SCELZI COLLECTS SECOND SPOT IN FINAL MEMPHIS QUALIFYING

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES
ROUND 17 of 23
O'REILLY MID-SOUTH NHRA NATIONALS
MEMPHIS (Tenn.) MOTORSPORTS PARK
RACE DATES: Aug. 20-22, 2004




MEMPHIS, Tenn. (Aug. 21, 2004) - Gary Scelzi, driving the HEMI-powered
Oakley Dodge Stratus Funny Car, pulled out a stout pass in the final
qualifying session for the O'Reilly Mid-South NHRA Nationals today and even
gave his teammate and No. 1 qualifier Whit Bazemore a scare, with his
stellar 4.863-second pass at 310.20 mph. This run placed Scelzi in second,
just a tick behind Bazemore's No. 1 pass of 4.862 seconds. Bazemore then
surpassed that run with a 4.856, and Scelzi held on to No. 2.

As Scelzi waited to make his final qualifying attempt, he was No. 9 and
Funny Car points leader John Force was No. 8. With a 6-4 winning record
against Force, Scelzi would have faced Force in the first round of
eliminations if the standings remained the same. Scelzi jokingly considered
aborting the attempt. "I almost got on the radio when I heard we had Force
first round and asked if they wanted me to shut it off early," he laughed,
"but then Force picked it up (to seventh) and there was no sense looking for
trouble. We'll find trouble tomorrow, I'm sure.

"It's great to be in the No. 2 position," he added. "The (blower) belt came
off right before I shut off at about 1200 feet and we could have been on the
pole just as easily as we were second. Still, we weren't really trying to go
for it. We were just trying to smooth things out and make minor adjustments.
Mike (Neff, crew chief) said that it would probably run an .87, an .88. He
didn't miss by much. He missed on the right side of it.

"When he calls it and it does what it's supposed to do, that makes me feel
comfortable, and it makes him feel comfortable that the tuneup is where it's
supposed to be. In the first round in Brainerd (last week, where he reached
the final round) it ran an .86 and we thought it would run maybe a .90 or
.95. That was a little surprising. It also told us that, hey, we're above
the power level where we need to be.

"I feel good about tomorrow. Baze is on the other side of the ladder. If we
both do our jobs we can have some fun at about 7:30 p.m. or 8:00 p.m.
tomorrow night."

Scelzi will face Bob Gilbertson in the first round of final eliminations on
Sunday.

***