Scelzi Back Home in California at Infineon Raceway

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series
Round 15 of 23
Fram-Autolite NHRA Nationals
Infineon Raceway
Sonoma, Calif.
Race Dates: Aug. 1-3, 2003

SONOMA, Calif. (July 31, 2003) - Fresno, Calif., is just a stone's throw
from Infineon Raceway, where Oakley Time Bomb Dodge Stratus Funny Car driver
Gary Scelzi calls home. But if you think Scelzi has a home-track advantage
here at the track once known as Sears Point Raceway, well, you'd be wrong.

While the three-time Top Fuel champion has won here in Alcohol Funny Car and
Alcohol Dragster, he's yet to enjoy a victory in Top Fuel or Fuel Funny Car
at this dragstrip nestled in the straw-colored hills of Sonoma, Calif. But
now, as a member of Don Schumacher Racing full-time in the Funny Car class
and after qualifying No. 1 last week in Seattle, Scelzi is encouraged by the
strides his crew chief Mike Neff and the rest of the team have made this
season.

"This year has been bumpy, but it's been good," says Scelzi, who was low
qualifier only once at Infineon in Top Fuel (2000), has 25 Top Fuel career
wins, and is looking for his first Funny Car victory. "It looks like this
season is finally turning the corner for us and it looks like we've got good
performance and consistency coming our way."

The Fram-Autolite NHRA Nationals this weekend will complete the three-race
West Coast swing for the NHRA pro competitors and Scelzi is buoyed by the
results. "We ran very well in Denver, despite qualifying No. 16. We were No.
1 qualifier last week, so maybe this is the one that's going to break
through for us," says the fastest Funny Car driver on the planet, who set
the NHRA Funny Car top speed record of 328.06 mph in Joliet, Ill., this
season.

Infineon Raceway is not a track where lane choice is expected to be as
critical as it was in Seattle, says Scelzi. "This is a facility that is just
absolutely phenomenal. Bruton Smith has spared no expense. There will be no
problem with lane choice because both lanes are equal, fast, smooth, ground.
It's had a year to season . The alcohol cars ran extremely well here a month
ago. It's a track where we can let the Oakley Dodge perform to its
potential."

It's also an event where Scelzi, 11th in Funny Car point standings, will
have countless friends, family and fans supporting him, which could cause
some stress "I've got a lot of fans, a lot of family, a lot of friends who
are going to show up at this event," he says. "Sometimes it is frustrating,
especially if you don't have performance. It makes the pressure even more,
if that's possible. But, it's also good to have them with me because they're
supportive."

Scelzi loves to visit the Sonoma/Napa area, but he says he's not a wine
fancier. "Everybody wants to go to Infineon because the wives can take the
wine train and they can go to Sonoma and all the little towns and little
shops and antique places," he says. "But I'm probably the only Italian who
doesn't drink wine. Everybody I know is into wine or, even if they're not,
they like to go to Sonoma to do the wine tasting. And I've just never
acquired a taste for it."

Born and raised in Fresno, Scelzi owns three businesses with his family
there: a truck body manufacturing company, an oil company and a propane
company.

"I make my living driving the race car," he says. "But I'm still actively
involved in the business with my two brothers, Mike the oldest and Jim the
middle brother. They're the ones who got me started in racing and it's been
very good for our customers. They relate to me, they follow me and we've
gotten a lot of major customers because of my racing."