Scelzi struggles in Sonoma to qualify 13th

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2006 NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES
Round 15 of 23
Fram-Autolite NHRA Nationals
Infineon Raceway
Sonoma, Calif.
Race Date: July 28-30, 2006

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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

SCELZI STRUGGLES IN SONOMA TO QUALIFY 13TH

SONOMA, Calif. (July 29, 2006) - Gary Scelzi had a tough time qualifying the
Mopar/Oakley Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car this weekend for the Fram-Autolite
Nationals, ending up No. 13, with his best pass of 4.865 seconds at 317.64
mph.

The reigning NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series Funny Car champion and
defending Sonoma Funny Car titlist recorded that time in the cooler Friday
evening session. His other attempts produced a fiery 10.317/64.89, a
tire-smoking 10.541/78.75 and, finally, a much-improved, but less than
perfect, 6.733/128.86.

"It's not what we like to see," he said of the final pass. "Zippy (crew
chief Mike Neff) is looking to see what happened. Actually, that pass was
quicker and better. I'm sure Zippy will stay up all night and figure out
what the hell is wrong and get it handled.

"We had two wires short out, and it pushed the head gaskets out and had a
little fire," said Scelzi, explaining the first run. "It's just crazy things
happening, as usual. That's the way the year has been. That's something
that's never happened before. We keep having those things bite us.

"The Mopar/Oakley Dodge Charger is having a hard time getting past that
200-ft. mark. It got past it that (final) time. We'll just move our tune-up
out a little further. It was quicker to the 330-ft. mark; we just have to
get it to go 1320 feet."

Scelzi faces Scott Kalitta in first round of eliminations on Sunday.

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