Reigning Funny Car champ Scelzi fit and ready for 2006 opener

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2006 NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES
ROUND 1 OF 23
CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals
POMONA (CALIF.) RACEWAY
RACE DATE: FEB 9-12, 2006


FRESNO, Calif. (Feb. 3, 2006) - Fit, fast, fierce and focused, Fresnan Gary
Scelzi, the 2005 Funny Car champion, is ready to hit the quarter-mile
running at the 2006 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series season-opening CARQUEST
Auto Parts Winternationals at Pomona (Calif.) Raceway next week.

Following two successful tests at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and
Firebird International Raceway in Chandler, Ariz., Scelzi and crew chief
Mike Neff are aiming to repeat their 2005 championship-winning season. They
know it won't be easy, as 13-time Funny Car champion John Force, whose team
lost the crown for the first time since 1992, is vowing to get it back.

Force was quickest and fastest in both test sessions, but Scelzi was close
behind, a possible precursor to the battle that is expected again this
season between the two powerhouse teams of Don Schumacher Racing and John
Force Racing.

"I was extremely pleased with how quick and fast we ran in testing," said
Scelzi, "with very little problems, very little effort. We basically used
Firebird for a complete test of all the crazy stuff that we wanted to try.
We had very little success, but we can't really say that because the track
was so difficult. 

"We had the new Goodyear tires to contend with and everybody seemed to have
trouble at 300 feet, so I don't know if it was actually the tires. I don't
think it was the race track; it's just that the combination needs to be
refined to work with these tires under certain conditions. But, we ended up
running a 4.70 (-second elapsed time) at 330 mph when we decided we wanted
to go down the track with our normal combination.

"We haven't lost any performance over the winter, that's for sure, and we
learned a few things."

Last year at the Winternationals, Scelzi qualified sixth, then lost to Phil
Burkart in the first round on a holeshot advantage. While he doesn't want to
see that happening again, he knows there's a long season ahead. "Obviously,
we ran very well last year at the Winternationals, but got beat on a
holeshot," he said. "That didn't have much outcome on the championship, so
we don't put a whole lot of stock in the Winternationals. We would like to
do well there, qualify well and start out better than we did last year to
kind of set the tone. But, even if we don't, it doesn't look like it's a
problem. But you need to qualify and you need to go rounds because I think
this year is going to be harder than last year and I think there are going
to be more players in the mix and it's going to be all the way to the end.

"If last year is any sign, I think we're in for even more competition this
year," said Scelzi of the 2005 battle, first among five-plus drivers near
the end of the season to three at the final event to determine the title.
Scelzi won by eight points over his teammate Ron Capps. Force finished
third.

As for Force's determination to take back the crown: "I think it's obvious
that those guys haven't been in hibernation over the winter," Scelzi
remarked. "They've been working really hard. Force was the quickest car at
both events and you don't get to be a 13-time champion by accident. And all
three of his cars will be major players. That's what we're planning on and I
don't see any change there. Force was a player last year and went out 10
times in the first round. He's upset, he's angry and you don't want to stick
a sharp stick in a tiger's cage and I think that's what we've done. If we
can pull it off again and be back-to-back champions, I think that's going to
be speak volumes."

Does he feel like a champion? "I do. I really do," he said. "Over the winter
I had a lot of time to reflect and change my eating habits and get into a
workout program and feel better about myself. When I got to Vegas for
testing I wasn't really ready to start, but the minute we warmed that car up
for the first time I was so excited. It reminded me of 1997 when I started
in Top Fuel. All the enthusiasm, all the energy and all the focus is on
winning another championship and I'm ready to get started."

GARY SCELZI QUICK FACTS:
* Claimed the 2005 Funny Car championship, his first, by eight points over
his teammate Ron Capps, 32 over John Force
* Won three times in 2005 (Bristol, Chicago 1 and Sonoma); was low qualifier
six times (Las Vegas 1, Atlanta, St. Louis, Reading, Las Vegas 2, Pomona 2)
* Became only the second NHRA driver to have won crowns in both Top Fuel and
Funny Car. Kenny Bernstein is the first.
* Has never won a Funny Car event at Pomona, has three wins there in Top
Fuel
* At 2005 Winternationals, he qualified No. 6, lost first round to Phil
Burkart on a holeshot
* Has set 19 Funny Car top speeds since joining Don Schumacher Racing in
2003
* 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: 4.697-second ET (Chicago 2 '05), 331.53 mph
(Pomona 1 '05)
* Qualified in top five 19 times in 2005, No. 1 six times
* 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
* 2006 is his fourth 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