Scelzi claims No. 6 in Brainerd qualifying

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2006 NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES
Round 16 of 23
LUCAS OIL NHRA NATIONALS
Brainerd (Minn.) Int'l Raceway
Race Date: Aug. 11-13, 2006

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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

SCELZI CLAIMS NO. 6 IN BRAINERD QUALIFYING

BRAINERD, Minn. (Aug. 12, 2006) - Gary Scelzi is a happy man. The
Mopar/Oakley Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car he drives for Don Schumacher Racing
performed consistently in three of the four qualifying passes for the Lucas
Oil NHRA Nationals this weekend, resulting in a No. 6 qualifying position
for the reigning NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series Funny Car champion.

Scelzi recorded his quickest pass in the third session earlier today, a
4.797-second lap at 321.12 mph. His previous attempts included a
4.943/312.35 and a 4.879/316.75. The final pass, however, was a tire-smoker,
producing a 7.442/105.99.

"Three out of four ain't bad," he said. "We made some pretty big changes in
the car (before the weekend). It looks good. We just wanted to find out
where we could go and where we couldn't go in this last run, and so now we
know. It made it out there quite a ways before it smoked the tires. We're
really pleased and we'll see what happens tomorrow.

"We went to Chicago (Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Ill.) and made some test
runs on Tuesday, so we found out a lot of things. The Mopar/Oakley Dodge
Charger looked like it was responding better. It wasn't as finicky, and
whenever Mike would make a change, it would do something. Before, it wasn't
responding to the changes, so now it's responding."

Scelzi faces Cruz Pedregon in the opening round of eliminations on Sunday.

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