Inside Line Promotions - VISALIA, Calif. (May 19, 2014) - Giovanni Scelzi was a rocket last Friday at Plaza Park Raceway.
Scelzi set quick time during outlaw and nonwing outlaw micro sprint qualifying on the heavy fifth-mile track.
"The track was really, really wet in the beginning," he said. "I already knew it was going to be hooked up. Being quick time in one car is awesome, but two is even better."
While he had smooth sailing through his outlaw qualifying attempt, Scelzi nearly got upside down during nonwing outlaw qualifying.
"It was pretty rough," he said. "In the nonwing car I drove it in and both left side wheels came off the ground. It was pretty sketchy, but I got quick time somehow."
Scelzi then advanced from fourth to third place during his heat race in both classes to lock himself into the main events. The inversion draw was a zero - meaning the main events would start heads up based off qualifying times - which put Scelzi on the pole of each feature.
"There was a big, big rut coming out of turn four," he said. "I got to the lead on the first lap (in the outlaw feature) and hit the rut. I ran second for a while and then Michael Faccinto slid me. We traded sliders for a bit and then I slid a lapped car and got in that rut and about spun out."
After battling inside the top three for the first handful of laps, Scelzi fell to 10[sup]th[/sup] following the near spin. He spent the remainder of the race battling just outside the top five before a late push earned him a third-place finish.
"It was slide job after slide job," he said. "I probably passed four or five cars in the last five laps. I wish I could have won for my dad and my brother, but a top five is nice."
It was Scelzi's fifth top five of the season.
The nonwing outlaw main event didn't end as well for Scelzi, who crashed in the closing laps while battling for the lead.
"There was a giant, giant cushion," he said. "My car was set up really nice. I led the first 15 laps and jumped the cushion to lose the lead. I ran (the leader) down and got to his bumper. Then I spun out and got hit from behind and tipped over."
Scelzi was unable to restart the race and was credited with a 20[sup]th[/sup]-place result.
"It's disappointing not coming home with a win," he said. "We really had the car to beat in both classes. It was self-inflicting mistakes."
Scelzi is set to return to Lemoore Raceway in Lemoore, Calif., for the Tachi Palace Nationals this Friday and Saturday. He captured his first win of the season at Lemoore Raceway on March 29.
QUICK RESULTS -
May 16 - Plaza Park Raceway in Visalia, Calif. (Outlaw) - Qualifying: 1; Heat race: 3 (4); Feature: 3 (1).
May 16 - Plaza Park Raceway in Visalia, Calif. (Nonwing Outlaw) - Qualifying: 1; Heat race: 3 (4); Feature: 20 (1).
SEASON STATS -
10 races, 2 wins, 5 top fives, 7 top 10s, 7 top 15s, 8 top 20s
UP NEXT -
Friday and Saturday at Lemoore Raceway in Lemoore, Calif., for the Tachi Palace Nationals
MEDIA LINKS -
Website: http://www.GaryScelziMotorsports.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/GioScelzi
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Gary-Scelzi-Motorsports/225890834113599
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT - Red Line Oil
Since 1979, Red Line Synthetic Oil Corporation has grown to manufacture more than 100 quality products, including motor oils, gear oils, assembly lubes, fuel additives, and its popular WaterWetter cooling additive for the automotive, motorcycle, marine, and industrial markets. For more information, visit http://www.RedLineOil.com.
"Red Line Oil is the best stuff on the market by far," Scelzi said. "My dad ran it in his dragster and my brother and I both run it in our race cars."
Scelzi would also like to thank Whipple Superchargers, Fowler Packing, Fuel Delivery Services, Inc., Carlucci Transport, Panella Trucking, Red Rose Transportation, AXA Equitable Insurance with Bob & Gina Estrada, Roth Motorsports, Scelzi Enterprises, Blast Tech, Tim Jones, G&J Truck Sales, K&N Filters, Sparco, ButlerBuilt Professional Seat Systems and Schoenfeld Headers for their continued support.
