Giovanni Scelzi Moves Forward in Brad Doty Classic Before Making Two Kings Royal Prelim A Mains

Giovanni Scelzi Moves Forward in Brad Doty Classic Before Making Two Kings Royal Prelim A Mains

Inside Line Promotions – ROSSBURG, Ohio (July 18, 2018) – Giovanni Scelzi took another step forward in his young sprint car career last week by making three of four A Mains with the World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series, which featured approximately 50 competitors each night.

Scelzi and the Indy Race Parts backed, Bernie Stuebgen owned team opened the busy week last Tuesday at Attica Raceway Park in Attica, Ohio, during the Ohio Logistics Brad Doty Classic. Scelzi qualified 10th quickest in his group before a fourth-place result in both a heat race and the Last Chance Showdown locked him into the main event.

“It was really wet around the bottom and in dirty air you couldn’t do much,” he said. “I worked the bottom the whole race to get what I could. Whenever I’d move up the track I’d lose a spot or two. It was good to run 40 laps and make it through there with a few positions gained.”

Scelzi rallied from 22nd to 14th.

The team ventured to Eldora Speedway on Thursday for the first night of the 35th annual Kings Royal weekend. Scelzi timed in third quickest in his group and he placed second in a heat race to lock into the dash. A seventh-place result in the dash lined him up on the inside of the fourth row for the A Main.

“I had a good heat race, but I didn’t have the best dash or feature,” he said. “The guys are so good there. I passed some cars at the end once I got into a rhythm. I have to work on being more aggressive and making decisions quick enough.”

Scelzi placed 14th for the second straight race.

He overcame a 20th-place qualifying result on Friday by maneuvering from seventh to third place during a heat race at Eldora Speedway.

“I didn’t qualify very good, but we got lucky in the heat race when a couple of guys crashed,” he said. “Since we were starting so far back in the main event we decided to try some stuff because we didn’t have anything to lose. It didn’t work as well as we had hoped, but you have to try different things to get better. I felt like I drove the most aggressive from the weekend. We were still loose and I had the wing pretty far back, but it still didn’t give us the forward drive we were looking for. But it was a good learning experience.”

Scelzi’s 22nd-place finish guided the team into the Kings Royal finale on Saturday. Scelzi qualified 11th quickest out of more than 50 drivers, but that was too good for the format that rewards drivers who time in in the 20s by putting them on the front row of a heat race. Scelzi started and finished fourth in a heat race.

“We weren’t bad enough to be on the front row or good enough to qualify in the top two, which locked into the A Main,” he said. “We were good in the heat, but it was tough to get around the guy for third. Then in the B Main we didn’t get a good first start and fell back with guys sliding each other. It just wasn’t quite enough.”

Scelzi ended the weekend seventh in the Last Chance Showdown, which was only three positions shy of a transfer into the A Main during his event debut.

“We had a solid week throughout,” he said. “It was a really successful week of learning. Going back to places we’ve seen before was helpful so I think when we go back to those tracks again I’ll be that much further.”

Scelzi will take this weekend off before competing July 28 at Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa, and July 29 at 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa, with the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions.