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FRESNO, Calif. (May 29, 2007) - When Mopar/Oakley Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car driver Gary Scelzi recalls his previous NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series appearances at Heartland Park Topeka, various scenarios emerge in his mind. He hopes this weekend's O'Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals will add another positive image as he seeks his first Funny Car win at this circuit.
"Actually, Topeka is the place where I broke the all-time Top Fuel season win record, which was six, set by Cory McClenathan in 1998," said the four-time NHRA world champion. "We won our seventh (of nine) Top Fuel national event of the year in Topeka in 2000.
"Topeka's been good, but Topeka's been bad. I had my first major crash in Top Fuel there where we actually went through two cars. One on Friday, one on Saturday, and we kind of pieced those two cars together to run on Sunday, which turned out to be a semifinal finish. So, Topeka's been good, bad and in-between."
The 2005 Funny Car champion, who switched to that class in 2002, was the Top Fuel winner at Heartland Park in 2000, runner-up in 1997, and qualified No. 1 in 1998 and 2000 in Top Fuel. Last year, he qualified No. 8 in Funny Car and lost to Robert Hight in the second round.
"Historically, Topeka has been a pretty fast race track. Who knows what the weather's going to bring this weekend. But Friday night qualifying is always exciting at Topeka," added Scelzi, who has one win in 2007, and is tied in fourth place in the Funny Car rankings.
As for the three straight weekends off because of the Bristol (Tenn.) event's postponement, he said, "It's OK, but, you know what? Being off for that long kind of drags on because you get excited and you want to roll. And now we're going to go to six races in a row (following Topeka and Chicago next week, then one weekend off), which I'm not really thrilled about because we're not like a NASCAR team where we have guys at the shop building engines and doing maintenance on the cars and just putting stuff on the semis to go to the next event. This is going to be extremely difficult on everyone, because we're not set up to do that.
"It wears on everybody. It's hard enough to do this thing for 23 weekends out of the year, but when you're locked in with everybody for six weeks with the amount of miles we're all going to have to travel, it's going to be a difficult situation. But, it's the same for everybody."
GARY SCELZI QUICK FACTS:
* Tied in fourth in Funny Car points after qualifying No. 1 and winning the 2007 season-opening Pomona event, first-round losses in Phoenix, Gainesville and Las Vegas, and quarterfinal finishes in Houston, Atlanta and St. Louis
* Is 260 points behind leader Ron Capps, 19 points short of third
* Scelzi's Topeka record includes one win in Top Fuel (2000), one TF runner-up in 1997, two TF No. 1 qualifiers in 1998 and 2000
* Qualified No. 8 in Topeka in 2006, lost quarterfinal to Robert Hight
* Seventh in 2006 Funny Car points, with a win in Denver (three final rounds), runner-up in Englishtown, N.J., runner-up in Brainerd, Minn., and three semifinal finishes in Bristol, Tenn., Joliet, Ill., and St. Louis.
* Also had seven quarterfinal finishes and no No. 1 qualifiers in '06
* 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 (Bristol, Chicago 1 and Sonoma); was low qualifier six times (Las Vegas 1, Atlanta, St. Louis, Reading, Las Vegas 2, Pomona 2)
* 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 23 Funny Car top speeds since joining Don Schumacher Racing in 2003
* Is a member of the largest team in NHRA pro history: Don Schumacher Racing - one in Top Fuel, three in Funny Car, one in Pro Stock, two in Pro Stock Motorcycle (all four pro categories)
* 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
* Age 46 (Aug. 11, 1960), born and raised in Fresno, Calif., where he lives with wife Julianne and sons Dominic and Giovanni
* Dominic, 10, races Restricted 600 Mini 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 nine Funny Car wins, 25 Top Fuel wins
* Sixth in 2003 Funny Car points, his first full season in that class
* 2007 is his fifth 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 round winning record against the 14-time Funny Car champion John Force: 11-8, 3-1 in final rounds
* Says he's stepping away from NHRA competition at end of 2007, but not retiring
WEEKEND SCHEDULE:
FRIDAY, June 1 - PROFESSIONAL QUALIFYING SESSIONS at 4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
SATURDAY, June 2 - PROFESSIONAL QUALIFYING SESSIONS at 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m.
SUNDAY, June 3 - Pre-race ceremonies, 10 a.m.
FINAL ELIMINATIONS begin at 11 a.m.
TELEVISION:
Saturday, June 2 ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD will televise two hours of qualifying highlights at 5:30 p.m. (ET).
Sunday, June 3 ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD will televise NHRA Race Day, at 11 a.m. (ET).
Sunday, June 3 ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD will televise three hours of eliminations at 4 p.m. (ET).
SATELLITE:
Friday, June 1, 10:30 — 11 p.m. (ET) – SBS 6 / Transponder 16K (12092.5 MHz, vertical)
Saturday, June 2, 8:30 — 9 p.m. (ET) – SBS 6 / Transponder 16K (12092.5 MHz, vertical)
Sunday, June 3, 7:30 — 8 p.m. (ET) – SBS 6 / Transponder 16K (12092.5 MHz, vertical)
GARY SCELZI: "TOPEKA'S BEEN GOOD, BAD AND IN-BETWEEN"
FRESNO, Calif. (May 29, 2007) - When Mopar/Oakley Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car driver Gary Scelzi recalls his previous NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series appearances at Heartland Park Topeka, various scenarios emerge in his mind. He hopes this weekend's O'Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals will add another positive image as he seeks his first Funny Car win at this circuit.
