Scelzi holds No. 3 in Memphis qualifying

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 STAYS NO. 3 IN MEMPHIS

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (Sept. 20, 2003) - Gary Scelzi pulled off a powerful pass in
the final qualifying session today, blasting down the Memphis Motorsports
Park quarter-mile in 4.893 seconds at the second fastest speed of the day
(to his teammate Whit Bazemore) of 315.49 mph. His pass from last night,
however, 4.837/322.42, was stronger and kept him No. 3 in the field for
tomorrow's final eliminations.

"That was a very good run," said the driver of the Oakley Time Bomb Dodge
Stratus Funny Car, after posting this time in the heat of the day. "It's
exactly what Mike (Neff, crew chief) wanted it to do. We got away from our
little magical mystical trick setup that works really good when the sun's
not out. We went back to our normal setup and he said it would probably go a
low .90, and it went an .89. That's what we're going to race with tomorrow;
that's what it's probably going to take to win the race - mid to low .90s -
and that's what we're going to try to run all day. Right now we're in pretty
good shape with the Oakley Dodge."

Scelzi's Oakley teammate Scotty Cannon failed to qualify for the first time
since Englishtown in 2001. "I feel sorry for my teammate Scotty Cannon but I
was there in Vegas (where Scelzi DNQ'd). We'll get him fixed and he'll be a
bad Jose shortly."

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