(Photo by Bailey Marie Photography)
Inside Line Promotions – WATSONVILLE, Calif. (Aug. 25, 2021) – Dominic Scelzi picked up a pair of top-10 finishes last weekend during the Johnny Key Classic at Ocean Speedway.
Scelzi qualified 19th quickest during the opener on Friday before he finished where he started – fifth – in a heat race to narrowly miss locking into the main event. A runner-up result in the B Main transferred him toward the back of the A Main.
“We went out pretty early in qualifying and the track was really greasy,” he said. “I felt like we put down a good lap for when we went out, but the track got way faster. In the heat race I got under the car in front of me, but we hit grease and I wasn’t able to get by the car so we ran fifth. Then we moved forward and did what we needed to do in the B Main to transfer into the feature.”
Scelzi drove into the top 10 within the first 10 laps and gained two more positions before the checkered flag was waved. His run from 18th to eighth place earned the Hard Charger Award for passing the most cars.
“We just missed the issues,” he said. “We had a good race car and got as high as seventh. A car in front of me bounced and I had to get off the gas or else I would have hit them, which allowed someone by. Just being able to finish was an accomplishment with the amount of cars that were tore up. All in all I was happy with our performance.”
Scelzi continued to move forward on Saturday as the track welcomed the Sprint Car Challenge Tour for the weekend finale. Scelzi timed in third quickest in his group and won a heat race to advance into the dash. A second-place result lined him up on the outside of the front row for the A Main.
“We qualified a lot better on Saturday and I felt like we raced really good,” he said. “At the drop of the green the outside wasn’t the place to start. We fell to third right away, but we got back to second and worked on the leader. We had a really good restart and slid him into turn one, but I wasn’t able to clear him and he powered around me. We ran him back down. At that time the track started laying rubber. I felt we had a chance to do something in traffic, but the yellow flag came out again with a few laps remaining. I got a really good restart, but just wasn’t able to do anything. To run second at the Johnny Key Classic is nothing to be upset about.”
Scelzi’s second-place effort was his 32nd top five of the season.
A big four-race weekend with the King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Series is on tap, running Thursday at Merced Speedway in Merced, Calif.; Friday at Ocean Speedway; Saturday at Stockton Dirt Track in Stockton, Calif.; and Sunday at Petaluma Speedway in Petaluma, Calif. Scelzi enters the weekend with a six-point lead in the championship standings.
“I think this is going to be the tell-tale,” Scelzi said. “These four races are going to set someone up to win the championship or to lose it. The next six races, the speedweek this weekend and the following weekend in Chico, will set the tone for who is going to be on top of the championship.”
QUICK RESULTS –
Aug. 20 – Ocean Speedway in Watsonville, Calif. – Qualifying: 19; Heat race: 5 (5); B Main: 2 (3); Feature: 8 (18).
Aug. 21 – Ocean Speedway in Watsonville, Calif. – Qualifying: 3; Heat race: 1 (2); Dash: 2 (2); Feature: 2 (2).
SEASON STATS –
43 races, 16 wins, 32 top fives, 37 top 10s, 39 top 15s, 39 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Thursday at Merced Speedway in Merced, Calif.; Friday at Ocean Speedway in Watsonville, Calif.; Saturday at Stockton Dirt Track in Stockton, Calif.; and Sunday at Petaluma Speedway in Petaluma, Calif., with the King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Series
MEDIA LINKS –
Website: http://www.GaryScelziMotorsports.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DominicScelzi41
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Scelzi41
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – Fuel Delivery Services, Inc.
Based in Stockton, Calif., Fuel Delivery Services, Inc., is a premier bulk transporter of refined petroleum products. For more information, visit http://www.FuelDeliveryServices.net.
“Fuel Delivery Services, Inc., has been a partner of ours since the first year we began racing sprint cars,” Scelzi said. “They supply a lot of product for our family business as well. We’ve been fortunate to work with them for more than a decade.”
Scelzi would like to thank Red Rose Transportation, Inc., Scelzi Enterprises, Whipple Superchargers, Red Line Oil, Roth Motorsports, Schoenfeld Headers, NAPA Auto Parts, Todd Jorgensen, FK Rod Ends, Brown & Miller Racing Solutions, K&N Filters, Sparco, Allstar Performance, Auto Meter, 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 Aug 25, 2021
- Article Date: 8/25/2021 by Inside Line Promotions