Scelzi quickest in final session, qualifies No. 2 in Denver

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2006 NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES
Round 13 of 23
Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals
Bandimere Speedway
Morrison, Colo.
Race Date: July 14-16, 2006

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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

SCELZI CLOCKS QUICKEST ET OF FINAL SESSION, TAKES NO. 2 IN DENVER

MORRISON, Colo. (July 15, 2006) - Gary Scelzi almost had it, but he fell
just .003 of a second short of grabbing the Funny Car pole at the Mopar
Mile-High Nationals today in the final qualifying session, taking No. 2
instead with a solid 4.896-second elapsed time at 310.20 mph. That pass was
the quickest of that round, held under slightly cooler conditions later in
the afternoon.

The reigning NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series Funny Car champion's other
passes this weekend included an ugly 7.384/115.20 in the opening session in
90-degree temperatures, a 4.932/308.00 in the cooler Friday night round, and
the quickest pass of the third session in the 100-degree-plus heat of the
day, a 5.116/290.88.

"We tried to steal it," said Scelzi, who has never won here at Bandimere
Speedway. "We're not going to race in conditions like this tomorrow. It's
going to be hot and miserable, and so we said, You know, let's just shoot
our shot and see if we can get the pole and it put a cylinder out about 900
feet or we would have had it.

"That's OK. Zippy (crew chief Mike Neff) is so confident that the
Mopar/Oakley Dodge Charger R/T is  pretty much doing everything he wants it
to do. I'm feeling good in the car. And now if we can just have a little bit
of luck tomorrow, maybe I can finally get myself a Mile-High Nationals win."

Scelzi faces Scott Kalitta in the opening round of eliminations on Sunday.

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