Scelzi Nets his Best World of Outlaws Result following Charge at Stockton
Inside Line Promotions – STOCKTON, Calif. (March 21, 2016) – Dominic Scelzi is all smiles following what he described as his best weekend competing with the World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series.
Scelzi registered a career-best result with the series on Friday at the Stockton Dirt Track before he nearly capped the FVP Western Spring Shootout doubleheader on Saturday with his second straight top 10.
“It was an extremely good weekend,” he said. “I think we’re growing as a team and we are getting better every single night. I’ve had a race car every night this year that I’ve been able to drive. I’ve been able to learn and not have to worry about things a driver shouldn’t have to worry about when racing. My focus is on point and I think that has showed.”
The weekend began last Friday with Scelzi qualifying 18th quickest overall. He then finished where he started – fifth – in a heat race to lock into the 18th starting position for the 30-lap main event.
“We made it through our heat and then in the main event the car was perfect,” he said. “We ran the bottom in turns one and two and the top in turns three and four. Nobody was really running where we were running. We had the lanes to ourselves and could move forward.
“Actually on the first restart they ended up moving me back to 20th. Come to find out they had an issue with the transponders and they misread the numbers so they moved me back behind Jason Sides. In the beginning of the race I was racing really hard with the guys around me. About halfway I was around 14th or 15th. Once I got up there I was able to have an open track. I made all my speed up and was able to run around guys in front of me. I got to 12th before the last restart.”
Scelzi took advantage of the late-race restart as he picked up four positions in the final two laps.
“We had a really good restart,” he said. “I went to the top in turns three and four and everybody was trying to protect. We ended up getting around a few guys. It was a really good way to start the momentum that we now have.”
Scelzi’s eighth-place finish also netted him the Hard Charger Award for passing the most cars.
The weekend concluded on Saturday with Scelzi timing in 13th quickest during qualifying before placing sixth in a heat race. That locked him into the 16th starting position for the feature.
“In the main event I got to ninth when a yellow came out on Lap 10,” he said. “We were running real strong. When the race restarted I got back up to the cushion and it felt like I had a completely different race car. We’re not sure what happened. We were still in 11th with four or five laps to go, but the car got extremely hard to drive and it cost me several positions in the end.”
Scelzi held on for a 15th-place result.
He will take this weekend off before resuming action with the World of Outlaws on April 1 at Ocean Speedway in Watsonville, Calif., for the Ocean Outlaw Showdown presented by Budweiser and on April 2 at Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico, Calif., for the Mini Gold Cup.