Scelzi, Fastest Funny Car Driver on Planet, Ready for the Heat
DON SCHUMACHER RACING NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series PONTIAC EXCITEMENT NHRA NATIONALS Round 11 of 23 National Trail Raceway Columbus, Ohio Race Date: June 13-15, 2003 COLUMBUS, Ohio (June 13, 2003) - Now that he's the fastest Funny Car driver on the planet, after establishing a national speed record of 328.06 mph at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Ill., Gary Scelzi is getting down to business and is focusing on winning rounds and moving up in the standings in his Oakley Time Bomb Dodge Stratus R/T. The 11th round of 23 in the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series is this weekend at National Trail Raceway outside of Columbus, Ohio. The cool spring season has come to an end, as the series moves into the heat and haze of the summer months. "National Trail Raceway is always a tricky race track," says Scelzi, of Fresno, Calif. "History has shown it always rains here and then it gets hot and slippery. It's definitely not one of the fastest race tracks we go to, but it's definitely one of the trickiest. "If it's cool and the race track is fast, obviously the Oakley Dodge is fast. If it gets hot I think that (crew chief) Mike Neff has got a great tune-up for that. Either way I'm looking for big things," adds the three-time Top Fuel champion still seeking his first Funny Car win. "We set the national record; we've done everything now except for win. And that's our mail goal right now is to win a race." Now that he has the speed record under his belt, he's not concerned about having it surpassed at this point of the season. "I don't think you're going to see the speed record even be threatened until probably around Brainerd or Indy," adds Scelzi, ninth in the point standings going into Columbus, "because we're in the summer months now. Even at that, no one seemed to have gotten close to us earlier in the year on the race tracks where they could. I'm not really concerned abut the speed record right now. Our main focus at Team Oakley right now is to get a win." ***