Dominic Scelzi Riding Wave of Momentum Into Knoxville Nationals

Inside Line Promotions – KNOXVILLE, Iowa (July 30, 2018) – Dominic Scelzi is exactly where he wants to be entering two of the biggest weeks of the season.

Scelzi has momentum on his side as his family owned, Roth Motorsports supported team has powered to a pair of feature victories and posted two top 10s with the Arctic Cat Circuit of Champions in a nine-day stretch.

“My confidence is through the roof right now,” he said. “We’re coming off two wins in the last 10 days and two great runs with the All Stars.”

Scelzi followed up a feature victory at Jackson Motorplex in Jackson, Minn., on July 20 and a pair of top-10 finishes at Knoxville Raceway the following night by returning to Victory Lane last Tuesday during a Sprint Invaders race at Dubuque Speedway in Dubuque, Iowa.

“It was really cool to be able to go back to a place where I won my first race outside of California last year and back it up with a win this year,” he said. “Then to sweep the night was really neat.”

Scelzi won a heat race and the dash from the pole position before he maneuvered from fourth into the lead on Lap 13 of the 30-lap A Main.

“The track was really slick and the cushion was on the wall,” he said. “I went directly to the wall at the start. Everyone else went to the bottom or the middle. I fell to fifth on the first lap. I got down on the bottom and worked my way up to third in the first five laps. We got into traffic and I was getting under Sammy Walsh, who was in second when he spun out after contact with a lapped car. I chased Bill (Balog) for a couple of laps for the lead. I started gaining a lot of ground off turn four. I squeaked by him off the bottom of turn four and we went unchallenged the rest of the way.”

The triumph was Scelzi’s fourth of the season, which is the most he’s ever recorded in a single season.

He took that momentum into three straight races with the All Stars beginning on Thursday at Angell Park Speedway in Sun Prairie, Wis. Scelzi qualified third in his group and placed third in a heat race to lock into the 13th starting position in the main event out of the 38-car field.

“I struggled quite a bit in the heat race, but we were able to make it into the main event,” he said. “There was a cushion on it I’d never seen before. It was the biggest, most technical cushion I’ve seen in my life. It was biting a lot of guys. Our car was really good and we were able to make good laps up there. On the last lap I tried to make a run for Rico (Abreu), but just couldn’t get by him for a top five.”

Scelzi rallied to post a sixth-place result, which was the best of his career with the All Stars.

The team ventured to Jackson Motorplex in Jackson, Minn., where Scelzi timed in second quickest in his group and placed fourth in a heat race. He pulled off the track early in the main event.

Scelzi elected to wrap up the weekend on Saturday at Knoxville Raceway, where he qualified second quickest in his group. A fifth-place run in a heat race relegated him to the B Main, in which he ended third to transfer into the back of the main event. Scelzi capped the night by rallying from 23rd to a seventh-place finish to garner the Hard Charger Award for passing the most cars during a night that showcased more than 50 drivers.

“We qualified extremely strong and I was very happy with that,” he said. “I didn’t do my job in the seat in the heat race, but we were really good in the B Main. We made a couple more changes for the main event. We were able to rip around the wall and run the bottom as well. Not many guys were able to do it as well as we were where we were running. It seemed like we got better and better. Guys were starting to miss the bottom and miss the cushion as it got bigger. If it was a 30-lap race I think we would have passed more cars.”

Here is a link to watch the race: https://youtu.be/SVaOu9Kv8Ac.

Scelzi will take that momentum into Knoxville Raceway this Thursday through Saturday for the 28th annual 360 Knoxville Nationals presented by Great Southern Bank. He will return to the half-mile oval on Sunday for the Capitani Classic before tackling the Front Row Challenge next Monday at Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa, Iowa.