Giovanni Scelzi Rebounds From Early Misfortune in Arkansas and California

Inside Line Promotions – PETALUMA, Calif. (Aug. 28, 2017) – Giovanni Scelzi overcame tough luck during the start of a pair of main events last weekend.

Scelzi charged from sixth to third place on Thursday at Riverside International Speedway in West Memphis, Ark., during a Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour heat race. That locked him and the BDS Motorsports team into the feature redraw, in which he pulled the No. 2 during the random redraw to start the main event on the outside of the front row.

“I made a mistake that cost us a chance at winning the race,” he said. “(Aaron) Reutzel got the jump on me. I went to turn underneath him. The guy in third didn’t know I was there. We met in the middle and I got the short end of the stick.”

The contact in turn one on the opening lap spun Scelzi around and he was forced to restart the race last – 22nd.

“The track was good and it was a fun track,” he said. “We were able to go forward. I felt like we were still moving at the end of the race. Once the leaders got to me I felt like I was just as fast with them. If I could have stayed up there I could have challenged for the win. It’s frustrating to make a mistake and not give yourself a chance, but you’re going to have nights like that. We were competitive and I learned so it was a good night.”

Scelzi rebounded from the early miscue to garner a 12th-place finish.

The weekend wrapped up on Saturday at Petaluma Speedway, where he and the Roth Motorsports team qualified fourth quickest during the King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Series event. Scelzi then placed fourth in a heat race to start the main event on the outside of the fifth row.

“We pushed off for the feature and I could feel the steering wheel shift so I pulled into the work area,” he said. “A bolt snapped so I lost steering. They fixed it real quick and we had to start last. The track was one lane around the middle so I was surprised we were able to get a top 10.”

Scelzi powered from last – 19th – to post a 10th -place result. He now ranks second in the championship standings with three series races remaining.

Scelzi and Roth Motorsports will compete this Saturday at Keller Auto Speedway in Hanford, Calif., in a 360ci sprint car event.