Dominic Scelzi visited Victory Lane last Saturday during a stout weekend that showcased a trio of podium performances.
“We’ve turned the year around and gotten our speed back,” he said. “I feel confident in our whole program. It’s been a long year and a tough season, but I feel we are ending the year the way we need to in order to have confidence rolling into the offseason.”
The weekend began last Friday at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway in Bakersfield, Calif., where Scelzi opened the NARC 410 Sprint Car Series program by qualifying 12 th quickest. A run from third to second place in a heat race lined him up on the outside of the fourth row in the A Main.
“We were a little snug in qualifying and that started us third in a heat race,” he said. “We moved forward and I was happy with it. In the feature the car was really, really good and we methodically worked forward to finish on the podium. I was happy with the night and to get out of there with a third-place finish.”
Scelzi did double duty on Saturday at Kings Speedway, where he competed both with the NARC 410 Sprint Car Series as well as in 360ci winged sprint car competition. He timed in second quickest and hustled from fourth to second place to kick off the NARC action. Scelzi then won the dash to garner the pole position for the 30-lap main event.
“We were really good in qualifying and we were good in the heat race,” he said. “We won the dash in a good fight. In the feature we led the first 24 laps, but in traffic the bottom got a little faster than the top. I didn’t realize it and (Cole) Macedo got by me. A yellow came out right after he passed me. We just got beat in traffic. I think if the caution came out at a different time it could have been a different outcome, but that’s how racing goes sometimes.”
Scelzi placed fourth in a pair of heat races to line up fourth in the 360 main event.
“We decided as a group to run two heat races and we ran okay,” he said. “In the main event we got to second on the first lap. I ran the bottom the first handful of laps. The leader dropped to the bottom and I was able to rip the top to get by him in turns one and two around Lap 6. We led the rest of the way to get the win. It’s been a very long year. With how we’ve run the last few weeks, we’re right there and fast again. I feel the mojo is back.”
The triumph was Scelzi’s fourth of the season and his first since June 16.
QUICK RESULTS –
Oct. 25 – Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway in Bakersfield, Calif. – Qualifying: 12; Heat race: 2 (3); Feature: 3 (8).
Oct. 26 – Kings Speedway in Hanford, Calif. (410 sprint car) – Qualifying: 2; Heat race: 2 (4); Dash: 1 (2); Feature: 2 (1).
Oct. 26 – Kings Speedway in Hanford, Calif. (360 sprint car) – Heat race #1: 4 (5); Heat race #2: 4 (3); Feature: 1 (4).
SEASON STATS –
61 races, 4 wins, 18 top fives, 28 top 10s, 41 top 15s, 50 top 20s
ILP PR