Scelzi High on Changing His Luck at Bandimere (NHRA)

NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series
Round 13 of 23
MOPAR MILE-HIGH NHRA NATIONALS
Bandimere Speedway
Denver, Colorado
Race Date: July 18-20, 2003

DENVER, Colo. (July 14, 2003) - Unlike his Don Schumacher Racing teammate
Whit Bazemore, Gary Scelzi is not as high on Bandimere Speedway located on
the side of a mountain outside of Denver, Colorado. It's not because he
isn't impressed with the beauty of the surrounding area or with how the
Bandimere family has succeeded in running this facility. He is. It's just
that he hasn't done well here in the past and that's something he aims to
change this weekend at the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals with his Oakley
Time Bomb Dodge Stratus Funny Car.

"Denver is always exciting because it's a really neat facility," says the
three-time Top Fuel champion who has won 25 Top Fuel events, but not one at
Bandimere Speedway. He was low qualifier twice, however, in that category,
in 2000 and 2001. "It's unique," he says. "The Bandimeres have a great
facility. And with me being associated with Dodge and Mopar now and this
being a Mopar race, it goes without saying I want to do well here.
Unfortunately, Gary Scelzi has never had good luck here. I'm not sure what
my record is here, but I know it's not very good.

"So, what better time than now to change that?" he asks. "Fortunately for
me, Mike Neff was the No. 1 qualifier last year with my teammate Scotty
Cannon's Oakley Funny Car and he's my crew chief this year. He has all those
records and hopefully we haven't made too many changes to the car, so maybe
we would repeat those numbers and have a chance to change the luck for Gary
Scelzi, and put the Oakley Dodge in the winner's circle."

The mile-high altitude is the number one factor, of course, says Scelzi, but
the Dodge body is an asset. "The altitude will definitely affect it. The
nitromethane motors that we've got make so much power. One of the things is
that you're up here in thin air and you don't have the downforce. That
actually plays into our hands, because the Dodge Stratus has a ton of
downforce, so we have the tools to make up for the thin air. It'll be the
first time with the Dodge Stratus here. We're hoping all the things we
learned in the wind tunnel and all the things we learned throughout raceday
conditions, from extreme heat to extreme cold, we can put into play here and
make the car go down the race track."

Scelzi, of Fresno, Calif., is in his first full season of Funny Car
competition and is still looking for his first win for Don Schumacher
Racing. He is, however, the fastest Funny Car driver in the world now, after
establishing a national speed record of 328.06 mph at Joliet, Ill., last
June. "Our goal continues to be to win a race or several races," he says.
"Mike Neff is working extremely hard. (Bazemore's crew chief) Lee Beard,
(co-crew chief) Dan Olson and now Alan Johnson (Tony Schumacher's Top Fuel
crew chief) are all trying to work together for a better program, a more
consistent program - not to be fast occasionally but to be fast all the time
and consistently.

"Our performance, I feel, has been great, but consistency has been below
par. We thought we would have won a race by now, but the Oakley Dodge makes
extremely good horsepower and I think the consistency is starting to come
around."

Scelzi is 10th in the POWERade Drag Racing Series Funny Car point standings.