Scelzi rocks to No. 5 in Texas qualifying

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2005 NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES
Round 21 of 23
O'REILLY NHRA FALL NATIONALS
Texas Motorplex
Dallas, Texas
Race Dates: Oct. 7-9, 2005


DALLAS (Oct. 8, 2005) - Gary Scelzi qualified the Mopar/Oakley Dodge Stratus
R/T Funny Car No. 5 at the O'Reilly NHRA Fall Nationals at the Texas
Motorplex, posting the second quickest elapsed time of the final session
under the warm Texas autumn sun.

While his best qualifying effort came in the cooler conditions Friday night,
where he recorded a 4.716-second elapsed time at 326.40 mph, his
4.797/321.88 later today was stout for the mid-day conditions similar to
what's expected on Sunday. Today's earlier round resulted in a 5.684/169.96.

"Everything is good," said the Funny Car points leader who is seeking his
first Funny Car crown to go with his three Top Fuel championships. "We found
out where we can go, where we can't go, and we should be good tomorrow. It's
going to be critical. It's going to be warmer, lane choice is going to be a
factor, but we're ready to play. Bring 'em on.

"The race track was different today. When the sun comes out it doesn't like
it. The right lane is worse, so we'll try to stay out of there. We'll try to
just play the left-hand card and hope for the best."

Scelzi faces Phil Burkart Jr. in first round of eliminations on Sunday, and
is on the same side of the ladder as his teammate Ron Capps, who is second
in NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series Funny Car points.