Giovanni Scelzi Produces Fourth-Place Finish at Knoxville Raceway

Inside Line Promotions – KNOXVILLE, Iowa (July 15, 2019) – Giovanni Scelzi hustled to his second straight top-five result at Knoxville Raceway last Saturday.

“We’ve qualified good and had good heat races the last two weeks, but we’ve been hit with the eight both times for the feature inversion,” he said. “It’s tough when you start behind Kerry Madsen and next to Brian Brown. It’s hard enough racing with those guys much less passing them. I’m happy with the progress we’ve made with the No. 41s car.”

Scelzi qualified third quickest out of 35 entrants in the 410ci winged sprint car division. He then maneuvered his family owned race car from sixth to third place in a heat race. Scelzi ranked second in overall points heading into the main event, which was inverted by eight. He progressed throughout the race and made a late-race pass to secure a fourth-place finish, which was his 11th top five of the season.

“I felt good going into the night and throughout the night,” he said. “It’s always about warming up for the Knoxville Nationals. Getting laps is so, so valuable. I only have a few races there so we keep learning.”

Scelzi is scheduled to tackle a pair of marquee sprint car events in Ohio this week. The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series action begins on Tuesday at Attica Raceway Park in Attica for the Ohio Logistics Brad Doty Classic. Eldora Speedway near Rossburg hosts the Kings Royal from Wednesday through Saturday. Scelzi will be in his family owned car during both races with Bernie Stuebgen leading the team.

“Attica is probably one of my favorite tracks,” Scelzi said. “I haven’t been there this year, but we ran well there last year.

“The Kings Royal is a big race and having four days in a row is going to be fun. Eldora is a fast place. You’re pretty much running wide open. I’m looking forward to it. We’ve ran well there this year. We ran ninth the first night of the World of Outlaws show (in the spring) and was leading the heat race the second night when it rained out.”

Scelzi charged from 22nd to 14th during his Brad Doty Classic debut last year. He also drove into the A Main during the two Kings Royal preliminary nights in 2018. His ninth-place finish during a World of Outlaws event at Eldora Speedway in May marked his career-best Outlaws finish at the track.