(Photo by Hulbert Photography)
Inside Line Promotions – TULSA, Okla. (Jan. 6, 2014) – Giovanni Scelzi had a breakout performance during his second-ever trip to the Tulsa Shootout.
Scelzi was tied for the second-most wins during heat race and qualifier action, and he captured a pair of top 10s last weekend as he kicked off his season at Tulsa Expo Raceway for the 29th edition of the premier micro sprint event.
“It went great,” he beamed. “I feel amazing. I was really hoping to come out of there with a Golden Driller. Top 10s are amazing for me. To run with the best guys in the country in micro racing and get two top 10s is amazing.”
Scelzi competed in three classes and entered a heat race in a fourth class during the four-day event, which began on New Year’s Day.
“I exceeded my expectations from the first heat race,” he said. “I never expected myself to run that good nonwing. I expected myself to run third in heat races and fourth or fifth in qualifiers. I actually felt really comfortable in nonwing. My dream is to run nonwing sprint cars, silver crown, midgets. I never looked at myself as a good nonwing driver. That makes me feel really, really good to run that good with those guys.”
-- Nonwing Outlaw --
Scelzi opened the event last Wednesday by charging from sixth to second place during his nonwing outlaw heat race.
“The track was completely gone,” he said. “I jumped right up to second on the first or second lap. I got to the lead and then I got the mindset that I had to protect and I drifted up on the white flag lap and got passed. But it got us a lot of points.”
Scelzi advanced from third to win his qualifier on Friday, which started him third in Saturday’s main event. Scelzi maneuvered to the runner-up position on the opening lap before dropping to fourth place on the ensuing lap when he slid out of the outside groove. Then, disaster struck approximately five laps into the race.
As Scelzi restarted fourth, the top two cars got together and the leader spun heading into turn one. Scelzi had nowhere to go and was collected, which broke the left shock mount on the front axle. His race ended early and he was credited with a 22nd-place result.
-- “A” Class Winged --
Scelzi drove from third place to the lead on the first lap en route to the heat race win on Wednesday to start “A” class winged action. He followed that up by advancing from third to second place in his qualifier on Thursday, which put Scelzi eighth in points entering Saturday’s main event.
However, that feature followed the nonwing outlaw main event and Scelzi was still frustrated from his crash.
“I wasn’t really thinking straight from crashing the race before,” he said. “I was still mad about it. We all got really spread out and I just started trying everything. There wasn’t much passing.”
After starting on the outside of the fourth row, Scelzi maintained a top 10 for the entire race and finished with a ninth-place result.
-- Winged Outlaw --
On Thursday, Scelzi powered from third place to win his winged outlaw heat race.
“In the heat race there was a good cushion against the fence,” he said. “That’s the first place I went. I fell back to fourth and worked my way to the lead by about Lap 6.”
Scelzi claimed his qualifier on Friday to head into Saturday’s feature seventh in points, which started him on the inside of the fourth row.
“They graded the track too much and put too much water on it,” he said. “So it stayed hooked up, follow the leader on the bottom. It wasn’t much fun, but I was happy to be in the three main events.”
Scelzi again stayed in the top 10 for the feature and ended with a ninth-place finish to notch his second top 10.
He also competed in a heat race in the “A” class nonwing on Thursday, but after advancing from sixth to fourth place the team decided to scratch from the remainder of the races for that class to focus on his other events.
Scelzi will return to action on March 21 at Plaza Park Raceway in Visalia, Calif.
QUICK RESULTS –
Jan. 1 – Tulsa Expo Raceway in Tulsa, Okla. (Nonwing outlaw) – Heat race: 2 (6).
Jan. 1 – Tulsa Expo Raceway in Tulsa, Okla. (“A” class winged) – Heat race: 1 (3).
Jan. 2 – Tulsa Expo Raceway in Tulsa, Okla. (Winged outlaw) – Heat race: 1 (3).
Jan. 2 – Tulsa Expo Raceway in Tulsa, Okla. (Nonwing outlaw) – Qualifier: 1 (3).
Jan. 2 – Tulsa Expo Raceway in Tulsa, Okla. (“A” class winged) – Qualifier: 2 (3).
Jan. 2 – Tulsa Expo Raceway in Tulsa, Okla. (“A” class nonwing) – Heat race: 4 (6).
Jan. 3 – Tulsa Expo Raceway in Tulsa, Okla. (“A” class nonwing) – B Main: DNS (6).
Jan. 3 – Tulsa Expo Raceway in Tulsa, Okla. (Winged outlaw) – Qualifier: 1 (1).
Jan. 4 – Tulsa Expo Raceway in Tulsa, Okla. (Winged outlaw) – Feature: 9 (7).
Jan. 4 – Tulsa Expo Raceway in Tulsa, Okla. (Nonwing outlaw) – Feature: 22 (3).
Jan. 4 – Tulsa Expo Raceway in Tulsa, Okla. (“A” class winged) – Feature: 9 (8).
SEASON STATS –
4 races, 0 wins, 0 top fives, 2 top 10s, 2 top 15s, 2 top 20s
UP NEXT –
March 21 at Plaza Park Raceway in Visalia, Calif.
MEDIA LINKS –
Website: http://www.GaryScelziMotorsports.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Gio_Scelzi
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Gary-Scelzi-Motorsports/225890834113599
VIDEO –
Here is a link of Scelzi earning a victory with a last-lap pass at Plaza Park Raceway in Visalia, Calif., on June 14, 2013: http://youtu.be/5tr4lVYlk_M
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – Schoenfeld Headers
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“Doug and Mark at Schoenfeld Headers are some of the greatest people you’ll meet,” Scelzi said. “I absolutely love their product.”
Scelzi would also like to thank Whipple Superchargers, Red Rose Transportation, ButlerBuilt Professional Seat Systems, Fowler Packing, K&N Filters, Sparco and Fuel Delivery Service for their continued support.
INSIDE LINE PROMOTIONS –
Inside Line Promotions specializes in affordable public relations and media management for motor sports teams. ILP Founder Shawn Miller leverages professional journalism with new media technologies and social networking to improve your exposure and the return on investment for your sponsors.
To meet the media relations needs of your program and to join Team ILP, contact Shawn at 541-510-3663 or InsideLinePromotions@gmail.com. For more information on Inside Line Promotions, visit http://www.InsideLinePromotions.com.
- Shawn Miller on Jan 06, 2014
- Article Date: 1/6/2014 by Inside Line Promotions