Scelzi ekes out a top-half spot in Phoenix qualifying

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2006 NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES
Round 2 of 23
CHECKER SCHUCK'S KRAGEN NHRA NATIONALS
FIREBIRD INTL RACEWAY
CHANDLER, Ariz.
Race Date: Feb. 24-26, 2006

CHANDLER, Ariz. (Feb. 25, 2006) - Defending NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series
Funny Car champion Gary Scelzi breathed a sigh of relief when he finally
qualified the Mopar/Oakley Dodge Stratus R/T No. 8 in the Funny Car field
after wallowing in the bottom half all weekend.

Struggling through the first three qualifying rounds (7.272/112.73,
5.006/293.15 and 4.775/320.20), Scelzi entered the final session in No. 10
in the heat of the day and posted his best lap of the weekend, a
4.754-second elapsed time at 323.27 mph, placing him in the top half of the
field and earning him lane choice for Sunday's eliminations.

"We're barely in the top half," he said. "I call that the medium half. I
think we're back where we were supposed to be. "We had some parts that were
worn out at Pomona (season opener) that we thought might have caused some
problems in the second round and we chased them. We replaced them all and we
were kind of working our way back and we got behind. We went up there (in
the final session) and left a little too much on the table. We were trying
to run a 4.71 or .72. What it showed us on that run is that we're going in
the right diection.

"And tomorrow is going to be hotter and we can go down either lane. So,
we're going to be fine."

As for meeting No. 9 qualifier Phil Burkart in the first round, who has a
winning record against Scelzi? "Bring it on," Scelzi said. "It's time to
start changing things around."