Columbus: Gary Scelzi Saturday summary

Scelzi Moves into Sixth after Final Columbus Qualifying

COLUMBUS, Ohio (June 12, 2004) - Gary Scelzi produced two more solid runs down the National Trail Raceway quarter-mile today to qualify No. 6 in his HEMI-powered Oakley Dodge Stratus Funny Car.

Following his 4.876/301.40 pass in the third qualifying session, good for seventh place, the national top-speed record holder of 330.55 mph found himself in No. 13 after seven of 10 pairs had completed their runs. Scelzi then posted the fourth quickest lap of that round (4.812) at the fastest speed of that session (323.81 mph), vaulting him into the No. 6 spot.

"It was almost according to plan," he said. "The HEMI-powered Oakley Dodge went down the race track every single time. It went quicker every single run. The car is responding well. There's more left in it. We're not getting carried away. We're trying to qualify smart, hopefully we can race smart tomorrow.

"And that's our game plan. We need to win some rounds, win a race or two. In the meantime, everything looks really good. It's doing what it's supposed to do. And to make one of these cars do that is a pretty big thing."

Scelzi will meet Tommy Johnson Jr. in the first round of eliminations tomorrow, which begin at 11 a.m.

-dsr-