Giovanni Scelzi Caps Great Weekend With Podium Finish at Stockton Dirt Track

Inside Line Promotions – STOCKTON, Calif. (April 17, 2018) – Giovanni Scelzi scored his first top-five result of the season last Friday before topping that by earning his first podium finish of the year on Saturday.

The weekend began for Scelzi and his family owned, Roth Motorsports supported No. 41 team on Friday at Ocean Speedway in Watsonville, Calif., during a Taco Bravo Sprints show. Scelzi qualified third quickest, finished third in a heat race and ended third in the dash to line up on the inside of the second row for the A Main.

“The track was rough around the bottom and then the top blew off,” he said. “I was one of the first guys to find the top. I was up to fourth when I smoked a hole and almost turned it over. It bounced up on the right front and luckily sat back down.”

Scelzi lost several positions during the close call, but he rebounded during the second half of the race by maneuvering back into the top five before recording a fifth-place result. Here is a link to watch the main event: https://youtu.be/XcLFSK-2ZuA.

“It’s a track I haven’t felt great at in the past so to get more comfortable and have speed was good,” he said.

The weekend concluded on Saturday at Stockton Dirt Track during the 3 rd annual Jimmy Sills Classic, which was a Sprint Car Challenge Tour event that featured 53 competitors.

“We drew the No. 80 out of 80 pills so we were the last to qualify, but we timed in well for going out so late,” he said. “We moved forward in the heat and won the dash so everything set up well.”

Scelzi qualified 14th quickest overall and second best in his group. A runner-up result in his heat race advanced Scelzi into the dash, which he won after starting on the outside of the front row.

Scelzi continued the strong performance throughout the 30-lap A Main until his older brother, Dominic, made a race-winning pass with three laps remaining.

“The cautions fell at good times for me when we got to traffic,” he said. “We led 27 laps. Dominic showed me his nose and I got timid and tried to protect. I was around the bottom in turns one and two and he had momentum going down the backstretch and slid me into turn three.”

A caution came out a lap later and gave Dominic a clear track to pull away for the victory.

“It was definitely not what I wanted to see, but if I’m going to be beat I’m glad it was a team car,” Giovanni Scelzi said. “It’s one thing to lead a race and it’s another to win it. On a positive note to have a good night all the way through at Stockton was good for us.”

Scelzi ended third to garner his first podium of the season. Here is a link to watch the race: https://youtu.be/ME0WqI3sbMk.

He will return to Paul Silva’s No. 57 sprint car sponsored by Richard and Jennifer Marshall’s Priority Aviation Services this Friday at Ocean Speedway in Watsonville, Calif., and Saturday at Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare, Calif., with the King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Series.