SCELZI EYES FIRST SEATTLE FUNNY CAR WIN
KENT, Wash. (July 18, 2007) - Four-time NHRA champion Gary Scelzi, who says he's stepping down at the end of the 2007 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series season (he's calling it a sabbatical not a retirement), would like to complete this voyage with a Funny Car class victory at the Schuck's Auto Supply NHRA Nationals this weekend. He's won at Pacific Raceways twice in Top Fuel, but never in Funny Car since he joined that category in 2002.
With 35 victories in 56 final rounds notched in his pro career, which began in 1997, the driver of the Mopar/Oakley Dodge Charger R/T for Don Schumacher Racing has a solid record at this track. Besides his two Top Fuel wins, he won his first Alcohol Funny Car race here in 1992, beating Pat Austin, the popular driver from the Northwest known as the "John Force" of his time in that category. Scelzi has also qualified No. 1 four times here (three in Top Fuel, once in Funny Car), has one runner-up finish in TF in 1997, and still holds the Funny Car top-speed track record here of 325.85 mph, set in 2005.
All those stats of success aside, the Fresno, Calif., native is somewhat ambivalent about his expectations for this weekend's event. "The track is the same it has always been, and it's the way it's always going to be, it seems," he said. "You go there looking for good results because of all the trees around which makes good oxygen, but you know you're going to a race track that needs a facelift.
"You're mainly trying to control all the easy horsepower you make because the air is so good while you're racing on a marginal race track. So, we'll go there and try to manage our power and hopefully we can win.
"The good news is that it's the same for everybody, and hopefully it won't get too hot, because if it gets hot it's really going to be a challenge to get down the track.
"I definitely like racing in Seattle. It's a great location, with terrific restaurants in the area. I just can't wait until they get their new facility done."
GARY SCELZI QUICK FACTS:
* Fifth in Funny Car points after qualifying No. 1 and winning the 2007 season-opening Pomona event, and again qualifying No. 1 and winning the Chicago event. His other results this season are first-round losses in Phoenix, Gainesville, Las Vegas, Englishtown and Denver, quarterfinal finishes in Houston, Atlanta, St. Louis, Topeka and Bristol, and a DNQ in Norwalk
* Is 286 points behind leader Ron Capps, 47 points short of third
* Two TF wins in Seattle (2000, 2001), one runner-up (1997)
* No. 1 qualifier four times in Seattle (1997, 2000, 2001 in TF, 2003 in FC)
* Qualified No. 11 in Seattle in 2006, lost second round to teammate Ron Capps
* 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 24 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 10 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: 12-10, 3-1 in final rounds
* Says he's stepping away from NHRA competition at end of 2007, but not retiring
