Scelzi all amped up about Funny Car title chase

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2005 NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES
Round 20 of 23
Ameriquest Mortgage NHRA Nationals
Route 66 Raceway
Joliet, Ill.
Race Dates: Sept. 30-Oct. 2, 2005

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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

SCELZI ALL AMPED UP ABOUT TITLE CHASE

JOLIET, Ill. (Sept. 28, 2005) - Gallons of adrenaline seem to be coursing
through Gary Scelzi's veins these last few NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series
races, as the man known as "Wild Thing" in his native Fresno, Calif., is on
a natural high about his No. 1 status in the Funny Car championship chase.

As the series heads to Route 66 Raceway this weekend for the Ameriquest
Mortgage NHRA Nationals, the first of the last four events of the 2005
season, the driver of the Mopar/Oakley Dodge Stratus R/T Funny Car finds
himself 26 points in front of Robert Hight, 31 ahead of John Force, 76 over
Eric Medlen and 82 ahead of his teammate Ron Capps.

This has got to be the closest and most exciting battle for a championship
the NHRA has ever seen!

It's the first time since Scelzi entered the Funny Car class in 2002 after
garnering three Top Fuel championships that he's led the class through two
straight events, and he's thriving on the pressure to win his first Funny
Car crown and become only the second driver to have won titles in both Top
Fuel and Funny Car. Kenny Bernstein is the first.

"My mother and father-in-law came over last night, and I said to them,
Finally, on Sunday at Reading (Pa. where he padded his lead from one point
to 26) I said to myself, You know what? You're not nervous, you like this
stuff, you love this pressure," said Scelzi.

"This is when I seem to rise to the occasion. I'm excited about it. I'm
ready to go to these next four races. If it were up to me, we could just do
them all in a row."

Racing at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Ill., this weekend, just outside of
Chicago, merely adds to the rush. It's where Scelzi was the first to break
the Funny Car 330-mph barrier in 2004, and where he won Funny Car in June,
in Top Fuel in 2000 and was runner-up in 1998 and 2000 (1).

"I am really looking forward to Chicago because we ran very well here
earlier in the year," said Scelzi of his victory over Medlen, "and we've
always done well here.

"Chicago is one of those race tracks that you love to go to. It's just
incredible. The weather should be outstanding."

At a track famous for delivering national records, the 20 bonus points for a
backed-up national elapsed-time record would help any of the top five Funny
Car contenders in the title chase, but the NHRA-mandated rev limiter this
season could be the spoiler.

"The rev limiter is going to put a damper on those 20 bonus points," said
Scelzi. "Realistically, there are four cars - ours, Hight's, Medlen's and
Force's - that could reset that national record. But I don't think it's
going to happen, because this rev limiter just won't let it happen. That's
my opinion.

"When a car revs up and accelerates hard early it gets on the rev limiter
sooner, which the Mopar/Oakley Dodge seems to do, and that's going to be a
problem. I'm not sure how (crew chief) Mike Neff is going to deal with that
this weekend, but it's definitely not a plus. It's more of a hindrance than
anything."

As for the postponement of the Dallas event because of Hurricane Rita: "I
think it was a great call by the NHRA," Scelzi said, "and they made the call
early enough because it was a Category 4 hurricane. That's nothing to mess
with, especially with what happened in Louisiana. It was also 100 degrees in
Dallas. We have another two weeks now to hope that it cools down some."

SCHEDULE:      
On Friday, Sept. 30, professional qualifying sessions are at 3:30 and 6:30
p.m. On Saturday, Oct. 1, pro qualifying continues at 12:15 and 3 p.m. On
Sunday, Oct. 2, pre-race ceremonies are at 10 a.m., final eliminations begin
at 11 a.m.
 
TELEVISION:     
On Saturday, Oct. 1, ESPN2 will televise two hours of qualifying highlights
at 5 p.m. (ET). On Sunday, Oct. 2, ESPN2 will telecast NHRA 2Day, a
30-minute weekly news magazine show, at 11:30 a.m. (ET). On Sunday, Oct. 2,
ESPN2 will televise three hours of eliminations at 8 p.m. (ET).

GARY SCELZI QUICK FACTS:
* Leading the 2005 Funny Car points after 19 races; has three wins (Bristol,
Chicago 1 and Sonoma); was low qualifier four times (Las Vegas, Atlanta, St.
Louis and Reading)
* Is in fierce battle with 13-time champion John Force, rookie Robert Hight,
teammate Ron Capps and Eric Medlen for 2005 Funny Car crown; is 26 points
ahead of Hight in second, 31 points ahead of Force in third, 76 ahead of
Eric Medlen in fourth, and 82 in front of teammate Ron Capps in fifth
* If he wins the Funny Car championship this year he will become only the
second NHRA driver to have won crowns in both Top Fuel and Funny Car. Kenny
Bernstein is the first.
* Qualified seventh at the 2004 Ameriquest Nationals; lost first round to
Jerry Toliver
* Won Funny Car here earlier this year, won Top Fuel in 2000, was TF
runner-up in 1998 and 2001 (1)
* Is a member of the largest team in NHRA pro history: Don Schumacher
Racing, with nine teams - two in Top Fuel, three in Funny Car, two in Pro
Stock, two in Pro Stock Motorcycle (all four pro categories)
* Is first Funny Car driver to break the 330-mph barrier (330.15 mph at
Route 66 Raceway in 2004)
* Career Funny Car bests: 4.717-second ET (Pomona '05), 331.53 mph (Pomona
'05)
* Third in 2004 Funny Car points, with three wins in six final rounds
* Qualified in top five nine times in 2004, No. 1 once
* Age 45, born and raised in Fresno, Calif., where he lives with wife
Julianne and sons Dominic and Giovanni
* Dominic, 8, races Junior Sprints
* Runs Scelzi Enterprises, a custom truck body design and manufacturing
business in Fresno with his two brothers
* Is a three-time Top Fuel Dragster champion
* Won his first Top Fuel crown as a rookie
* Has seven Funny Car wins, 25 Top Fuel wins
* Sixth in 2003 Funny Car points, his first full season in that class
* 2005 is his third straight season racing for Don Schumacher Racing
* Is the only NHRA driver to have won in Top Fuel, Funny Car, Top Alcohol
Dragster and Top Alcohol Funny Car. He accomplished this feat at Infineon
Raceway in 2003
* Is one of the few Funny Car drivers who has a round winning record against
the 13-time Funny Car champion John Force: 9-8, 3-1 in final rounds

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