9/15/2014
Inside Line Promotions
Scelzi Scores First Podium Finish of Season to Conclude Wild Weekend
(Photo by Tear-Off Heaven Fotos)
Inside Line Promotions – VENTURA, Calif. (Sept. 15, 2014) – Dominic Scelzi wrapped up last weekend with his best finish of the season.
Scelzi, who was competing with the King of the West 410 Sprint Car Series, scored his first podium result of the year at Ventura Raceway on Saturday to cap a roller-coaster weekend.
“It had a lot of ups and downs,” he said. “It’s really great to get a good finish and it boosts my confidence, but it’s disappointing to have what seems like no luck at all. We have a lot of speed and now we’re competing for wins. It’s disappointing we haven’t had stuff go right and things fall our way.”
The up-and-down weekend kicked off last Friday at Santa Maria Speedway in Santa Maria, Calif., where Scelzi qualified 11th quickest to start on the pole of a heat race.
“In the heat race the bottom was really greasy and the track was extremely rough,” he said. “It wasn’t very good racing conditions. It was really hard to stay on all four wheels. We lost the start and stayed in second. The top was getting a little bit better of a start.”
Scelzi’s second-place finish locked him into the main event, which he started on the outside of the sixth row.
“The track was really rough and hooked up,” he said. “On a restart I was on the outside of Evan Suggs and he slid up to the cushion. As soon as he did I lost the air on my nose, got tight on the cushion and hit the wall.”
Scelzi, who was running eighth approximately a dozen laps into the feature, broke the front end and Jacob’s Ladder on his car. He was unable to restart the race and was credited with a 21st-place result.
Saturday didn’t start off much better at Ventura Raceway, where Scelzi battled steering issues from the start of the night. The team didn’t have time to change the steering box prior to qualifying. However, Scelzi was able to qualify third quickest. That lined him up fourth in a heat race.
“I was racing with the two leaders with about three laps to go,” he said. “Jason Statler blew up right in front of me. My right rear tire caught his left rear and we went for a ride.”
Scelzi flipped while battling for the lead and his team was forced to change the wings, Jacob’s Ladder, front end, three wheels and various other parts to get him prepared for the main event, which he started ninth.
“It was quite a bit of damage,” he said. “We thrashed to get it ready.”
The team also used its third different steering box in the feature. However, another problem appeared.
“In the main event we had a wing slider issue,” he said. “When I’d turn right the wing valve would push the wing back and I’d lose power steering. I was having to race with one hand. That went on until a red flag on Lap 17 or 18. I disconnected the lines to the wing so my wing would stay in one place.”
Scelzi was on a mission following the restart.
“After that red flag and I was able to race with two hands I could drive extremely hard,” he said. “I felt like we could have won the race if we had a yellow or if it was a 40-lap race.”
Scelzi powered to a third-place finish, which marked his fifth top five of the season.
He is scheduled to take the next two weekends off before a 360ci event at Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare, Calif., on Oct. 4.
QUICK RESULTS –
Sept. 12 – Santa Maria Speedway in Santa Maria, Calif. – Qualifying: 11; Heat race: 2 (1); Feature: 21 (12).
Sept. 13 – Ventura Raceway in Ventura, Calif. – Qualifying: 3; Heat race: DNF (4); Feature: 3 (9).
SEASON STATS –
33 races, 0 wins, 5 top fives, 10 top 10s, 16 top 15s, 23 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Oct. 4 at Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare, Calif., for the Harry Talbot Classic Memorial
MEDIA LINKS –
Website: http://www.GaryScelziMotorsports.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DominicScelzi41
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Gary-Scelzi-Motorsports/225890834113599
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – Automotive Racing Products
Automotive Racing Products manufactures fasteners found in engines and drivelines, ranging from OEM replacement parts to specialty hardware for racing applications. For more information, visit http://www.ARP-Bolts.com.
“I can’t thank everyone at ARP, especially Chris Raschke, enough for the support this year,” Scelzi said. “I met Chris at the PRI show and he instantly was on board with helping us this season. We are glad to have such great people behind us as friends and sponsors.”
Scelzi would also like to thank Whipple Superchargers, Fowler Packing, Fuel Delivery Services Inc., Carlucci Transport, AXA Equitable Insurance with Bob & Gina Estrada, Panella Trucking, Roth Motorsports, Red Rose Transportation, Scelzi Enterprises, FK Rod Ends, Kaeding Performance, Brown and Miller Racing Solutions, Sweet Manufacturing, Weld Wheels, Simpson Race Products, Blast Tech, Tim Jones, G&J Truck Sales, Red Line Oil, K&N Filters, Schoenfeld Headers, Sparco and ButlerBuilt Professional Seat Systems 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 and to join Team ILP, contact Shawn at 541-510-3663 or InsideLinePromotions@gmail.com. For more information on Inside Line Promotions, visit http://www.InsideLinePromotions.com.
Article Credit: Inside Line Promotions
Submitted By: Shawn Miller
