Scelzi Maneuvers From Back of Field Toward Top 10 Before Bad Luck at Stockton
Inside Line Promotions – STOCKTON, Calif. (March 29, 2017) – Dominic Scelzi was putting on a show last Saturday during the FVP Western Spring Shootout, where he quickly charged from the back of the field toward the top 10 before a flat tire derailed the result.
“I’m pretty bummed because I think we had a top-10 car again, but on a positive note we were moving forward and passing a lot of cars,” he said. “Whenever you can contend for a top 10 during a World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series show, especially after starting at the back of the field, it’s something to build on.”
The World of Outlaws event, which was only one night after Friday’s race rained out, began on Saturday at Stockton Dirt Track with Scelzi qualifying 11th quickest in his group.
“We went out at a decent time and just didn’t have the speed we needed to qualify where we needed,” he said. “The small improvement is that instead of being three or four tenths off, we were only one tenth off.”
That lined Scelzi and his Roth Motorsports sponsored, family owned team up on the outside of the third row for a heat race.
“We jumped into fifth right away, but we biked in turn one,” he said. “We fell to sixth and were all over fifth the whole race. We had a restart with a couple of laps to go and I tried to blaze the top and we got hung out to dry.”
Scelzi ended with a sixth-place result to miss locking into the main event by only one position. That relegated him to the Last Chance Showdown, in which he advanced from fourth to third place to garner a transfer into the 23rd starting position for the main event.
“We went forward immediately and were up to 12th,” he said. “On a restart around Lap 10 we fell to 13th and were battling with Tim Kaeding for 12th. We went into turn one and the right front tire went flat and we went off the track in turn two. It actually came off the bead and the car wouldn’t turn. I was at the bottom of the track and went straight off. It was like the steering broke.”
Scelzi was just outside the top 10 right before the midpoint of the main event when the problem occurred, which ended the night early with a 19th-place finish. Here is a link to watch the feature: https://youtu.be/tFyHlthC5UE.
He is slated to compete this Friday at Keller Auto Speedway in Hanford, Calif., for the Kings Outlaw Shootout with the World of Outlaws before making his season debut driving for Nick McColloch this Saturday at Antioch Speedway in Antioch, Calif., with the Sprint Car Challenge Tour.