Scelzi's chute pops, qualifies No. 15 in Denver

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2004 POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES
Round 13 of 23
MOPAR MILE-HIGH NHRA NATIONALS
BANDIMERE SPEEDWAY
Morrison, Colo.
Race Dates: July 16-18, 2004



MORRISON, Colo. (July 17, 2004) - After rain washed out two qualifying
rounds on Friday, Gary Scelzi had a freak parachute failure in the middle of
his final Funny Car qualifying run today at the Mopar Mile-High NHRA
Nationals, which slowed his strong run, placing him No. 15 in the field.

Scelzi drove his HEMI-powered Oakley Dodge Stratus to a 5.123/280.72 pass in
today's first qualifying session and he and crew chief Mike Neff were ready
for a four-second run in the final round until the parachute popped out at
half-track, slowing him to a 5.200/206.39. John Force, in the next lane,
posted a 4.939/309.34.

"The post that holds the plate that holds the parachute pack sheared off.
And when it does that, it drops out and the chute falls out," he said. "It
was a total surprise. It's disappointing because the incrementals showed
that we were on a quicker run than Force was beside us, so I'm sure we would
have been in the four-second range."

Scelzi will face Tony Pedregon in the first round of eliminations tomorrow,
which begin at 12:30 p.m.


It was on a run better than Force's. All the incrementals weree better than
that.