Inside Line Promotions – BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (Nov. 3, 2022) – Although mechanical woes derailed a great result for Dominic Scelzi last Saturday, he was able to increase his lead in the King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Series championship standings.
Scelzi now owns a 65-point advantage entering the season finale this Saturday when Stockton Dirt Track in Stockton, Calif., hosts the 39th annual Tribute to Gary Patterson. Scelzi simply needs to take a green flag to garner the series championship for the second straight season.
“Our consistency has been incredible this season and we’ve had a lot of good runs,” he said. “A lot of people worked hard in the offseason and got better. We did, too, but there’s so many cars capable of winning out here. It’s been a great season and we’re fortunate to have had the success we’ve had.”
Last Saturday started out promising for Scelzi, who qualified fourth quickest at The Dirt Track at Kern County Raceway Park. He advanced from third to second place in a heat race and from sixth to third place in the dash to earn the third starting spot in the A Main.
“We were really good,” he said. “We timed in good and ran good in the heat and in the dash. I truly felt we were the strongest car there. The engine started going on the first start of the feature. I knew something was wrong and figured I needed to stay out as long as I could to minimize the points lost. Once Willie (Croft), who is second in the points, had his incident I decided to pull.”
Scelzi was running third when he exited the race early because of the mechanical problem. He was credited with an 18th-place result.
The KWS/NARC season concludes this Saturday. Scelzi will also compete in the 360ci winged sprint car competition with the Sprint Car Challenge Tour during the Tribute to Gary Patterson.
“This is a big event so it’d be nice to end the season with a win or two,” he said. “I’d like to get to five NARC wins this year and if we could do that it’d put me at 20 career wins with the series. We’re at nine wins overall this season so we need one more to hit double digits.”
Following Saturday’s event Scelzi plans on tackling four additional nights of action this season – the 2nd annual Keith Bryan Memorial at Cocopah Speedway in Somerton, Ariz., Nov. 11-12 and a Kings of Thunder doubleheader at Merced Speedway in Merced, Calif., Nov. 22-23.
QUICK RESULTS –
Oct. 29 – The Dirt Track at Kern County Raceway Park in Bakersfield, Calif. – Qualifying: 4; Heat race: 2 (3); Dash: 3 (6); Feature: 18 (3).
SEASON STATS –
54 races, 9 wins, 27 top fives, 37 top 10s, 44 top 15s, 47 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Saturday at Stockton Dirt Track in Stockton, Calif., for the 39th annual Tribute to Gary Patterson with the King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Series and Sprint Car Challenge Tour