Four-time NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series champion Gary Scelzi is heading to one of his favorite race tracks this weekend for the Inaugural NHRA Carolinas Nationals, despite the fact he’s never set eyes on the all-new zMax Dragway @ Concord.
“Honestly, it’s no secret that Bruton Smith-owned race tracks are my favorite,” said Scelzi, who drives the Mopar/Oakley Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car for Don Schumacher Racing. “And now that everyone is calling this the Bellagio of drag strips, I am more than excited about seeing it.
“I don’t know how Bruton can top Bristol (Tenn.), Vegas and Infineon Raceway (in Sonoma, Calif.), but, obviously, he has, so the excitement factor is extremely big.
“We’re going to be bringing out our new Murf McKinney car, which is a clone to (DSR teammate) Jack Beckman’s car,” added Scelzi, who has struggled this season and did not qualify for the Countdown to 1 playoffs, which begin this weekend for the final six events of the season. “So, hopefully the Mopar/Oakely Dodge will have some of the performance it’s been lacking all year.
“Even though I realize that it’s a little late in the game,” he added, “we’re excited about hopefully having a car that we can compete with and try to win the race. What better way to do it than to go to an inaugural event and win the race.
“We’re hoping we can turn our whole season around this weekend.” Scelzi is 14th in the NHRA Funny Car rankings.
GARY SCELZI QUICK FACTS:
* No. 14 in points after 18 events in 2008 (one semifinal, four quarterfinal finishes, nine first rounds and four DNQs)
* Third in 2007 Funny Car point standings
* Won class-best four national events in 2007, in four final rounds
* Qualified No. 1 and won the 2007 season-opening Pomona event (against Robert Hight), again qualified No. 1 and won the Chicago event, then won in Memphis and Richmond
* Seventh in 2006 Funny Car points, with one win in three final rounds, no low qualifiers
* Claimed the 2005 Funny Car championship, his first, by eight points over his teammate Ron Capps, 32 over third-place John Force
* Won three times in 2005, was low qualifier six times
* Is a three-time Top Fuel champion (1997, 1998, 2000)
* Became only the second NHRA driver to have won crowns in both Top Fuel and Funny Car. Kenny Bernstein is the first
* Has set 24 Funny Car top speeds since joining Don Schumacher Racing in 2003
* Is first Funny Car driver to break the 330-mph barrier (330.15 mph at Route 66 Raceway in 2004)
* Career Funny Car bests: 4.690-second ET (Pomona 1 ‘07), 333.49 mph (Pomona 1 ‘07)
* Qualified in top five 19 times in 2005, No. 1 six times
* Has 37 career national-event titles in 58 final rounds
* Career round win-loss record is 375-206
* Age 47 (Aug. 11, 1960), born and raised in Fresno, Calif., where he lives with wife Julianne and sons Dominic and Giovanni
* Dominic, 11, races Restricted 600 Mini Sprints; Giovanni, 6, races Junior Sprints
* Runs Scelzi Enterprises, a custom truck body design and manufacturing business in Fresno with his two brothers
* Won his first Top Fuel crown as a rookie
* Has 12 Funny Car wins, 25 Top Fuel wins
* Sixth in 2003 Funny Car points, his first full season in that class
* 2008 is his sixth straight season racing for Don Schumacher Racing
* Is the only NHRA driver to have won in Top Fuel, Funny Car, Top Alcohol Dragster and Top Alcohol Funny Car. He accomplished this feat by winning Nitro Funny Car at Infineon Raceway in 2003
* Is one of the few Funny Car drivers who has a final-round-winning record against the 14-time Funny Car champion John Force: 3-1 in final rounds, 12-12 in head-to-head match-ups
* Said early in 2007 that he would step away from NHRA competition at end of season. An offer from NHRA team owner Ken Black to fly him to and from 10 races in 2008, so he could spend more time with family business and family, helped him change his mind and return with DSR in 2008
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