7/30/2015
Inside Line Promotions
Scelzi Sidelined Six-to-Eight Weeks with Compression Fractures in Back
(Photo by Collin Markle Photography)
Inside Line Promotions – TULARE, Calif. (July 30, 2015) – Dominic Scelzi will be sidelined for at least the next month and a half after he sustained several compression fractures in his back last Saturday during a crash at the Peter Murphy Classic.
Scelzi, who entered the King of the West 410 Sprint Car Series event at Thunderbowl Raceway as the championship points leader, was injured during the opening laps of the feature when his car got into the cushion, pirouetted and landed hard on the rear end.
“I have five or six compression fractures in my upper and lower back as well as one in the base of my neck,” he said. “I’ll be out for at least six-to-eight weeks. No surgery, basically just bed rest. I’m supposed to be off my feet for most of the day. When I do get up I can’t lift anything or do anything strenuous at all. It’s pretty strict lockdown.”
Scelzi had kicked off the marquee event by qualifying 13th quickest. He led most of his heat race before a mechanical problem sent him into the pits on Lap 7. That relegated him to the B Main, which he won to garner the 14th starting position in the main event.
“I was trying to stay out of trouble to start the feature,” he said. “I got into the cushion a little hard. That was one of the easiest crashes. It only bent the bottom rails up. I just landed in a bad way.”
Scelzi was running just outside the top 10 when the accident occurred.
“I felt immediate pain in three spots of my back,” he said. “It was really difficult for me to move my arms and legs. They wanted to take extreme caution. Fortunately nothing was broken.”
The safety crew elected to cut the frame to get Scelzi out of his sprint car. He was then taken to a hospital and has been visiting doctor’s offices all week since the crash.
“I want to give a shout out to the safety team and a huge thanks to Cary Tanner for getting me in to see a doctor on such short notice,” he said. “My goal if I’m cleared is to come back for Gold Cup (Sept. 11-12 at Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico, Calif.). As soon as I’m available to get back and I’m cleared I’m going to hit every race in California as possible.”
Not only will the injury test Scelzi’s patience during the next several weeks, it eliminates his opportunity at winning his first career King of the West championship.
“We had a really good shot at the championship,” he said. “It’s really disappointing and it hurts a lot. We had our sights on winning the championship and due to one mishap we’re taken out of it. But it could always be worse.”
Scelzi also competed last Friday at Ocean Speedway in Watsonville, Calif., where he qualified sixth quickest and finished second in a heat race to advance into the dash. He then maneuvered from eighth to fifth place during the dash, which lined him up on the inside of the third row for the main event.
“We were really good,” he said. “I took the lead before a yellow came out midway through the race. I just didn’t have very good restarts.”
Scelzi ended with a third-place result, which was his 12th top five of the season.
QUICK RESULTS –
July 24 – Ocean Speedway in Watsonville, Calif. – Qualifying: 6; Heat race: 2 (2); Dash: 5 (8); Feature: 3 (5).
July 25 – Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare, Calif. – Qualifying: 13; Heat race: DNF (1); B Main: 1 (1); Feature: 22 (14).
SEASON STATS –
40 races, 1 win, 12 top fives, 21 top 10s, 22 top 15s, 28 top 20s
UP NEXT –
TBD
MEDIA LINKS –
Website: http://www.GaryScelziMotorsports.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DominicScelzi41
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Gary-Scelzi-Motorsports/225890834113599
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – Big & Deep Ag Development
Located in the Bakersfield, Calif., area, Big & Deep Ag Development provides services including deep ripping, stubble discing, dozer and grader work, tree and vine removal, build berms and GPS marking to name a few. For more information, call 661-343-1004.
“We became involved with Big & Deep Ag Development through Fowler Packing, Todd Jorgenson and many of our other sponsors,” Scelzi said. “It’s great to have them on board and we’re grateful for their partnership.”
Scelzi would also like to thank Whipple Superchargers, Fowler Packing, Fuel Delivery Services, Inc., Panella Trucking, Carlucci Transport, Red Rose Transportation, Inc., Scelzi Enterprises, Roth Motorsports, Kaeding Performance, Red Line Oil, FK Rod Ends, Schoenfeld Headers, Brown and Miller Racing Solutions, Sweet Manufacturing, Weld Wheels, Simpson Race Products, Blast Tech, Tim Jones, Todd Jorgensen, G&J Truck Sales, K&N Filters, Sparco, ButlerBuilt Professional Seat Systems and ARP 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.
Article Credit: Inside Line Promotions
Submitted By: Shawn Miller
