Scelzi has winning memories of Topeka

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series
Round 9 of 23
O'REILLY SUMMER NATIONALS
HEARTLAND PARK TOPEKA (Kans.)
Race Date: May 23-25

Contact: Judy Stropus 203-438-0501, cell 203-243-2438

OAKLEY FUNNY CAR DRIVER SCELZI HAS WINNING YET BITTERSWEET TOPEKA MEMORIES

TOPEKA, Kan. (May 22, 2003) -- Gary Scelzi will visit Heartland Park Topeka
and the O'Reilly Summernationals this weekend for the first time as a Funny
Car driver, now that he's driving the Oakley Dodge Stratus R/T full-time for
Don Schumacher Racing.

After qualifying No. 8 and advancing to the second round last weekend in
Englishtown, N.J., he's moved back into the top 10 of the NHRA POWERade Drag
Racing Series Funny Car standings and now stands No. 9 in points.

The three-time Top Fuel champion has bittersweet memories of the track
located in the capital city of Kansas. "It's got several memories for me,"
he says. "It's where I had my first serious crashes in Top Fuel. It was in
1999. First, I had one on Friday night, which I don't consider a crash but
it ruined the chassis, cause I didn't hit anything. And then we came right
back the next day and disintegrated a car in the lights. And all that was
left was the driver's compartment. We put two dragsters back together to
race eliminations and made it to the semifinals."

It was also the site of another more memorable moment. "At that time in Top
Fuel, in 2000, the record by Don Garlits and several other drivers such as
Cory McClenethan, including myself, of Top Fuel wins in a single season was
six. Several people had done it and we finally broke through and won No. 7
in Topeka. 

"So there's a lot of history there. A lot of good memories and some bad. But
it's a fast race track," added the man who has the distinction of being the
fastest Funny Car driver in the world, after blasting his Oakley Dodge to
326.95 miles an hour at Englishtown in the first round of eliminations. "And
if we have the kind of weather we had in Englishtown - cool and overcast - I
don't believe lane choice will be a factor. But I didn't think it would make
a difference in Englishtown and it did. I don't know. I know they've redone
some of it or did some grinding there. It should be a fast track.
Historically, it is. So I'm looking forward to going back and letting this
big Oakley Dodge eat. I watched 'Tin Cup' the other night; I had to steal a
line."

Pro Nitro ualifying for the Summernationals begins on Friday, May 23, at 5
p.m. and 8 p.m. On Saturday, May 24, Pro Nitro qualifying is at 12:30 p.m.
and 3:30 p.m. Final eliminations on Sunday, May 25, begin at 11 a.m.

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