Giovanni Scelzi Wins Opening Night of Peter Murphy Classic at Thunderbowl

Inside Line Promotions – TULARE, Calif. (May 22, 2018) – Giovanni Scelzi scored his first feature victory of the season last Friday when he bested more than 50 competitors to claim the opening night of the Peter Murphy Classic.

Scelzi kicked off the doubleheader at Thunderbowl Raceway by setting quick time in his group during qualifying on Friday. He then advanced from fourth to second place to earn a spot into the Sprint Car Challenge Tour dash.

“We went out really late and qualified good,” he said. “We were quick time in our group and moved forward in the heat. We were one of the last to draw for the dash and got the No. 2 so we had a good starting spot for the dash.”

Scelzi took advantage as he guided his family owned team to the dash win, which garnered the pole position for the A Main.

“It was rubber down before we went out,” he said. “For the first few laps in I was running around the bottom. It’s hard to know how hard you need to push, especially in the rubber like that.

Kyle Hirst was riding above and got clear of me, but luckily a yellow came out and that showed me where to go. There were lanes of rubber around the track. The bottom is so flat and the top is banked so you can carry more speed up there.”

Scelzi led the distance of the race to record his first triumph of the season and his first career Sprint Car Challenge Tour victory. Here is a link to watch the main event: https://youtu.be/azQfcjmkQ9o.

“It seems like the hardest one to knock off is the first one,” he said. “The pressure is off. It’s nice to get my first SCCT win, too.”

The weekend concluded on Saturday at Thunderbowl Raceway with the King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Series. Scelzi qualified 11th quickest overall before a heat race win locked him into the 11th starting position for the Peter Murphy Classic main event.

“We didn’t time in as well as we wanted so we made a lot of changes for the heat and were way, way better,” he said. “We were tied for the last dash spot, but they gave it to Tim Kaeding because he qualified better. Then the rest of the feature lineup goes back to qualifying time so we started 11 th.”

Scelzi gained a few positions before the track took rubber. He ended with a seventh-place result. Here is a link to watch the race: https://youtu.be/JbTSNL85c78.

“I want to thank Bernie Stuebgen for coming out and helping our family team last weekend,” he said. “I’m excited to head east this weekend for a bunch of races with Bernie.”

Scelzi will return to the Indy Race Parts No. 71 this weekend for races on Friday at Attica Raceway Park in Attica, Ohio; Saturday at Wayne County Speedway in Orrville, Ohio; and Sunday at Waynesfield Raceway Park in Waynesfield, Ohio, with the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions before wrapping up the holiday weekend on Monday at Lawrenceburg Speedway in Lawrenceburg, Ind., with the World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series.