Inside Line Promotions – MERCED, Calif. (April 24, 2023) – Dominic Scelzi captured his first feature victory of the season last Saturday during a Sprint Car Challenge Tour event at Merced Speedway.
Scelzi qualified second quickest in his group – and fifth overall out of the 40 drivers – before he won a heat race to advance into the dash. A run from fifth to third in the dash lined Scelzi up on the inside of the second row in the main event.
“That place notoriously takes rubber, but it always races good up to that point,” he said. “They reworked the track before the feature. I ran fourth for a little bit and then got to third. First and second started racing and I was able to get by second. I raced the leader for three or four laps. We went back and forth before I was able to get the lead around halfway. Around 10 or 12 laps to go we had a restart. Carson (Macedo) drove up to second by that point. He and I slid each other for three or four laps before I was able to put it away and get away to lead the last eight laps or so untouched.”
The victory was Scelzi’s first of the season and first career at Merced Speedway. It marked his seventh career triumph with the Sprint Car Challenge Tour.
“It was cool to finally get a win there,” he said. “I feel we’ve been in contention every time we’ve raced there and we’ve led a bunch of laps, but stupid stuff had kept us from winning. We’ve had awesome speed so it felt good to show some dominance on Saturday night.”
The win had been on the horizon as Scelzi has been hamstrung while leading his previous two outings.
After advancing from 10th to third during the Dennis Roth Classic opener on April 14 at Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare, Calif., Scelzi was leading the event finale the following night when contact with another competitor resulted in Scelzi crashing. He rallied from the back of the field to finish 10th.
Scelzi then kicked off last weekend on Friday at Ocean Speedway in Watsonville, Calif., where he qualified third quickest in his group, placed third in a heat race and started on the outside of the front row in the A Main.
“We started second and took the lead,” he said. “The track had big holes on the bottom and the top. They reworked it so it was fast in turns one and two. Turns three and four started getting slick so you could run the bottom or top. We were good in clean air, but lapped traffic was all over. We were just past the halfway point when a lapped car hit a hole, turned right and stopped right in front of me. I tried to spin to miss him, but slid him into him and got hit from behind.”
The contact ended Scelzi’s bid for the victory and he was credited with a 19th-place finish.
Fortunately, the team rebounded in a big way on Saturday with the win and looks to take that momentum into a NARC 410 Sprint Car Series race this Saturday at Antioch Speedway in Antioch, Calif.
QUICK RESULTS –
April 14 – Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare, Calif. – Qualifying: 11; Heat race: 3 (3); Feature: 3 (10).
April 15 – Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare, Calif. – Qualifying: 5; Heat race: 1 (1); Dash: 1 (2); Feature: 10 (1).
April 21 – Ocean Speedway in Watsonville, Calif. – Qualifying: 3; Heat race: 3 (4); Feature: 19 (2).
April 22 – Merced Speedway in Merced, Calif. – Qualifying: 2; Heat race: 1 (1); Dash: 3 (5); Feature: 1 (3).
SEASON STATS –
7 races, 1 win, 5 top fives, 6 top 10s, 6 top 15s, 7 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Saturday at Antioch Speedway in Antioch, Calif., for the Contra Costa County Clash with the NARC 410 Sprint Car Series
MEDIA LINKS –
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SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – Red Line Oil
Red Line Synthetic Oil provides technical support and more than 100 quality products, including motor oils, gear oils, assembly lubes, fuel additives and WaterWetter to the automotive, motorcycle, marine and industrial markets. For more information, visit http://www.RedLineOil.com.
“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, System 1, Fuel Delivery Services, Inc., Red Line Oil, FK Rod Ends, Schoenfeld Headers, Roth Motorsports, K&N Filters, Brown & Miller Racing Solutions, NAPA Auto Parts, Todd Jorgensen, Sparco, Allstar Performance, Meridian Steel, Auto Meter, 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.
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*PHOTO COURTESY OF SPRINT CAR CHALLENGE TOUR* 