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BRAINERD, Minn. (8/13/06) -- Reigning NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series Funny Car champion Gary Scelzi was on target to win his second national event of the season today at the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway, but fell one round win short.
The driver of the Mopar/Oakley Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car was ousted by a red-hot Tommy Johnson Jr. in the money round after defeating Cruz Pedregon on a holeshot with a 4.815-second elapsed time at 323.27 mph, Bob Gilbertson in a pedaling match with a 5.819/222.11, and Jim Head in the semifinal with a superb 4.787/323.81.
On the other side of the ladder, Johnson was scorching the track with a series of stout runs, including two in the 4.7-second range. He did it again in the final round against Scelzi, taking the victory with a 4.741/321.73 pass over Scelzi's tire-smoking 7.387/112.75.
"It just got fast early and never got back under control," explained Scelzi. "It had too much tire speed from the hit of the throttle. It never made the corner where the knock-down timing takes over. It was already going too fast and just blew them (the tires) off.
"Zippy (crew chief Mike Neff) kept calling each run, 'Test Run No. 2,' 'Test Run No. 3,' because we have some new parts on it and we're just kind of feeling our way. It looks really god, but we're still not quite there yet.
"We're not going to throw away a runner-up. And Tommy's .74 was pretty damned stout. That would have been hard to beat. I don't think we had a .74 lined up. We were going to try to run .77, .76, and that wouldn't have done it.
"Overall, it was a good weekend," added Scelzi, who actually fell back one position today and is now seventh in the point standings, 50 markers out of third. "We fell one back in the points, but it tightened everything back up. At least we're in the race for third right now and that's what we're looking at. We're trying to get ourselves into third.
"So, all in all, not a bad weekend. Now we need to go to Memphis and do it again and maybe do it one step better."
Next up is the O'Reilly NHRA Mid-South Nationals in Memphis, Tenn., Aug. 18-20.
FUNNY CAR POINT STANDINGS:
1. Ron Capps, 1175
2. John Force, 1127
3. Tony Pedregon, 985
4. Eric Medlen, 983
5. Robert Hight, 946
6. Tommy Johnson Jr., 938
7. Gary Scelzi, 935
8. Whit Bazemore, 819
9. Del Worsham, 707
10. Cruz Pedregon, 672
SCELZI TARGETS SECOND WIN OF SEASON IN BRAINERD, JUST MISSES
BRAINERD, Minn. (8/13/06) -- Reigning NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series Funny Car champion Gary Scelzi was on target to win his second national event of the season today at the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway, but fell one round win short.
The driver of the Mopar/Oakley Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car was ousted by a red-hot Tommy Johnson Jr. in the money round after defeating Cruz Pedregon on a holeshot with a 4.815-second elapsed time at 323.27 mph, Bob Gilbertson in a pedaling match with a 5.819/222.11, and Jim Head in the semifinal with a superb 4.787/323.81.
On the other side of the ladder, Johnson was scorching the track with a series of stout runs, including two in the 4.7-second range. He did it again in the final round against Scelzi, taking the victory with a 4.741/321.73 pass over Scelzi's tire-smoking 7.387/112.75.
"It just got fast early and never got back under control," explained Scelzi. "It had too much tire speed from the hit of the throttle. It never made the corner where the knock-down timing takes over. It was already going too fast and just blew them (the tires) off.
"Zippy (crew chief Mike Neff) kept calling each run, 'Test Run No. 2,' 'Test Run No. 3,' because we have some new parts on it and we're just kind of feeling our way. It looks really god, but we're still not quite there yet.
"We're not going to throw away a runner-up. And Tommy's .74 was pretty damned stout. That would have been hard to beat. I don't think we had a .74 lined up. We were going to try to run .77, .76, and that wouldn't have done it.
"Overall, it was a good weekend," added Scelzi, who actually fell back one position today and is now seventh in the point standings, 50 markers out of third. "We fell one back in the points, but it tightened everything back up. At least we're in the race for third right now and that's what we're looking at. We're trying to get ourselves into third.
"So, all in all, not a bad weekend. Now we need to go to Memphis and do it again and maybe do it one step better."
Next up is the O'Reilly NHRA Mid-South Nationals in Memphis, Tenn., Aug. 18-20.
FUNNY CAR POINT STANDINGS:
1. Ron Capps, 1175
2. John Force, 1127
3. Tony Pedregon, 985
4. Eric Medlen, 983
5. Robert Hight, 946
6. Tommy Johnson Jr., 938
7. Gary Scelzi, 935
8. Whit Bazemore, 819
9. Del Worsham, 707
10. Cruz Pedregon, 672
