Scelzi Hampered by Late-Race Incidents at Keller Auto Speedway and Tulare Raceway
Inside Line Promotions – TULARE, Calif. (May 17, 2016) – Last weekend featured a couple of circumstances that kept Dominic Scelzi from potential top-five finishes.
The action began on Friday in a 360ci sprint car at Keller Auto Speedway in Hanford, Calif., where Scelzi qualified second quickest and advanced from fourth to third place in a heat race and from seventh to sixth place in the dash to start the main event on the outside of the third row.
“I got up to third within a few laps and ran around there for most of the race,” he said. “Late in the race I had contact with another car going down the back straightaway and it messed up our front end. I ran two or three laps and fell back to sixth when there was a caution with about six laps remaining.”
Scelzi maneuvered back into third on the restart before his left front tire went flat. He pulled off the track with five laps remaining and was credited with a 16th-place result.
Click on the link to watch the main event: https://youtu.be/1G_DFjundUI.
The Roth Motorsports sponsored team ventured to Thunderbowl Raceway on Saturday for the Chris & Brian Faria Memorial with the King of the West 410 Sprint Car Series.
“Qualifying was difficult because the track slicked up off turn two,” he said. “It was definitely an advantage to go out early so that hurt us going out last.”
Scelzi qualified 18th quickest and he placed sixth in a heat race to lock into the 19th starting position for the main event.
“In the feature I had an early caution that sent me to the back of the pack, but I overcame that and got into the top 10 with nine laps to go,” he said. “On a restart there was a pileup down the front straightaway. A car got into the back of me and it broke my right rear shock and ripped the brake line so I had no brakes or right rear shock the last few laps.”
Scelzi, who was battling an ill-handing car in the closing laps, held on for an 11th-place finish.
Click on the link to watch the main event: https://youtu.be/uN40vrfjol4.
“It’s one of those things where on Friday we had a fast car and definitely a top two or three car,” he said. “Due to circumstances we weren’t able to get the finish we wanted. On Saturday we recovered big time from qualifying, but due to a series of events we weren’t able to come away with a top 10.”
Scelzi is scheduled to compete this Saturday at Stockton Dirt Track in Stockton, Calif., for the Salute to LeRoy VanConett with the King of the West before he heads to the Midwest to race throughout the summer.