Inside Line Promotions – MILTON, Fla. (May 18, 2020) – Dominic Scelzi capped a hectic week by capturing his third top-five finish of the season last Saturday at Southern Raceway.
Scelzi tackled four races in three states during a nine-day stretch, which he closed with his best performance by earning a heat race win and a fourth-place feature result during his first career weekend of racing in Florida.
“We were pretty good,” he said. “I felt like we were better than fourth place, but the rubber came a little bit early. It was tough because it was a really sandy surface, something that I have never raced on. It made it very difficult to get ahold of anything. I was able to get by Greg (Wilson) for third place twice, but cautions put me back both times. Then it laid rubber and from that time on it was follow the leader.”
The strong run came on the heels of a challenging debut at the track on Friday. Scelzi advanced from fourth to third place in a heat race and from 13th to 11th in the USCS Series main event.
“The track was really dirty and it was hard to get ahold of anything,” he said. “I don’t think I started getting going until Lap 15 or Lap 16, but by then it’s too late. We changed a lot before Saturday’s race and I think it showed.”
The long week and a half of racing began on May 8 with a World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series show at Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa, where Scelzi placed fifth in the Last Chance Showdown to finish one position shy of making the A Main out of the stacked field of 48 drivers.
“I think the pill draw is what hurt me going out as the last car in the first group,” he said. “For when we went out our qualifying effort wasn’t terrible, but the track slowed down quite a bit. In the heat race I passed for fifth, but made a mistake. I felt like I needed to get back to the top after passing Brad (Sweet), but he got around me and that took us out of the main event. We were really, really good in the B Main. We got up to third and the yellow came out. The middle line didn’t take off as well on the second start and I spun my tires. We backed it up to seventh. We rallied to get a couple more positions, but just missed making the main event. We were bummed that we missed the show, but to look at the quality of cars and it was our first 410 race with (new crew chief) Jimmy (Carr), I was pleased that we gained really, really fast and we had good speed.”
Scelzi headed to West Texas Raceway in Lubbock, Texas, last Tuesday for the West Texas Crude Nationals. He qualified fourth quickest in his group and a third-place outing in a heat race lined him up on the outside of the seventh row for the main event.
“The biggest thing for me was we had so much speed while we raced,” he said. “We had a bad stumble and that put us to third right away in the heat race. We made a couple of changes for the main event and we were able to race up to sixth. The race was cut to 25 laps (because of time) and I wish it had stayed at 30 because I was still moving forward.”
Scelzi’s rally from 14th to sixth was tied for the second-most cars passed.
The event finale rained out on Wednesday.
Next up is a trip to Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 in Pevely, Mo., this Friday and Saturday for a World of Outlaws doubleheader. It will mark Scelzi’s debut at the track.
“I’ve been there four different times and it’s rained out every time,” he said. “With all the stuff going on this year I’ve been to some new race tracks, places I wouldn’t normally have gone to, so it’s exciting to see new tracks.”
QUICK RESULTS –
May 8 – Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa – Qualifying: 16; Heat race: 6 (8); B Main: 5 (5).
May 12 – West Texas Raceway in Lubbock, Texas – Qualifying: 4; Heat race: 3 (1); Feature: 6 (14).
May 15 – Southern Raceway in Milton, Fla. – Heat race: 3 (4); Feature: 11 (13).
May 16 – Southern Raceway in Milton, Fla. – Heat race: 1 (2); Feature: 4 (6).
SEASON STATS –
8 races, 0 wins, 3 top fives, 5 top 10s, 6 top 15s, 7 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Friday and Saturday at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 in Pevely, Mo., with the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series
MEDIA LINKS –
Website: http://www.
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VIDEO –
Here is a link to a highlight video: https://vimeo.com/161410751
Here is a link to a promotional video: https://vimeo.com/160322149
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – Schoenfeld Headers
Schoenfeld Headers is the world’s largest manufacturer of circle-track headers. The company also specializes in a variety of high-quality exhaust parts, including turn-downs, extensions, tubing bends and elbows, race mufflers, insert mufflers and mandrel bends. For more information, visit http://www.SchoenfeldHeaders.
“Schoenfeld produces the best headers in the business,” Scelzi said. “We have been very happy with their craftsmanship as well as the customer service we receive.”
Scelzi would like to thank Scelzi Enterprises, Red Rose Transportation, Inc., Whipple Superchargers, Roth Motorsports, Panella Trucking, Fuel Delivery Services, Inc., Red Line Oil, FK Rod Ends, Schoenfeld Headers, NAPA Auto Parts, Sparco, Todd Jorgensen, Brown & Miller Racing Solutions, K&N Filters, Allstar Performance, Meridian Steel, Auto Meter, Worldwide Bearings and Kenny’s Components 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.