Scelzi ousted in first round by Bazemore in Houston

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2005 NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES
Round 4 of 23
O'REILLY NHRA SPRING NATIONALS
HOUSTON RACEWAY
Race Dates: April 8-10, 2005



BAYTOWN, Texas (April 10, 2005) - Gary Scelzi, in the Mopar/Oakley Dodge
Stratus Funny Car, was ousted by his teammate Whit Bazemore in the first
round of eliminations at the O'Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals at Houston
Raceway today. 

It wasn't what was expected, as Bazemore's Matco Tools team struggled during
qualifying to make it into the 12th spot, while Scelzi posted two out of
four excellent qualifying runs for No. 5 and arguably had the stronger car
for the warm, humid conditions at sea level.

Bazemore's deep staging resulted in a first-off-the-line .064 (of a second)
reaction time, while Scelzi staged shallow for a .114 reaction time, just
enough of a margin to allow Bazemore to take the win on a holeshot advantage
with a 4.842/317.34 to Scelzi's quicker but losing 4.795/323.19. The margin
of victory was a scant .0033 of a second - about 19 inches.

"The Mopar/Oakley Dodge ran great. My lights (reaction times) have been .10
something to .15 in qualifying because I race in qualifying," explained
Scelzi. "I had a .114 here, that's my deal when I go in thin. We were going
for lane choice against John Force in the next round." (Deep-staging results
in a slower ET. The quicker ET gets lane choice.)

"Bazemore rolled it in, which I think wasn't a very smart move, because he
lost lane choice to Force," he continued. "Baze was probably quicker than I
was on the starting line, but lane choice could have been critical against
Force in the next round." (Note: Bazemore lost to Force in the second
round.)

"Hey, he beat me, so it goes down as a holeshot and that's the way it's
going to be. 

"In qualifying I had a .105, .183 at night, a .109 and a .126, because I
race in qualifying. In qualifying Baze had a .142, .136, .109 and .126. And
I'm pretty sure that Baze races in qualifying also. He had a good light in
that round. Mine wasn't a terrible light.

"I'm not making excuses, I'm not upsset other than I lost, because that was
about my average light, going in thin. I could have rolled it in and given
myself an .080 light and the car would have run a 4.82, but I wanted lane
choice against Force (whose first-round winning ET was 4.825). That was
critical. Anytime you can have any advantage at all, whether it matters or
not psychologically against your opponent, it means something. And that's
what we were going for."

Scelzi is now 10th in points, 107 behind leader John Force, and 93 behind
second-place Bazemore.

Next up is the NHRA Nationals at The Strip in Las Vegas April 14-17.

NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES FUNNY CAR POINT STANDINGS:
1. John Force, 303
2. Whit Bazemore, 289
3. Robert Hight, 268
4. Tommy Johnson Jr., 231
5. Cruz Pedregon, 230
6. Eric Medlen,, 219
7. Del Worsham, 215
8. Phil Burkart Jr., 211
9. Bob Gilbertson, 207
10. Gary Scelzi, 196
11. Ron Capps, 193

***