Giovanni Scelzi Charges From 23rd to Ninth During First Career Trophy Cup A Main
Inside Line Promotions – TULARE, Calif. (Oct. 24, 2017) – Giovanni Scelzi had one of the fastest race cars last weekend during the 24th annual Trophy Cup at Thunderbowl Raceway.
Unfortunately, luck wasn’t on his side during preliminary A Mains on Thursday and Friday.
The three-day event, which featured approximately 90 drivers, began with Scelzi and the Roth Motorsports team setting quick time during group qualifying on Thursday. Scelzi then powered from sixth to third place in a heat race to earn enough points to lock into the 10th starting position of the main event.
“The most difficult part of the night is qualifying and the heat race,” he said. “We got through that and I was third in points, which was nice. The track was pretty good in the main event. I was running the wall at both ends. I got by Bud Kaeding into around seventh place. Then I got too high and into the fence. It was completely my fault. I was trying to push too hard.”
Here is a link to watch the main event: https://youtu.be/9aTNKGMQnqQ.
Scelzi, who was credited with a 19th-place result, returned to the oval on Friday for Round 2. He timed in sixth quickest in his group before maneuvering from fifth to third place in a heat race. That placed him 10th in the main event for the second straight night.
“We were third in points again so I had a great shot,” he said. “On the first lap there was a chain reaction in front of me. Someone ran into me so we got turned around and had to restart at the back. The track was rough and hooked up. I thought if I could finish I’d be in the top 10 or top 12. I was up to around 18th when someone got upside down right in front of me and I had nowhere to go.”
Here is a link to watch the A Main: https://youtu.be/NF_rRdsReWs.
Scelzi, who was caught up in another race-ending crash, was credited with a 21st-place finish and he ranked 21st in overall points entering the finale on Saturday. Scelzi placed fifth in a heat race after starting on the inside of the third row. That relegated him to the B Main, in which he rallied from sixth to third place to garner a transfer into the back of the main event. It marked his first career Trophy Cup A Main start.
“We didn’t have anything to lose,” he said. “All we can do is try to survive and run for a top 10. I just tried to miss all the wrecks. We drove by Jason Solwold, Jason Meyers, Tanner Thorson and Carson Macedo, who all were high-points guys. It’s nice to know we had that speed.”
Scelzi charged from 23rd to ninth place in the A Main, which was his 27th top 10 of the season. He ended the weekend ranked 15th in event points. Here is a link to watch the main event: https://youtu.be/DggmwWCQXtA.
Scelzi will be off this weekend before driving for Roth Motorsports on Nov. 4 at Stockton Dirt Track in Stockton, Calif., with the King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Series. He enters the KWS-NARC season finale in the hunt for the championship.