In a nail-biter, Scelzi qualifies No. 10 in Texas

DON SCHUMACHER RACING
2006 NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES
Round 19 of 23
O'Reilly NHRA Fall Nationals
Texas Motorplex
Ennis, Texas
Race Date: Sept. 22-24, 2006

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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

IN A NAIL-BITER, SCELZI QUALIFIES NO. 10 IN TEXAS

ENNIS, Texas (Sept. 23, 2006) - Following the first two rounds of Funny Car
qualifying for the O'Reilly NHRA Fall Nationals, reigning NHRA POWERade Drag
Racing Series Funny Car champion Gary Scelzi found himself on the outside
looking in, not qualified for the 16-car field with a 9.819-second pass at
85.81 mph and a 7.856/102.70.

In today's third attempt, driving the special-edition Valspar House of Kolor
body on his Mopar/Oakley Dodge Charger R/T, Scelzi squeaked into the field
in No. 14 with a 4.987/272.72, but following a rain delay which cooled down
the track conditions, he was back on the sidelines again after two pairs of
cars had run as he staged for the final round of qualifying.

On a conservative pass and with a loud sigh of relief heard from his crew,
Scelzi made it into the field in No. 10, posting a 4.856-second elapsed time
at 321.04 mph.

"It wasn't a nail-biter until we pulled it up in the water an they said that
we weren't in the show," said Scelzi. "Then it was a nail-biter.

"The first round today it ran a lot better than we thought because it
cleaned the teeth off the blower belt and it actually quit at about 1100
feet, so it should have run about a 4.92, which would have gotten us in
where we needed to be.

"But if we had been in the show before the last qualifying run we were going
to stand on it and try to run a mid-.70 like we tried last night. And I
think the track would have held it today, but we couldn't take the chance.
We couldn't take the chance of shaking the tire, or smoking the tire, so we
just went at it and ran the simple. 85. It ran 320 mph, it didn't hurt
anything, the 60-ft. increments are getting better, reaction times are
getting better, so now we can do our jobs tomorrow.

"Zippy (crew chief Mike Neff) made me a promise. I'm not going to tell you
what it is unless we win."

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

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