family for as long as I can remember and have been a big part of my career.”
Scelzi would like to thank Red Rose Transportation, Inc., Scelzi Enterprises, Whipple Superchargers, Fuel Delivery Services, Inc., Roth Motorsports, FK Rod Ends, NAPA Auto Parts, Todd Jorgensen, Schoenfeld Headers, Brown & Miller Racing Solutions, Auto Meter, K&N Filters, Sparco, Allstar Performance, Meridian Steel, Kenny’s Components and Worldwide Bearings 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 Mar 30, 2021
- Article Date: 3/29/2021 by Inside Line Promotions