Scelzi out in Sonoma first round

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 OUT IN SONOMA FIRST ROUND

SONOMA, Calif. (July 30, 2006) - Gary Scelzi was looking for good results at
the final event of the three-race Western Swing this weekend at the
Fram-Autolite Nationals at Infineon Raceway. But a miscue in the opening
round of eliminations against Scott Kalitta may have cost him a chance to
get back in the hunt for his second consecutive Funny Car championship.

Scelzi took the lead from Kalitta at the starting lights, recording a .090
of a second reaction time (.000 is perfect) to Kalitta's .101, then held it
until half-track, when the Mopar/Oakley Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car lost
traction, forcing the defending event champion to cross the finish line
.4314 of a second later than Kalitta. Neither run was perfect, but Kalitta
crossed the line with a 5.055/301.60 lap to Scelzi's losing 5.497/205.01.

"It wasn't the day that we planned," said Scelzi, who is sixth in points,
298 out of first place. "It got out there probably 500-600 feet and it's
like it hit oil; it just blew the tires right off of it. Everything looked
right on the (computer) graph, including the drive shaft. Everything looked
like it was right, but it just took the tire right off. All the timing,
management, everything was over with and it just blew them off.

"The only thing I can think of is that I was on the right side of the
groove, and maybe there was still a little bit of oil or something on the
race track from Cruz (Pedregon, in the pair before). I don't know. (John)
Force went down in 4.81 (seconds) right behind us, but maybe he was on the
inside.

"Just unfortunate. We thought we could really do well. It started out well
on the three-race swing, but it didn't end up as well as we thought it
would."

Next up for the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series is the Lucas Oil NHRA
Nationals in Brainerd, Minn., Aug. 11-13, 2006.

FUNNY CAR POINT STANDINGS:
1. Ron Capps, 1139
2. John Force, 1069
3. Tony Pedregon, 948
4. Eric Medlen, 928 (winner today)
5. Robert Hight, 913
6. Gary Scelzi, 841
7. Tommy Johnson Jr., 824
8. Whit Bazemore, 809
9. Cruz Pedregon, 640
10. Del Worsham, 635

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