Scelzi wins second career Funny Car title at Gateway

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2004 NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES
Round 12 of 23
SEARS CRAFTSMAN NHRA NATIONALS
GATEWAY INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY
MADISON, ILL.
Race Dates: June 25-27, 2004

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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

SCELZI WINS HIS SECOND CAREER FUNNY CAR TITLE; JUMPS TO FOURTH IN POINTS
Event marred by death of Darrell Russell

MADISON, Ill. (June 27, 2004) - Gary Scelzi had a heavy heart as he stepped
into his HEMI-powered Oakley Dodge Stratus for the Funny Car final round
against John Force. He had just been informed that his friend Darrell
Russell had suffered a fatal crash in the second round of Top Fuel.

It was Scelzi's third final round of the 2004 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing
Series, his fifth semifinal round of the year, and his seventh career
match-up with the 12-time NHRA champion, of which he's won four.

Scelzi's history against Force gave him the edge, not to mention that his
No. 1 qualifying run demolished the track records for speed and elapsed time
here at Gateway International Raceway: 4.724 seconds at 329.50 mph. To top
it off, Scelzi had just posted this quarter-mile's fastest speed ever in the
semifinal round of 330.23 mph.

Stalwart and steady, Scelzi clicked off a .073 reaction time to Force's
.083. The pair was side by side for 330 feet, until Force lost traction,
smoking the tires and pedaling to the finish, as Scelzi blasted to his
fourth outstanding pass of the day to win his second Funny Car title since
Sonoma, Calif., last year with a 4.827-second pass at 325.30 mph to Force's
losing 5.321/210.28.

"That was a big one for us," said crew chief Mike Neff. "We needed to seal
the deal here and get ourselves the win, get the monkey off our backs and it
feels good. We're definitely making progress. The HEMI-powered Oakley Dodge
is running better than it ever has. It feels good to roll into the Western
Swing with some momentum.

"We changed our clutch around and some other things probably four or five
races ago. It was a new learning curve for us and the more runs we make, the
better we get; we're just getting a little better all the time. We should be
able to continue to keep getting better than we are."

The three-time Top Fuel champion and national top-speed record holder of
330.55 mph first disposed of Tony Pedregon with a 4.840/324.67 pass, then
dismissed Jerry Toliver with a 4.837/315.49, and scorched the quarter-mile
in the semifinal with a 4.758/330.23 win over Cruz Pedregon.

Scelzi is now fourth in the Funny Car point standings, just 89 points out of
first place, which was taken over by John Force today.

Unfortunately, Scelzi's success today was overshadowed by the tragic event.
Scelzi remembered Russell, whom he had recommended to Joe Amato to drive his
Top Fuel Dragster, in the winner's circle with tears in his eyes. "There are
no guarantees in life, and there are no guarantees that you can make a
living doing something you love every day. Darrell Russell loved what he did
and it's unfortunate and sad and it really bothers me, but I've got to say
he was doing what he loved. I've been in this position before several times
and I keep coming back. So, if that's our destiny and that's what God's got
laid out for us, so be it. It's a tragic shame, but Darrell touched a lot of
people and that's all I can say. He died doing what he enjoyed."

NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES POINT STANDINGS

1. John Force, 860
2. Del Worsham, 857
3. Whit Bazemore, 821
4. Gary Scelzi, 771
5. Gary Densham, 718
6. Eric Medlen, 713

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