Inside Line Promotions – SANTA MARIA, Calif. (July 27, 2021) – Dominic Scelzi celebrated his first winning night as a father in style last Friday.
Scelzi doubled up by capturing the King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Series and Kings of Thunder main events at Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare, Calif., only one week after his daughter was born.
The big night propelled Scelzi back into the KWS-NARC points lead and he backed it up with a runner-up performance on Saturday at Santa Maria Speedway.
“One thing I’ve noticed since becoming a dad is a lot of the pressure has kind of been off,” he said. “I don’t want to say I’m not taking the racing as serious as I was, but I see it in a different light. My priorities have changed. Now I’m enjoying driving the race car even more than before, which is very neat.”
Scelzi opened the action on Friday during the Chris and Brian Faria Memorial. He qualified third quickest in his 410 group and placed fourth in a heat race, which earned enough points to advance into the dash. A sixth-place result in the dash lined him up on the outside of the third row for the main event.
“I felt really good,” he said. “We went out early and I didn’t feel like I put down a good qualifying lap so it felt good that we were able to stay toward the top of the qualifying times without our best showing. The track was fast in the heats and then we were pretty good in the dash, but the top was the dominant place to be. We ran sixth, but it wasn’t anything to shake our heads about. In the feature the track was widening out pretty quick. The top was the fastest place, but I got into third by running the bottom early in the feature. I kept that in the back of my mind. (D.J.) Netto and (Shane) Golobic didn’t go down there. When we got into traffic they were sliding guys. There were several times in open air when I’d try the bottom and it wasn’t good enough. When we got into traffic I felt like it would work and it did. Once we got by them both we got right back to the fence and we were able to cruise onto our second NARC with there this year.”
Scelzi’s victory was his series-best third of the season.
He topped the night off by hustling from eighth to win the Kings of Thunder feature, making him undefeated in six races at Thunderbowl Raceway this year. It also marked his 15th trip to Victory Lane this year.
“Once we pulled the 410 one off your confidence carries you at that point,” he said. “We got right to third I think in two laps. We got to second a lap or two after that. The leader had a good pace and was on the gas. I tried to maintain a little distance and bide my time. About halfway I started closing in and then he ended up getting into a crash with two lapped cars and we barely missed that. It paid off to be patience because we were able to miss that crash and lead the last 10 or 11 laps unchallenged.”
The weekend wrapped up on Saturday at Santa Maria Speedway, where Scelzi raced for the first time since 2019. He qualified eighth quickest and won a heat race to make the dash. Scelzi finished where he started – fifth – in the dash to put himself on the inside of the third row for the main event.
“We’ve been really good there,” he said. “I ran second there in 2016 to Kyle Hirst and we won there in 2019. The goal was to stay out of the work area.”
Scelzi avoided early melee and methodically worked his way into second by the midpoint of the feature on the tricky track. He tracked down the leader in the closing laps, but was unable to make a bid for the lead.
“We bided our time and missed the wrecks,” he said. “We closed on Bill (Aton) late, but couldn’t get by him. I kept getting under him in turn three and then he closed up his entry. That was a big win. There’s a lot of good guys in the NARC series so it’s neat to see him get a win.”
Scelzi plans on racing this Friday at Ocean Speedway in Watsonville, Calif., before running a Sprint Car Challenge Tour event on Saturday at Merced Speedway in Merced, Calif.
QUICK RESULTS –
July 23 – Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare, Calif. (410 sprint car) – Qualifying: 3; Heat race: 4 (4); Dash: 6 (5); Feature: 1 (6).
July 23 – Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare, Calif. (360 sprint car) – Qualifying: 5; Heat race: 2 (3); Feature: 1 (8).
July 24 – Santa Maria Speedway in Santa Maria, Calif. – Qualifying: 8; Heat race: 1 (2); Dash: 5 (5); Feature: 2 (5).
SEASON STATS –
39 races, 15 wins, 29 top fives, 33 top 10s, 35 top 15s, 35 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Friday at Ocean Speedway in Watsonville, Calif., and Saturday at Merced Speedway in Merced, Calif., with the Sprint Car Challenge Tour
MEDIA LINKS –
Website: http://www.GaryScelziMotorsports.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DominicScelzi41
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Scelzi41