DSR Funny Cars run strong at preseason Las Vegas tests

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2006 NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES

LAS VEGAS (Jan. 23, 2006) - Defending Funny Car champion Gary Scelzi, his
teammates Ron Capps and Whit Bazemore wrapped up four days of preseason
testing at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with strong results as they
gear up for the season-opening  event of the 2006 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing
Series Feb. 9-12 at Pomona (Calif.) Raceway.

One more test session is scheduled at Firebird International Raceway in
Chandler, Ariz., Jan. 27-30.

Scelzi, driving the Mopar/Oakley Dodge Stratus with a new dramatic paint
scheme, posted the quickest elapsed time ever established at The Strip on
Sunday in near-perfect conditions, a 4.701-second pass at 325.77, until John
Force surpassed him with a 4.673/327.51.

Capps, in the Brut Dodge Stratus, established his quickest E.T. also on
Sunday, a 4.724/317.12. His was the fifth best effort behind Force, Robert
Hight, Eric Medlen and teammate Gary Scelzi.

Bazemore, in the Matco Tools Iron Eagle Dodge Stratus, set his quickest pass
on Monday, a 4.824-second E.T. at 291.19 mph, placing him No. 7 for the four
days.

"I thought it was very successful," said Scelzi of the test session. "A lot
of the new stuff that we tried worked out and, really, all of the new stuff
we tried worked. I think it was probably one of the most successful test
sessions we've ever had."

As for John Force saying he wants the championship back in 2006, after
demonstrating his team's strength during these test sessions: "Let him
demonstrate it," said Scelzi. "We'll see what happens in Pomona and I'll
talk to you after 23 races and we'll see what's what. They looked very good.
They're not 13-time champs by accident, obviously.

"We can't worry about Force. We have everyone else we've got to worry about
along with Force and his three cars. We're not really paying much attention
to it. Yeah, we looked at the numbers, and they're impressive, but we're not
very far behind them.

"I feel like we're in good shape. There will be totally different conditions
in Phoenix, and we'll see how it stacks up at the end.

"The track conditions at The Strip were incredible and the air was
unbelievable. These are conditions we probably won't see all year long. I
don't know if we'll ever see conditions like this. The track temperature was
50 degrees. You'd better not have a weak motor when you drag it up there.
You'd better have all you got."

Quickest passes through Monday at the NHRA, Nitro Blast-off:

1. John Force, 4.673/327.51
2. Robert Hight, 4.690/311.56
3. Eric Medlen, 4.699/321.88
4. Gary Scelzi, 4.701/325.77  (top speed: 327.03 mph)
5. Ron Capps, 4.724/317.12  (top speed: 322.73 mph)
6. Tommy Johnson Jr., 4.757/326.63
7. Whit Bazemore, 4.824/291.19
8. Mike Ashley, 4.890/258.52  (top speed: 276.41 mph)
9. Phil Burkart, 4.954/267.48
10. Scott Kalitta, 5.026/297.42
 
 Timing data courtesy of CompuLink