Bristol: Gary Scelzi Saturday summary

After 5-hour rain delay, Scelzi is No. 8 in Bristol

GARY SCELZI, OAKLEY TIME BOMB DODGE STRATUS R/T, will start tomorrow's final eliminations from the No. 8 position by virtue of his 4.869/320.43 lap established in the first round of qualifying on Friday, and will face Dean Skuza in the first round. He finished today's first session in No. 7 spot, with a 4.964/305.08 pass, and after a five-hour rain delay, in the final session he hit the wheelie bar, struck the tires and coasted to a 13.820/78.05 pass.

"We learned a lot the last couple of days: weather changes, really good race track, happy motor, happy horsepower, drive under control but make prevision moves. We tried to calculate everything we did. We tried to move it a little bit quicker on the .85 to run a low .80. It didn't; it slowed down a little bit in today's first session. We didn't have enough clutch on it. We thought we had enough; we didn't. The motor was actually ahead of the clutch, which made it slip more, which slowed it down from an .86 to an .87 instead of going from an .86 to an .81. We're trying to find a happy medium in this new clutch and it looks like we're getting there. Tonight it hit the wheelie bar, unloaded the tires. We're just going to throw tonight out. Tonight's fantasyland anyway. Conditions will not be like this tomorrow. So, tomorrow we'll come back with our race-day tune-up and see what the weather brings. If it's cool, if it's sunny, whatever it is, I think we're ready for them.

-dsr-