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SCELZI NO. 4 IN JOLIET QUALIFYING WITH CAREER BEST 4.750

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series
Round 20 of 23
CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Nationals
Route 66 Raceway
Joliet, Ill.
Race Dates: Sept. 26-28, 2003

JOLIET, Ill. (Sept. 27, 2003) - The cool weather conditions at Route 66
Raceway appear to be benefiting the Don Schumacher Racing camp, as Gary
Scelzi joins his teammate and No. qualifier Whit Bazemore with a personal
achievement of his own in the final round of qualifying for the CARQUEST
Auto Parts NHRA Nationals.

The driver of the Oakley Time Bomb Dodge Stratus, which set a world
top-speed record here in the spring of 328.06 mph, snagged his career-best
elapsed time in Funny Car today, when he posted a 4.750-second elapsed time
at 320.74 mph to claim the No. 4 qualifying position, after smoking the
tires in the first round and finding himself on the outside of the field in
No. 19.

"We found ourselves with our backs against the wall in the first run when we
smoked the tires," said the Fresno native. "We came back and tried to be
conservative, but the race track was so good that (crew chief) Mike Neff
wasn't that conservative. We came out and I ran my personal best, a 4.750 at
320, which actually would have been better but we burned a couple of pistons
pretty good at the top end. That's why the speed was only 320 mph. But we're
very happy with the result. We're very happy to be in the show at no. 4.
With a little bit of luck tomorrow, who knows where we could end up."

Scelzi will face Cruz Pedregon in the first round of final eliminations.

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