Giovanni Scelzi Puts Together Another Strong Sprint Car Performance

Inside Line Promotions – HANFORD, Calif. (May 16, 2016) – Giovanni Scelzi was oh so close to earning his first career sprint car victory last Friday at Keller Auto Speedway.

Scelzi, who was driving for Roth Motorsports, led 20 of the first 24 laps and he was in the lead with six laps remaining when a caution bunched the field together.

“Leading can be the worst place to be late in a race when the yellow comes out,” he said. “You don’t know where everyone else is running. Cory Eliason drove around me in turns one and two on the restart. A couple of laps later a guy slid in front of me in turns one and two. He went off the race track and it took all the air off my nose and I went off the edge. I was in the dirt just spinning the tires.”

Scelzi ended with a sixth-place result, which gives him a top six in all four career sprint car features.

“I can’t thank Dennis and Teresa Roth and Todd Ventura enough for the opportunity and the great car they provide,” he said. “I had an amazing car on Friday.”

Scelzi opened the night by qualifying third quickest.

“We drew a late number, but that place doesn’t change much,” he said. “My goal every night is to try to lock into the dash through qualifying. That makes your whole night easier.”

Scelzi did just that and he finished where he started – fourth – in a heat race to make the dash. He then pulled the No. 1 during the dash redraw to start the dash on the pole.

“We had an engine problem in the dash, but we got that fixed before the feature,” he said. “They changed a rocker arm so that was really impressive. That shows how good this team is.”

Scelzi’s dash win gave him the pole position for the 30-lap main event.

“We had one of the fastest cars in the race,” he said. “I was running the bottom in turns one and two and the top in turns three and four. The cushion was at the edge of the track in turns three and four.

“Colby (Copeland) slid me halfway through the race and I slid him back a few laps later. I was so pumped when that happened. I made a mistake and got him right back. I was in a great position until that last caution, but we learned from it and I think we’re getting closer to that first win.”

Here is a link to watch the main event: https://youtu.be/pZ6qKGMTkR8

Scelzi wrapped up his weekend on Saturday by helping Nikko and Alex Panella at a micro sprint race at Delta Speedway in Stockton, Calif.

“That was a great night,” he said. “Nikko and Alex did a great job. Nikko won and Alex ran second.”

Scelzi will return to action this Friday at Plaza Park Raceway in Visalia, Calif., where he will race his family owned micro sprint. Scelzi will then make his midget debut driving for Cory Kruseman on Saturday at Ventura Raceway in Ventura, Calif.