Scelzi out in Memphis first round

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2006 NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES
Round 17 of 23
O'REILLY NHRA MID-SOUTH NATIONALS
Memphis (Tenn.) Motorsports Park
Race Date: Aug. 18-20, 2006


SCELZI OUT IN MEMPHIS FIRST ROUND

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (Aug. 20, 2006) - Gary Scelzi was glad to leave the extreme
Memphis heat after being ousted by his Don Schumacher Racing teammate Mike
Ashley in the first round of Funny Car eliminations at the O'Reilly NHRA
Mid-South Nationals today.

No. 8 qualifier Scelzi, driver of the Mopar/Oakley Dodge Charger R/T Funny
Car, met up with No. 9 Ashley in the opening stanza under a hot sun, a track
temperature of 140 degrees, and high hopes of a solid performance. Scelzi
launched first with a .093 (of a second) reaction time (.000 is perfect), to
Ashley's .115. Both cars lost traction, but it was Ashley first at the
finish stripe, with a 5.147-second pass at 274.66 mph to Scelzi's losing
5.226/276.18. Ashley's edge over Scelzi was .0571 of a second.

Scelzi remains seventh in Funny Car points, four markers behind Tommy
Johnson Jr. in sixth, who also was eliminated in the first round today.

"We ran the fourth quickest run of that session," explained the reigning
Funny Car champion. "I think Mike probably ran the third quickest," he
laughed. "It's unfortunate. These are just brutal conditions. We did not
want to smoke the tires like almost every car did in Top Fuel and Funny Car.

"It went down there and it started spinning (the tires) at about 800-900
feet and it just kept getting worse. It put a cylinder out and we were just
all done. There was nothing you could do.

"I'm glad to be out of this hell hole. Nothing about this place I like
except leaving it. That's what we're going to do. We'll head to Indy
(O'Reilly Raceway Park in Cleremont, Ind.) and start testing (this week)."

Next up is the prestigious U.S. Nationals at O'Reilly Raceway Park in
Cleremont, Ind., on Aug. 30-Sept. 4.

NOTE: As of 6 p.m. CT, the event remains under a rain delay following near
completion of the first round of eliminations. One pair of Pro Stock
Motorcycles are left to run.