Scelzi settles into No. 4 in final Gatornationals qualifying

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2004 NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES
Round 3 of 23
NHRA GATORNATIONALS
GAINESVILLE (FLA.) RACEWAY
RACE DATES: MARCH 19-21, 2004


GAINESVILLE, Fla. (March 21, 2004) - Gary Scelzi's HEMI-powered Oakley Dodge
Stratus became the third Funny Car this weekend to finally break into the
300-mph neighborhood. His 306.85-mph pass in the final qualifying round
against John Force was the fastest speed so far. The 4.931-second elapsed
time he posted in that squirrelly pass also placed him No. 4 in the field
for tomorrow's eliminations.

"The car was trying to move around after about 600-700 feet and I was not
going to let that car get out of the groove," said Scelzi. "And I was
aggressive on the steering wheel, so that was me.

"This place is so difficult to keep the car in the middle of the race
track," he added, "that you've got to be violent on the wheel, and I was a
little too violent down there.

"We've been struggling with some things. There's been some air in the fuel
lines from a fuel valve that's been causing us some problems. We've been
chasing this thing since Phoenix and it doesn't do it every time. But we
think we found out what happened. We've been good in the last two runs. It
didn't show any signs of that.

"It looks like everything is cured and the car is starting to act normal
again. It's just not consistent and it had been consistent. So we feel
pretty good about tomorrow. We have enough of the old tires to get through
tomorrow and that's a big thing. Then we'll stay and test the new Goodyears
on Monday, because that's all we're going to have and we have to get a jump
on Vegas." The next NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series event at The Strip at
Las Vegas Motor Speedway on April 2-4.

Scelzi will face Tony Bartone in the first round of final eliminations
Sunday(today), beginning at 11 a.m.