Scelzi eyes first Topeka Funny Car win
DON SCHUMACHER RACING 2006 NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES Round 9 of 23 O'REILLY NHRA SUMMER NATIONALS Heartland Park Topeka (Kan.) Race Date: May 26-28, 2006 TOPEKA, Kan. (May 23, 2006) - Gary Scelzi has won at most of the tracks on which the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series competes, including a win at Heartland Park Topeka in Top Fuel. What he'd like to see this weekend at the O'Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals at Heartland Park is his first Funny Car victory here. The reigning Funny Car champion was the Top Fuel winner here in 2000, runner-up in 1997, and qualified No. 1 in 1998 and 2000 in Top Fuel. The driver of the Mopar/Oakley Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car has 32 career wins to his credit, four NHRA championships (three in Top Fuel), and 22 top-speeds in Funny Car. That latter record includes his latest top-speed performance, at Columbus last weekend. The Fresno, Calif., native has not yet won this season in eight events and, now that the team is showing signs of returning to its familiar high-performing style, Scelzi is ready to turn things around in Topeka. "We're going to break through," he says. "I know it's coming. I just wish it would hurry. "We'll have the Charger back in Topeka," he says of his switching to the Stratus after the Charger was damaged in qualifying in Columbus. "We'll have some changes made to it aerodynamically, and I'm looking forward to getting it back on in Topeka. We know it's better; we just need to massage it a little bit. "We can run hard, we can run slow in the heat, we can do whatever; I think we've proved that. If we can just keep the misfortune of breaking something, or somebody being better than me on the starting line - there's a lot of ifs - hopefully we can get that first win of the season here. "My family is coming; they haven't been to a race for awhile. We'll get to spend Memorial Day together. That's a good thing." GARY SCELZI QUICK FACTS: * Eleventh in 2006 Funny Car points after eight events * So far, in 2006, his best result is a semifinal finish in Bristol, Tenn. Also has three quarterfinal finishes * Claimed the 2005 Funny Car championship, his first, by eight points over his teammate Ron Capps, 32 over third-place 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) * Is a three-time Top Fuel champion * Became only the second NHRA driver to have won crowns in both Top Fuel and Funny Car. Kenny Bernstein is the first * Has one Top Fuel win at Heartland Park, in 2000. Was TF runner-up in 1997 and No. 1 qualifier in TF in 1998 and 2000 * Has not won a Funny Car title at Heartland Park * At 2005 O'Reilly Summer Nationals he qualified No. 5, lost second round to Tommy Johnson Jr. * Has set 22 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), 332.51 mph (Pomona 1 '06) * 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, 9, races Junior Sprints * Runs Scelzi Enterprises, a custom truck body design and manufacturing business in Fresno with his two brothers * 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