NHRA

St. Louis: Gary Scelzi wants distance

MADISON, Ill. - Gary Scelzi has no problems competing as the Winston points leader. Hey, it's what he does. Scelzi, 39, is atop the point standings with four victories this season, ahead of top challengers Tony Schumacher, the defending Winston ...

Edited: Apr 15, 2002, 11:45 PM

Copy link

Share on Viber

Add as a preferred source

MADISON, Ill. - Gary Scelzi has no problems competing as the Winston points leader.

Hey, it's what he does.

Scelzi, 39, is atop the point standings with four victories this season, ahead of top challengers Tony Schumacher, the defending Winston champion, who sits 32 points back in second and third place Larry Dixon, who trails by 84.

Scelzi, unlike other racers, says there's no pressure with being the guy out front. In fact, he's very comfortable there. He'd rather lead the way than try to chase a runaway leader.

"This is the position I want to be in," said Scelzi, who will try to add to his 18 career victories at the fourth annual Sears Craftsman Nationals, June 22-24, at Gateway International Raceway. He has won the last two events at the $1.8 million race, the 12th of 23 events in the $45 million NHRA Winston Drag Racing Series.

"Everybody says being chased is a tough deal," Scelzi added. "Baloney. I want to be chased." Scelzi moved in front of season-long leader Schumacher at the recent event in Chicago, when the Fresno, Calif. racer overcame tremendous odds to win. Scelzi was uninjured following a spectacular crash during qualifying, however the car received major damage. Scelzi and his Team Winston crew quickly regrouped and fielded the team's backup car and went on to win the race. "I'm a little in awe that we did win that race," Scelzi said. "After all that happened it was quite a feat. I didn't know whether to cry or fall down to be honest. I knew the (backup) car was good and after the wreck I was never nervous about getting in the cockpit and stepping on the gas. The job my team and Alan Johnson (crew chief) did is nothing short of amazing. We're officially back. I extended my points lead and we're still No. 1." And that's where Scelzi hopes he remains until season's end.

We want your opinion!

What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?

Take our 5 minute survey.

- The Motorsport.com Team

Read and post comments

Share Or Save This Story

Copy link

Share on Viber

Previous article Columbus Warren Johnson Results

Next article Tony Schumacher Shows Championship Form Headed for St. Louis

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

View More & Comment

Latest news

Spire says Joe Gibbs Racing now seeking nearly $150M in damages

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup 14 min

Spire says Joe Gibbs Racing now seeking nearly $150M in damages

Inception Racing switches to Corvette for 2027 IMSA GTD season

IMSA

IMSA IMSA 19 min

Inception Racing switches to Corvette for 2027 IMSA GTD season

Cadillac reveals date for F1 engine factory debut, thanks drivers for being “patient”

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1

United States GP

21 min

Cadillac reveals date for F1 engine factory debut, thanks drivers for being “patient”

Mission control: Inside the FIA and F1's latest answer to football's VAR

Formula 1

United States GP

Mission control: Inside the FIA and F1's latest answer to football's VAR

Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.

From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.

You have 2 options:

Become a subscriber.
Disable your adblocker.

Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here

Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page

Manage Alerts