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– PLACERVILLE, Calif. (June 15, 2021) – Dominic Scelzi capped a busy weekend of competing with the King of the West-NARC Fujitsu Series by earning his 10th victory of the season last Saturday at Placerville Speedway.
The win was his 11th career with the series and pulled him to within seven points in the championship lead following a frustrating opener on Friday at Ocean Speedway.
“For three reasons it was a huge night on Saturday,” he said. “For one, the recovery. We had a terrible night Friday. You have to recover from those. Reason two, I feel it’s my worst track in California over the last 10 years. To roll in there, qualify good, do everything we need to do and knock off a huge win is a big sign of where we’re at as a race team. And reason three, to win the Dave Bradway Jr. Memorial is special. It is one of the crown jewels of California.”
Scelzi started the weekend on a sour note during the 35th annual Pombo/Sargent Classic hosted by the dirt oval in Watsonville, Calif. He qualified 20th quickest before rallying from seventh to fourth in a heat race, which locked him into the 16th starting position for the main event.
“We were second or third in hot laps,” he said. “We went out late in qualifying. I got about halfway down a straightaway when the car started veering left. I corrected it right and got into the wall and spun out backwards. I was disoriented by the whole thing. I had them push me back off and it started doing the same thing again. I stayed three-quarter throttle down the straightaways and limped it through the corners. We came in and found the right front broke where the bottom radius rod mounts. When I was turning the axle was moving in the car. I was relieved to figure that out because I was confused with what was going on.
“We changed that for the heat race and went seventh to fourth. I raced a little cautious the first few laps of the feature. We worked our way to 12 th fairly quickly. About 10 laps in two guys crashed in front of me and I had nowhere to go. It knocked the front end out and tipped over and that was it.”
Scelzi was credited with a 22nd-place result, which was only the third time of placing outside the top 10 all season.
Saturday presented a new opportunity and Scelzi took advantage during the 30th annual Dave Bradway Jr. Memorial hosted by Placerville Speedway. He qualified second quickest before advancing from fourth to third place in a heat race. That locked him into the dash and he pulled the No. 2 to start on the outside of the front row.
Scelzi made the most of the favorable draw by leading every lap of the dash to garner the pole position for the 40-lap A Main. He continued to pace the field throughout the feature on the tricky quarter-mile oval, where he led the distance to become the first repeat winner of the season with the series.
“We knew the track was probably going to get abrasive,” he said. “When we went green I ran the middle-top. I did that for about 10 laps. As I felt the track getting cleaner I moved down with the grip. We ran around the bottom from Lap 12 on. We led the distance to earn my first-ever win at the track, which meant a lot.”
Scelzi will return to the Midwest this weekend to drive for Mark Dobmeier during the first three nights of THE SHOWDOWN at Huset’s Speedway in Brandon, S.D. The Chuck Zitterich Tribute kicks off the action on Sunday followed by the inaugural Huset’s 50 presented by BillionAuto.com with the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series on Monday and Tuesday.
“The one night we got in in Minnesota was something to get us comfortable with the car and the team,” Scelzi said in reference to his debut behind the wheel of the No. 13. “I felt like that was successful despite a couple of setbacks. I’m looking forward to going to a place I’ve felt comfortable at and somewhere Mark has had a lot of success.”
QUICK RESULTS –
June 11 – Ocean Speedway in Watsonville, Calif. – Qualifying: 20; Heat race: 4 (7); Feature: 22 (16).
June 12 – Placerville Speedway in Placerville, Calif. – Qualifying: 2; Heat race: 3 (4); Dash: 1 (2); Feature: 1 (1).
SEASON STATS –
27 races, 10 wins, 20 top fives, 24 top 10s, 25 top 15s, 25 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Sunday through Tuesday at Huset’s Speedway in Brandon, S.D., for THE SHOWDOWN featuring the Chuck Zitterich Tribute and the Huset’s 50 with the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series
MEDIA LINKS –
Website: http://www.GaryScelziMotorsports.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DominicScelzi41
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Scelzi41
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – Scelzi Enterprises
Scelzi Enterprises builds the finest utility truck bodies in the USA, including flatbed bodies, water truck bodies, custom truck bodies, service truck bodies and more. After nearly 40 years in business Scelzi Enterprises occupies 20 acres in South Fresno with additional pool and assembly locations in Oregon, Washington, and Southern California. For more information, visit http://www.SEInc.com.
“Scelzi Enterprises is a family business that has been around far before I was born,” Scelzi said. “Now I have a role there. It’s my daily job and something I really enjoy being a part of. It gives me a lot of pride to represent our family business on the side of our race cars.”
Scelzi would like to thank Red Rose Transportation, Inc., Whipple Superchargers, Red Line Oil, Fuel Delivery Services, Inc., Roth Motorsports, NAPA Auto Parts, Todd Jorgensen, Schoenfeld Headers, FK Rod Ends, Brown & Miller Racing Solutions, Auto Meter, K&N Filters, Sparco, Allstar Performance, Meridian Steel, Kenny’s Components and Worldwide Bearings for their continued support.