Dominic Scelzi Earns First Career Knoxville Win to Lock Into Knoxville Nationals for First Time
Inside Line Promotions – KNOXVILLE, Iowa (Aug. 13, 2018) – The 58 th annual 5-Hour Energy Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s General Stores couldn’t have been much more emotional for Dominic Scelzi, whose roller coaster ride shifted from heartbreak to triumph during sprint car racing’s marquee event last weekend at Knoxville Raceway.
The spectacle began on Wednesday at the half-mile oval, where Scelzi qualified 23rd quickest after going out late among the more than 40 competitors. He then won a heat race from the fourth starting position to move into 11th in points, which lined him up on the inside of the sixth row for the A Main.
Scelzi advanced several positions and was running inside the top 10 when the u-joint failed with only a handful of laps remaining, dropping him from what would have likely locked his Scelzi Motorsports entry into Saturday’s A Main.
“On Wednesday I wanted to cry,” he said. “I was so upset. When Gio (Scelzi) made it in on Thursday I was so happy for him. All day Friday I was so ticked off that something happened to keep us out I was determined to get redemption for us and we did. You go from the lowest of lows to the highest of highs.”
Scelzi returned to the track on Friday a day after learning that his brother’s preliminary night performance locked him into Saturday’s main event. Dominic Scelzi timed in 11th quickest in his group and ended third in a heat race to lock into the 16th starting position in the main event.
“I felt like the only way we could rebound was to run top four in the main event or win the World Challenge,” he said. “With the way the Hard Knox format is it’s unforgiving. We qualified good, but not good enough to get us up front for the main event since it reverts back to qualifying times. I didn’t make as good of laps as I wanted and it’s tough to drive through the field when there are so many great drivers in front of you if you aren’t nearly perfect.”
Scelzi advanced several positions to finish 12th in the race, but had one final option to garner a lock-in position to Saturday’s Knoxville Nationals main event. He started fifth in the 20-lap SPEED SPORT World Challenge, which is an international race he qualified for thanks to spending his offseason racing in Australia.
“I was frustrated with my performance so for the World Challenge I knew what I needed to do as a driver,” he said. “I talked to Scotty and my brother about keeping my head on straight and running good laps. This was the 11th hour. We’re either in or out from here and this is the best shot I’ll have at making the Knoxville Nationals.
“We started in fifth and got to the top to move right to third. The guy in second was making himself pretty wide. You don’t want to give anyone a chance to get by you so I had to be a little conservative. I thought if I could get to second I’d have a shot at Brooke (Tatnell). We were able to do that and we got a caution. When a yellow comes out you know pretty much anyone who is leading will slide themselves in turns one and two. If I could get a good start I’ll take the chance of losing second by running the top. We got a good start, he slid himself and we stayed up top. We had great momentum and we were able to slide him for the lead going into turn three.”
Scelzi took the lead just before the midpoint of the race, but was put in the same position as Tatnell several laps later when a caution came out.
“I did have a stumble so I tried to start the race a little faster,” Scelzi said. “I didn’t do a good enough job. We sort of wheelied and James McFadden got by me. We were able to stay up and get back by him off turn four. After that I knew I had to set a strong enough pace where nobody could run me down. I tried to make the best pace as I could. I’m thankful it stayed green.”
Scelzi pulled away for the victory, which was his first career at Knoxville Raceway. The win locked him into Saturday’s $150,000-to-win A Main for the first time in his career. Here is a link to watch the race: https://youtu.be/F9xq9Rt9BZk.
“There’s no words that can describe it to me,” he said. “It was the greatest moment of my life. I can’t put into words how special it is to me, my team and my family. It’s something I’m never going to forget for the rest of my life.”
Unfortunately, an ignition problem kept the team from making hot laps on Saturday. The problem was remedied before Scelzi started the 50-lap main event from the rear.
“We went a lap down early, but I knew that’d be a factor,” he said. “We knew starting 25th those guys would catch you pretty quick. I think we went down a lap on Lap 15 and then there was a caution on Lap 19. I was disappointed that happened. We raced up to around 13th or so before the final yellow came out. If we could have stayed on the lead lap and restarted 13th with two laps to go a top 10 was in sight. However, to be plus-nine, I’m beyond happy with it.”
Scelzi was tied for the second-most cars passed in the race as he maneuvered from 25th to a 16th-place result.
Next up, the team will join the World of Outlaws for races this Friday at River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks, N.D., for the 2nd Leg of the Northern Tour and Saturday at Red River Valley Speedway in West Fargo, N.D., for the Duel in the Dakotas.