Scelzi set quick time during outlaw and nonwing outlaw micro sprint qualifying on the heavy fifth-mile track.
"The track was really, really wet in the beginning," he said. "I already knew it was going to be hooked up. Being quick time in one car is awesome, but two is even better."
While he had smooth sailing through his outlaw qualifying attempt, Scelzi nearly got upside down during nonwing outlaw qualifying.
"It was pretty rough," he said. "In the nonwing car I drove it in and both left side wheels came off the ground. It was pretty sketchy, but I got quick time somehow."
Scelzi then advanced from fourth to third place during his heat race in both classes to lock himself into the main events. The inversion draw was a zero - meaning the main events would start heads up based off qualifying times - which put Scelzi on the pole of each feature.
"There was a big, big rut coming out of turn four," he said. "I got to the lead on the first lap (in the outlaw feature) and hit the rut. I ran second for a while and then Michael Faccinto slid me. We traded sliders for a bit and then I slid a lapped car and got in that rut and about spun out."
After battling inside the top three for the first handful of laps, Scelzi fell to 10[sup]th[/sup] following the near spin. He spent the remainder of the race battling just outside the top five before a late push earned him a third-place finish.
"It was slide job after slide job," he said. "I probably passed four or five cars in the last five laps. I wish I could have won for my dad and my brother, but a top five is nice."
It was Scelzi's fifth top five of the season.
The nonwing outlaw main event didn't end as well for Scelzi, who crashed in the closing laps while battling for the lead.
"There was a giant, giant cushion," he said. "My car was set up really nice. I led the first 15 laps and jumped the cushion to lose the lead. I ran (the leader) down and got to his bumper. Then I spun out and got hit from behind and tipped over."
Scelzi was unable to restart the race and was credited with a 20[sup]th[/sup]-place result.
"It's disappointing not coming home with a win," he said. "We really had the car to beat in both classes. It was self-inflicting mistakes."
Scelzi is set to return to Lemoore Raceway in Lemoore, Calif., for the Tachi Palace Nationals this Friday and Saturday. He captured his first win of the season at Lemoore Raceway on March 29.
QUICK RESULTS -
May 16 - Plaza Park Raceway in Visalia, Calif. (Outlaw) - Qualifying: 1; Heat race: 3 (4); Feature: 3 (1).
May 16 - Plaza Park Raceway in Visalia, Calif. (Nonwing Outlaw) - Qualifying: 1; Heat race: 3 (4); Feature: 20 (1).
SEASON STATS -
10 races, 2 wins, 5 top fives, 7 top 10s, 7 top 15s, 8 top 20s
UP NEXT -
Friday and Saturday at Lemoore Raceway in Lemoore, Calif., for the Tachi Palace Nationals
MEDIA LINKS -
Website: http://www.GaryScelziMotorsports.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/GioScelzi
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Gary-Scelzi-Motorsports/225890834113599
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT - Red Line Oil
Since 1979, Red Line Synthetic Oil Corporation has grown to manufacture more than 100 quality products, including motor oils, gear oils, assembly lubes, fuel additives, and its popular WaterWetter cooling additive for the automotive, motorcycle, marine, and industrial markets. For more information, visit http://www.RedLineOil.com.
"Red Line Oil is the best stuff on the market by far," Scelzi said. "My dad ran it in his dragster and my brother and I both run it in our race cars."
Scelzi would also like to thank Whipple Superchargers, Fowler Packing, Fuel Delivery Services, Inc., Carlucci Transport, Panella Trucking, Red Rose Transportation, AXA Equitable Insurance with Bob & Gina Estrada, Roth Motorsports, Scelzi Enterprises, Blast Tech, Tim Jones, G&J Truck Sales, K&N Filters, Sparco, ButlerBuilt Professional Seat Systems and Schoenfeld Headers for their continued support.