"Actually, Topeka is the place where I broke the all-time Top Fuel season win record, which was six, set by Cory McClenathan in 1998," said the four-time NHRA world champion. "We won our seventh (of nine) Top Fuel national event of the year in Topeka in 2000.
"Topeka's been good, but Topeka's been bad. I had my first major crash in Top Fuel there where we actually went through two cars. One on Friday, one on Saturday, and we kind of pieced those two cars together to run on Sunday, which turned out to be a semifinal finish. So, Topeka's been good, bad and in-between."
The 2005 Funny Car champion, who switched to that class in 2002, was the Top Fuel winner at Heartland Park in 2000, runner-up in 1997, and qualified No. 1 in 1998 and 2000 in Top Fuel. Last year, he qualified No. 8 in Funny Car and lost to Robert Hight in the second round.
"Historically, Topeka has been a pretty fast race track. Who knows what the weather's going to bring this weekend. But Friday night qualifying is always exciting at Topeka," added Scelzi, who has one win in 2007, and is tied in fourth place in the Funny Car rankings.
As for the three straight weekends off because of the Bristol (Tenn.) event's postponement, he said, "It's OK, but, you know what? Being off for that long kind of drags on because you get excited and you want to roll. And now we're going to go to six races in a row (following Topeka and Chicago next week, then one weekend off), which I'm not really thrilled about because we're not like a NASCAR team where we have guys at the shop building engines and doing maintenance on the cars and just putting stuff on the semis to go to the next event. This is going to be extremely difficult on everyone, because we're not set up to do that.
"It wears on everybody. It's hard enough to do this thing for 23 weekends out of the year, but when you're locked in with everybody for six weeks with the amount of miles we're all going to have to travel, it's going to be a difficult situation. But, it's the same for everybody."
GARY SCELZI QUICK FACTS:
* Tied in fourth in Funny Car points after qualifying No. 1 and winning the 2007 season-opening Pomona event, first-round losses in Phoenix, Gainesville and Las Vegas, and quarterfinal finishes in Houston, Atlanta and St. Louis
* Is 260 points behind leader Ron Capps, 19 points short of third
* Scelzi's Topeka record includes one win in Top Fuel (2000), one TF runner-up in 1997, two TF No. 1 qualifiers in 1998 and 2000
* Qualified No. 8 in Topeka in 2006, lost quarterfinal to Robert Hight
* Seventh in 2006 Funny Car points, with a win in Denver (three final rounds), runner-up in Englishtown, N.J., runner-up in Brainerd, Minn., and three semifinal finishes in Bristol, Tenn., Joliet, Ill., and St. Louis.
* Also had seven quarterfinal finishes and no No. 1 qualifiers in '06
* 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 (Bristol, Chicago 1 and Sonoma); was low qualifier six times (Las Vegas 1, Atlanta, St. Louis, Reading, Las Vegas 2, Pomona 2)
* 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 23 Funny Car top speeds since joining Don Schumacher Racing in 2003
* Is a member of the largest team in NHRA pro history: Don Schumacher Racing - one in Top Fuel, three in Funny Car, one in Pro Stock, two in Pro Stock Motorcycle (all four pro categories)
* 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
* Age 46 (Aug. 11, 1960), born and raised in Fresno, Calif., where he lives with wife Julianne and sons Dominic and Giovanni
* Dominic, 10, races Restricted 600 Mini 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 nine Funny Car wins, 25 Top Fuel wins
* Sixth in 2003 Funny Car points, his first full season in that class
* 2007 is his fifth 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 round winning record against the 14-time Funny Car champion John Force: 11-8, 3-1 in final rounds
* Says he's stepping away from NHRA competition at end of 2007, but not retiring
WEEKEND SCHEDULE:
FRIDAY, June 1 - PROFESSIONAL QUALIFYING SESSIONS at 4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
SATURDAY, June 2 - PROFESSIONAL QUALIFYING SESSIONS at 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m.
SUNDAY, June 3 - Pre-race ceremonies, 10 a.m.
FINAL ELIMINATIONS begin at 11 a.m.
TELEVISION:
Saturday, June 2 ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD will televise two hours of qualifying highlights at 5:30 p.m. (ET).
Sunday, June 3 ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD will televise NHRA Race Day, at 11 a.m. (ET).
Sunday, June 3 ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD will televise three hours of eliminations at 4 p.m. (ET).
SATELLITE:
Friday, June 1, 10:30 — 11 p.m. (ET) – SBS 6 / Transponder 16K (12092.5 MHz, vertical)
Saturday, June 2, 8:30 — 9 p.m. (ET) – SBS 6 / Transponder 16K (12092.5 MHz, vertical)
Sunday, June 3, 7:30 — 8 p.m. (ET) – SBS 6 / Transponder 16K (12092.5 MHz, vertical)
