Scelzi Uses Last-Lap Pass to Earn First Career Win at Silver Dollar Speedway

Inside Line Promotions – CHICO, Calif. (Oct. 4, 2016) – Dominic Scelzi is able to breathe a little easier this week now that the monkey has jumped off his back.

After coming so close many times this season Scelzi recorded his first feature victory of the year last Friday at Silver Dollar Speedway during the opening round of the Fall Nationals, where he drove for Van Dyke Motorsports.

“It was huge,” he said. “It seemed like we could have had four or five wins this year. To finally get one and one we took from someone else was huge for my confidence. It was huge for me as a driver to jump into a new car and get the win. I feel like a million bucks.”

Scelzi kicked off the night by qualifying 13th quickest out of 42 drivers. That lined him up on the pole of a heat race, which he won to lock into the dash.

“It was a real last minute deal to drive Friday night,” he said. “It went really, really smooth. We timed in pretty good and were able to win the heat race to make the dash. In the dash we were pretty good as well, but the bottom started better so we finished second.”

Scelzi’s runner-up result in the dash lined him up on the outside of the front row for the main event.

“We made a couple of changes to help the car around the curb,” he said. “We took the green flag and I went to the top. I fell back to third. (Andy) Forsberg and (Kyle) Hirst got away from me for a while, but I reeled them back in. We had a yellow and I was all over Andy for second. We got caught behind a lapper and I thought we were going to run third, but Kyle got caught up with a lapped car coming to the white flag. On the restart Forsberg went to the bottom. I was able to run the top. The bottom was the preferred lane in turns three and four. I went through the middle and I was able to stay up with him. I think that’s what won us the race. We went back into turns one and two (on the last lap) and I got a really good run on the top. I got barely around him down the backstretch and got to the bottom first in turn three.”

Scelzi’s last-lap pass earned him his first career triumph at the famed quarter-mile oval. Here is a link to watch the main event: https://youtu.be/9vH_d1WDJXg.

The weekend concluded on Saturday when Scelzi drove for Nick McColloch.

“We went out second to last in qualifying and the curb was weird in turns three and four,” Scelzi said. “It was really rough on the exit. I felt really good, but we got into it wrong coming out of turn four.”

Scelzi timed in 10th quickest in his group. That lined him up on the inside of the third row for a heat race, where he advanced to place third to lock into the 12th starting position for the main event.

“We decided we were going to try some stuff,” he said. “We were just a little too tight. In the beginning of the race I was able to make the middle work. I drove up to fourth by Lap 15. As the middle went away my option was just around the bottom. I was too tight to make the top work. I ended up backing up to eighth.”

Scelzi’s eighth-place result was his 16th top 10 of the season.

He will return to his family owned car to race with the King of the West 410 Sprint Car Series this Friday at Ocean Speedway in Watsonville, Calif., before piloting the Van Lare Family entry on Saturday at Petaluma Speedway in Petaluma, Calif.