Scelzi No. 3 in Memphis on Fri. night

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES
Round 19 of 23
O'Reilly Mid-South Nationals presented by Pennzoil
Memphis Motorsports Park
Memphis, Tenn.
Race Dates: Sept. 19-21, 2003

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

SCELZI TAKES NO. 3 ON FRIDAY IN MEMPHIS

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (Sept. 19, 2003) - Gary Scelzi didn't make the field in
today's first round, but he made up for it in the second by establishing a
track speed record of 322.42 mph in his Oakley Dodge Stratus Funny Car
rocketship. His elapsed time of 4.837 seconds put him into the No. 3 spot,
behind his teammate Whit Bazemore in No. 1 and John Force in No. 2.

Track records were broken in elapsed time and top speed in every category
(Top Fuel, Pro Stock, Pro Stock Bike), expect in the Funny Car class, where
only the top speed record was broken.

"This Dodge does not surprise anybody when it runs top speed," said Scelzi,
who holds the national top speed record of 328.06 mph, set in Joliet this
year. "It's slippery and when the tune-up's right it hauls. The .83 is good.
We're still not there yet. We still have a little trouble about 1.2 seconds
in the run. We're working on it. Hopefully tomorrow the sun will be out and
we'll be able to work on the part that we need help on."

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