Inside Line Promotions – PETALUMA, Calif. (July 10, 2023) – Dominic Scelzi was in contention to win his third straight NARC 410 Sprint Car Series race at Petaluma Speedway last Saturday when disaster struck.
Scelzi led the first 18 laps of the Salute to Baylands Raceway Park feature before falling to second. Soon after, a lapped car appeared to lose steering and drove down the track directly in front of Scelzi, who was unable to avoid contact.
“I don’t know how I didn’t flip,” he said. “There was a lot of damage. It twisted the arm to no return, ripped the shock in half, messed up the rear axle, ripped off the Jacob’s Ladder.”
It was a disappointing end to a night that began very promising as Scelzi qualified fifth quickest. He then won a heat race and the dash to garner the pole position for the 30-lap A Main.
“I felt I was setting a decent pace in the feature,” he said. “I was just trying not to get myself in a bad predicament behind lapped cars. I knew the bottom was dominant. I felt I had a maneuverable and good race car. A lot of times at that track not taking yourself out of it is half the battle.
“I wasn’t exerting myself. The lapped cars were tough because they’d slip up off the bottom so I had to go around them. Chase (Johnson) was good and he was on the bottom. When he got by me I felt I’d need a couple of laps to get to him to race him. We were in traffic so I felt good about the situation until we were involved in that incident.”
Scelzi was unable to return to the track following the contact and he was credited with a 14th-place result.
He plans on venturing to Ocean Speedway in Watsonville, Calif., this Friday and Saturday during the 13 th annual Howard Kaeding Classic. Friday is a 360ci winged sprint car show and Saturday features a NARC 410 Sprint Car Series race.
“Our goal from the beginning of the year has been to race for wins,” he said. “The goal for this weekend is to have a problem-free weekend. If that means we’re a 10th-place car I’ll take that with a smile. We’ve been fast all year, but the last six weeks we have faced some bad luck. Hopefully we can have a smooth weekend and if we do I think we’ll be in contention to win a race or two.”
QUICK RESULTS –
July 8 – Petaluma Speedway in Petaluma, Calif. – Qualifying: 5; Heat race: 1 (1); Dash: 1 (1); Feature: 14 (1).
SEASON STATS –
24 races, 5 wins, 15 top fives, 17 top 10s, 21 top 15s, 23 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Friday and Saturday at Ocean Speedway in Watsonville, Calif., for the 13 th annual Howard Kaeding Classic with the NARC 410 Sprint Car Series
MEDIA LINKS –
Website: http://www.GaryScelziMotorsports.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DominicScelzi41
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Scelzi41