Inside Line Promotions – ALGER, Wash. (June 27, 2023) – Dominic Scelzi earned a top-five result during the Jim Raper Memorial Super Dirt Cup finale for the third straight year.
Scelzi capped a busy 10-day stretch throughout the Northwest on Saturday by winning the pole shuffle to garner the Dick Wilskey Pole Award for the $62,000-to-win main event at Skagit Speedway.
“I felt we were really efficient every night,” he said. “On Saturday it was a little more top dominant and harder to race on than the two previous nights. The bottom wasn’t the place to start the feature. It went green and we ended up not getting the start we hoped for. The top had a lot more grip so we fell to second. We ran the leader down and got to racing with him. Then a yellow came out. We did that again and the yellow came out. We did it a third time and a red came out. The second half of the race went green to checkered I believe. We were maintaining with the leader. About 10 laps to go we started to fade a bit. We got stuck behind a lapped car and got passed by two cars. It was definitely a good weekend, but I’d be lying if I said I was happy with the result. I’ve already got the 2024 Dirt Cup circled on my calendar. I’m ready to go back next year.”
Scelzi was credited with a fourth-place result, which was his 15 th top five of the season. It also wrapped up a strong weekend at the high-banked oval, where he recorded a trio of top fives.
It began on Thursday when Scelzi timed in 11 th quickest out of more than 40 drivers. A run from sixth to third place in a heat race was followed by a charge from 10 th to fifth place in the main event.
“We went out kind of late and put down a good lap in qualifying,” he said. “It was good to go from sixth to third in the heat race. In the main event the track was really racy with grip on the bottom and the top. We were able to move our way up to a top five.”
Scelzi duplicated his success on Friday when he qualified seventh quickest and ended sixth in a heat race. The night concluded with Scelzi hustling from 13 th to third in the A Main to earn the Hard Charger Award for passing the most cars.
“We had a phenomenal race car,” he said. “We could run the top, the bottom and the middle a little bit as well. Both preliminary nights we got better and did what we needed to do.”
The three successful nights at Skagit Speedway was a nice rebound from how the previous weekend went during The Fastest Four Days in Motorsports with the NARC 410 Sprint Car Series.
Scelzi placed sixth on June 15 at Southern Oregon Speedway in Medford, Ore., where he was stymied by a flat tire in a heat race.
He was caught up in a crash in the feature the following night at Douglas County Dirt Track in Roseburg, Ore., where he ended with a 12th-place finish.
The highlight of the weekend was on June 17 at Willamette Speedway in Lebanon, Ore., where Scelzi garnered a third-place result.
That weekend concluded on June 18 at Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma, Wash., where Scelzi’s bid for a win ended early when he ran out of fuel while leading. He was credited with a 15th-place finish.
“I just have to laugh it off between the luck we had and some of the calls,” he said. “Sometimes you’re the bug and sometimes you’re the windshield. It’s unfortunate, but at the end of the day we’ve been on the other end of it. Our focus hasn’t changed. We just want to win races.”
The next opportunity for Scelzi is Saturday at Antioch Speedway in Antioch, Calif., with the Sprint Car Challenge Tour.
QUICK RESULTS –
June 15 – Southern Oregon Speedway in Medford, Ore. – Qualifying: 5; Heat race: 3 (1); Feature: 6 (8).
June 16 – Douglas County Dirt Track in Roseburg, Ore. – Qualifying: 5; Heat race: 1 (1); Dash: 6 (5); Feature: 12 (6).
June 17 – Willamette Speedway in Lebanon, Ore. – Qualifying: 3; Heat race: 1 (4); Dash: 3 (4); Feature: 3 (3).
June 18 – Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma, Wash. – Qualifying: 4; Heat race: 1 (1); Dash: 1 (1); Feature: 15 (1).
June 22 –Skagit Speedway in Alger, Wash. – Qualifying: 11; Heat race: 3 (6); Feature: 5 (10).
June 23 – Skagit Speedway in Alger, Wash. – Qualifying: 7; Heat race: 6 (7); Feature: 3 (13).
June 24 – Skagit Speedway in Alger, Wash. – Pole shuffle: 1 (2); Feature: 4 (1).
SEASON STATS –
22 races, 5 wins, 15 top fives, 17 top 10s, 20 top 15s, 22 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Saturday at Antioch Speedway in Antioch, 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