Scelzi Scores First Feature Win in Nearly Two Years, Takes King of the West Points Lead
Inside Line Promotions – STOCKTON, Calif. (June 16, 2015) – Dominic Scelzi dominated the King of the West 410 Sprint Car Series feature at Stockton Dirt Track last Saturday to reach Victory Lane for the first time in nearly two years.
“It’s amazing how much pressure it took off,” he said. “We’ve been down it seems way more than we’ve been up the past two years. It’s one of those things that when you work hard at something sometimes it’s harder to get the harder you work. It finally paid off. I’m so thankful to get a win. I feel like I needed it as a driver. I can’t thank all my sponsors and fans for sticking with me.”
Scelzi kicked off the event by qualifying fifth quickest in the Roth Motorsports backed entry before he finished fourth in a heat race. That locked Scelzi into the dash, where a fifth-place result lined him up on the inside of the third row for the 30-lap main event.
“We made quite a few changes from the heat race to the dash and several more to the main event,” he said. “Our biggest change we made was a shock change while I was getting in the car. We had no idea what it was going to do. For whatever reason it worked.”
Scelzi picked up a position on the opening lap and passed two more cars in turns one and two on the second lap before a caution aligned Scelzi on the front row of the double-file restart.
“Tyler Walker got us on the start and he slid from the bottom to the top,” he said. “I hit the bottom and was able to pass him. I ran the bottom for about 10 laps and got to traffic and moved to the top. Then around Lap 15 we started to develop a mechanical problem.”
Scelzi maintained the lead and held off the competitors despite a couple of late red flags to pull away to his second career King of the West triumph. It also propelled him into the lead of the championship standings.
“This win was a long time coming and I’m hoping now that it’s out of the way it will be easier to get another win,” he said.
Scelzi also competed last Friday at Keller Auto Speedway in Hanford, Calif., where he qualified 10th quickest before placing fourth in a heat race after contact flattened his left front tire.
“We didn’t realize it had broken a weld on the front axle,” he said. “We went into turn three on the opening lap and it broke and we got upside down.”
Scelzi was credited with a 19th-place result.
He is scheduled to take this weekend off before returning to action with the King of the West on June 26 at Ocean Speedway in Watsonville, Calif., for the Pombo/Sargent Classic and June 27 at Calistoga Speedway in Calistoga, Calif., for the Wine Country Classic.
Scelzi will also drive for Dan Monhoff throughout the Western Sprint Tour Speedweek, which encompasses six races at five tracks in Northern California and Oregon from June 28 through July 4.