Scelzi's stellar Reading run ends in semis, pads points lead

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2005 NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES
ROUND 19 OF 23
TOYO TIRES NHRA NATIONALS
MAPLE GROVE RACEWAY
READING, PA.
Race Dates: Sept. 16-18, 2005

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Judy Stropus, 203-438-0501; cell 203-243-2438;
jstropus@earthlink.net

SCELZI'S STELLAR READING RUN END IN SEMIS, PADS POINTS LEAD

READING, Pa. (Sept. 18., 2005) - Gary Scelzi looked like he was well on his
way to his fourth win of the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series Funny Car
season today at the NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway until a clutch
lever caused his demise in the semifinal round.

Despite that, the driver of the Mopar/Oakley Dodge Stratus R/T Funny Car
goes home to Fresno, Calif., with a 26-point lead in the Funny Car
championship over Robert Hight, whom he defeated in the quarterfinal.

Scelzi was unstoppable all weekend after dominating three of the four
qualifying rounds and the first two rounds of eliminations today.

The No. 1 qualifier and event defending champion first disposed of Gary
Densham with a 4.785/312.42, then Hight with a 4.818/319.98 before meeting
up with eventual event winner Tony Pedregon in the semifinal round.

The race was over for Scelzi at the hit of the throttle, as the car went up
in smoke, while Pedregon cruised to the finish line with a 4.907/314.97
winning lap to Scelzi's 11.963/73.76.

"It broke the clutch lever right off at the starting line, which caused it
to smoke the tires," said Scelzi, who is seeking his first Funny Car crown
to go with his three Top Fuel championships. "It's unfortunate. The levers
were new at Indy (U.S. Nationals on Labor Day). That's something that
doesn't normally happen.

"Goofy things happen, but we're going to leave here with a bigger points
lead than we came with. That's the main goal. We're in the hunt. We're
playing hardball and we're making some moves.

"We're focused, we're ready, we're going to go over everything again and
just hope that bad luck doesn't bite us like it did today.

"We're all right. We'll be fine. We'll just tighten that belt another notch
and go to Dallas."

Next on NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series' schedule is the O'Reilly NHRA
Nationals, Sept. 23-25, 2005.

NHRA FUNNY CAR POINT STANDINGS:
1. Gary Scelzi, 1250
2. Robert Hight, 1224
3. John Force, 1219
4. Eric Medlen, 1174
5. Ron Capps, 1168
6. Tommy Johnson Jr., 1080
7. Whit Bazemore, 1042
8. Del Worsham, 978
9. Tony Pedregon, 957 (winner today)
10. Cruz Pedregon, 883

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