Scelzi advances to second round in Vegas

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2004 NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES
ROUND 4 of 23
NHRA SUMMITRACING.COM NATIONALS
THE STRIP AT LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA
RACE DATES: April 2-4, 2004

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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

SCELZI ADVANCES TO SECOND ROUND

LAS VEGAS (April 4, 2004) - Gary Scelzi and his HEMI-powered Oakley Dodge
Stratus Funny Car continue to have a love-hate relationship this season
after starting out strong in the Pomona, Calif., season-opener, where he
reached the semifinal round.

This weekend, at the NHRA SummitRacing.com Nationals at The Strip at Las
Vegas Motor Speedway, the team was poised to see improved results and was
encouraged by a potent No. 4 qualifying effort.

In the first round of final eliminations, Scelzi pulled out an easy victory
over Terry Haddock, besting him with a strong 4.837/322.04 lap to Haddock's
5.043/292.77. The second round proved to be Scelzi's downfall, however, as a
mechanical problem cost him a chance to advance further in the field. Scelzi
had the quicker reaction time (.079 to .086), but lost to eventual event
winner Phil Burkart Jr. with a 6.652/138.10 to Burkart's 4.887/310.48.

The Fresno native is now sixth in the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series Funny
Car point standings, tied with Eric Medlen.

"We tried to pick it up a little early, and it did," said Scelzi. "The
clutch bearing never moved, which never put a load on the motor, which made
it drop cylinders, which made it completely slow down to nothing and I just
shut it off. We don't know why it did that. We're looking at it and we'll
see what happens."

Only two rounds of qualifying were held this weekend after rain cancelled
the first day, and Scelzi posted a stellar 4.788-second pass in the first
round. "It ran extremely well in qualifying the one run," he added,
maintaining his belief in the strength of his HEMI-powered Oakley Dodge.
"It's a race car that's going to do some amazing things," he said. "It's
just that we don't have a piece of luck anywhere. I left first, the car was
quicker, it was going to win the race, no doubt about it. It just didn't
happen."

Round 5 coming up is the O'Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals at Houston Raceway
April 16-18.

POINT STANDINGS:

1. Del Worsham, 331
2. John Force, 260
3. Gary Densham, 242
4. Whit Bazemore, 240
5. Phil Burkart Jr. 237
6. Gary Scelzi, 219
 Eric Medlen, 219 

***