Scelzi Seeking Fresh Start Entering 21st annual Trophy Cup This Weekend

Inside Line Promotions – TULARE, Calif. (Oct. 15, 2014) – Dominic Scelzi is aiming for a fresh start this weekend when he tackles the 21st annual Trophy Cup at Thunderbowl Raceway.

“I called it quits on 2014 and this weekend will start 2015,” he said. “We’re going to consider this the first race of next year. The year 2014 was not good to us by any means.”

That was evident last Saturday at Thunderbowl Raceway during the 29th annual Cotton Classic with the King of the West 410 Sprint Car Series.

“We never had any luck,” he said. “We unloaded and went out for hot laps. I got on the gas down the backstretch and it didn’t sound right so I pulled off. We changed the ignition box and then we went out for one lap to check everything. It still didn’t fix the problem and we didn’t have enough time to change the engine before qualifying.”

Scelzi timed in 25th quickest, which started him on the inside of the fourth row for his heat race.

“We changed the magneto before the heat race and that was the problem,” he said. “The motor ran fine in the heat race, but we had a bleeder break in the right rear tire. I passed for fifth place on the second lap, but I never felt any good. Once I came into the pits after the race I had like three pounds of air in the right rear.”

Scelzi finished fifth in his heat race, which was one position out of locking his Roth Motorsports backed team into the main event. That started Scelzi on the inside of the fifth row for the B Main.

“On the first lap two cars got together in front of me and flipped,” he said. “I had nowhere to go.”

The team replaced the top wing, nose wing, steering arm and a drag link to allow Scelzi to restart the race at the back following the opening-lap crash. However, he was caught up in another wreck several laps later, which ended his night early.

Scelzi will return to Thunderbowl Raceway this Thursday through Saturday for the 21st annual Trophy Cup – a premier event he nearly won two years ago when he maintained the lead for a majority of the 50-lap race.

“I really want to thank the Finley family, who really helped us out by lending us an engine on late notice,” he said. “We really appreciate them and wouldn’t be able to race this weekend without their help.”