Dallas: Gary Scelzi Friday summary

Scelzi takes fifth in Texas Friday qualifying

ENNIS, Texas (Sept. 24, 2004) - After smoking the tires in the first round of qualifying, Gary Scelzi found himself in 18th as he came up to the starting line in the fourth pairing for the second session. Saturday's weather at the Texas Motorplex for the O'Reilly NHRA Fall Nationals was still in question, and the driver of the HEMI-powered Oakley Dodge Stratus who is seeking his first Funny Car crown was focused on getting into the field.

His pass produced a 4.851-second elapsed time at 320.28 mph, which was low ET at that point and the fastest speed, placing him in No. 1.

Six pairs later, Scelzi dropped to No. 5, but Scelzi and the team were pleased with the results.

"We gave up a lot early," said the three-time Top Fuel champion, "but we couldn't take the chance of smoking the tires again. We don't know what the weather is going to be like tomorrow.

"We're pretty happy with that. The speed is back, 320 mph. We could make it go quicker if the conditions warranted it, but I don't I think we're going to see these (cooler, evening) conditions tomorrow and Sunday. If the cloud cover comes in and gets cooler, we can do this and more.

"So, we're OK, we're fine."

Two more qualifying sessions are set for Saturday.

-dsr-