Dominic Scelzi Secures First Win of the Season With Late-Race Pass at Stockton
Inside Line Promotions – STOCKTON, Calif. (April 16, 2018) – Dominic Scelzi captured one of his most memorable victories of his career last Saturday at Stockton Dirt Track during the 3rd annual Jimmy Sills Classic.
Scelzi kicked off the Sprint Car Challenge Tour event by qualifying 22 nd overall out of the 53 competitors and fourth quickest in his group. That earned him the pole position for a heat race, which he won to advance into the dash.
“We qualified where we needed and won our heat race, which is what we needed to do,” he said. “We drew the No. 5 for the dash and fell to sixth on the start, but got back to fifth. That started us fifth in the A Main, which I was concerned about because the top was starting so much better than the bottom.”
Scelzi quickly maneuvered into fourth place and he took advantage of restarting on the outside lane during an early restart as he powered into the runner-up position behind his younger brother, Giovanni.
“I chased Gio down about three different times,” he said. “I needed about 10 laps to get to him because we had a stumble on the restarts. We kept having cautions. Finally we had 10 laps green and we squeaked by him on Lap 28. The bottom was faster in turns one and two, but I was the only guy who was running the top in turns one and two when I’d get behind cars. I was able to get a good enough run to slide him going into turn three and then we got a caution the next lap. It’s awesome to be able to run down my little brother and get by him for the win.”
Scelzi’s win was his first of the season and his fourth at the track, which is tied for the most at Stockton Dirt Track. Here is a link to watch the race: https://youtu.be/f2muEHJS8QQ.
“It goes far more than bragging rights,” he said. “My little brother is my hero. He’s the next big thing in sprint car racing. To be able to run someone down like that, who you look up to, and get by them late to get the win was huge for me. It’s something I’m never going to forget.”
Dominic Scelzi was just as fast the previous night at Ocean Speedway in Watsonville, Calif., where he qualified second quickest, placed fourth in a heat race and ended second in the dash to start the A Main on the outside of the front row.
“Bud Kaeding took the lead and was running the top,” he said. “I was on the bottom and I got to him. He was able to get back down in front of me once he saw me. Then we got into traffic. He missed the bottom and I was able to squeak by him for a lap. The lapped cars were all over the place. I tried to make a move high and it didn’t work so Bud was able to get back by me. Then he missed the bottom again in traffic with about eight laps to go and I was able to squeak by him. I thought that was the pass for the win. We went another lap and lapped cars about spun in front of me. I did everything to not get caught up in it and Bud was able to drive around back into the lead.”
Scelzi capped the crazy race by finishing second, which was his best finish of the season prior to Saturday’s triumph. Here is a link to watch the A Main at Ocean Speedway: https://youtu.be/aEW5Xwm-abc.
Scelzi is slated to return to both tracks this weekend, competing on Friday at Ocean Speedway with the King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Series and on Saturday at Stockton Dirt Track during the Asparagus Cup.