Scelzi takes runner-up in Brainerd, moves into second in points

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2004 NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES
Round 16 of 23
LUCAS OIL NHRA NATIONALS
BRAINERD INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY
Brainerd, Minn.
Race Dates: Aug. 13-15, 2004


SCELZI HAS AN AWESOME DAY IN BRAINERD: BEATS POINTS LEADER FORCE ON A
HOLESHOT, TAKES RUNNER-UP, MOVES INTO SECOND IN POINTS

BRAINERD, Minn. (Aug. 15, 2004) - Gary Scelzi had an awesome day today at
the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd (Minn.) International Raceway, and
it wasn't because of the 72-degree weather and low humidity. The driver of
the HEMI-powered Oakley Dodge Stratus Funny Car served notice that he's the
one to watch for the rest of the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series season by
first taking out John Force in the semifinal round on a holeshot advantage,
then moving into second in the point standings with a runner-up finish.

Scelzi easily defeated Tony Bartone in the first round with a 4.862/315.86
pass to Bartone's 5.212/252.28, then handily disposed of Cruz Pedregon in
the second, with a 5.146/275.17 versus Pedregon's losing 9.650/96.89.

Force and Scelzi were paired for their third straight semifinal round, and
after losing to Force in the last two, Scelzi ably maintained his edge over
the 12-time Funny Car champion in the win-loss column by scoring his sixth
win of the duo's 10 meetings. The three-time Top Fuel champion from Fresno,
Calif., simply blew Force away on a holeshot advantage. Force's .123 (.000
is perfect) reaction time was no match for Scelzi's .060, and Scelzi crossed
the finish line by a .019 of a second margin of victory with a 4.917-second
elapsed time at 313.00 mph to Force's losing 4.873/317.27.

Scelzi then faced Force's teammate Eric Medlen in the final round, where he
set an even quicker reaction time of .035 to Medlen's .105, but it wasn't
enough, as Scelzi lost traction at half-track, handing the win to Medlen.
The numbers: 4.999/302.62 for Medlen; 5.286/247.66 for Scelzi.

With today's results, Scelzi passes Del Worsham and his teammate Whit
Bazemore (who lost in the first round) for second place in the Funny Car
rankings, the highest position he's held in this class since he entered the
category in 2002. He's 164 points behind Force and 24 in front of Bazemore.

"We're excited," he said. "We did everything that we had to do except in the
final. But those things happen. We're not sure what went wrong, but (crew
chief) Mike Neff and the HEMI Oakley team will check it out.

"We're second in points, we shortened the gap to Force," he added. "We just
need to take some bigger chunks out of him and pay attention to our game and
continue on like we've been doing for the last six races." Six races ago,
Scelzi was sixth in points.

"It just feels good," Scelzi said of the holeshot win over Force. "I mean,
he's the 12-time champ and he's the one everybody fears. We raced him smart
and that's what we're trying to do each time. We're trying not to put any
more effort into racing him than anybody else. We're just trying to do what
we need to do to win and let the chips fall where they may.

"There's a lot of racing left (seven races), and, like I've said before,
I've been 215 points behind going into Indy (in Top Fuel) - the 18th season
race of 23 - and came out of Reading (the 19th) in the lead, so things can
change in a hurry and Force is within reach, that's for sure.

"We're very happy to go from fourth to second. I'm very proud of Mike and
I'm very proud of this team to have become contenders, because no one talked
about us all year long and we've been right there.

"Our goal is to be No. 1 and we're going to work as hard as we possibly can
to get that."

Next up is the O'Reilly NHRA Mid-South Nationals in Memphis, Tenn., Aug.
20-22.

POINT STANDINGS:

1. John Force, 1208
2. Gary Scelzi, 1044
3. Whit Bazemore, 1020
4. Del Worsham, 1004
5. Eric Medlen, 991

***