Giovanni Scelzi Picks Up Pair of Top 10s During First Half of Ohio Sprint Speedweek

Giovanni Scelzi Picks Up Pair of Top 10s During First Half of Ohio Sprint Speedweek

Inside Line Promotions – ORRVILLE, Ohio (June 19, 2018) – Giovanni Scelzi is turning heads during the first half of Ohio Sprint Speedweek.

The 16-year-old has earned two heat race wins, a dash victory and a pair of top-10 feature finishes during the first four rounds of the nine-race Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions spectacle. He currently ranks seventh in the Speedweek standings.

“I think it’s been pretty good,” he said. “I’ve made a few mistakes, but that’s how it goes. We’ve been fast everywhere so it’s been good.”

Ohio Sprint Speedweek began for Scelzi and car owner Bernie Stuebgen last Friday at Attica Raceway Park in Attica, Ohio. Scelzi qualified third quickest in his group, won a heat race and placed third in a dash to start the main event sixth.

“We were running fifth or sixth midway through the race when I rolled under a guy and had too much speed,” he said. “I got on the brakes and spun, but kept going. They threw a yellow and we blended in around 10th or 12th.”

Scelzi rebounded from the incident to score a ninth-place result.

He made his debut at Eldora Speedway near Rossburg, Ohio, on Saturday. He timed in third quickest in his group again before placing third in a heat race. The night concluded with Scelzi rallying from 15th to eighth in the main event.

“That’s one of my favorite places I’ve been to this week,” he said. “It was cool going to another new place. I ran the top in turns one and two and the bottom in turns three and four, but on restarts we could go anywhere. We made up ground the whole race.”

Waynesfield Raceway Park in Waynesfield, Ohio, hosted Ohio Sprint Speedweek Round 3 on Sunday.

“We had steering issues and didn’t get hot laps,” he said. “We found out it was the wing valve and got that fixed. We qualified fourth in our group, but it didn’t count because we got one lap at the end so they credited us with fifth since we couldn’t make the heat race inversion. We were still close to a dash spot after a good heat race run though.”

Scelzi maneuvered from fifth to third place in a heat race to miss a spot in the dash by only one position. He then rallied from 16th to 11th in the main event.

“The track was rubber down when we got out there,” he said. “It was one lane around the middle. After the first the five or six laps we couldn’t move around much because it was really abrasive. We took what we could get.”

Scelzi ventured to Wayne County Speedway on Monday. He qualified third quickest in his group, won a heat race and picked up a dash victory to start the main event on the pole.

“I didn’t get going quick enough in the feature because I started low in the grease,” he said. “I fell to fourth and then was racing for fifth with Paul McMahan when I got my right front in the fence. I ended up riding the fence, but amazingly all it did was cut a right rear. Nothing else was wrong. It wasn’t the ending we wanted, but it was good to have speed.”

The incident ended the night early for Scelzi, who was credited with a 22 nd-place finish.

“Everywhere I go is really unique,” he said. “It’s cool to see new places and be fast at new places.”

Ohio Sprint Speedweek resumes on Tuesday at Sharon Speedway in Hartford, Ohio. The remaining races are Wednesday at Atomic Speedway in Chillicothe, Ohio; Thursday at Muskingum County Speedway in Zanesville, Ohio; Friday at Limaland Motorsports Park in Lima, Ohio; and Saturday at Atomic Speedway.