Topeka: Gary Scelzi Saturday notes

SCELZI TAKES NO. 10 IN TOPEKA QUALIFYING

TOPEKA, Kan. (May 31, 2008) - Four-time NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series champion Gary Scelzi landed the Mopar/Oakley Dodge Charge R/T Funny Car in the No. 10 position in qualifying for the NHRA Summer Nationals at Heartland Park Topeka.

Scelzi was more than pleased with the car's performance after recording a 4.929-second elapsed time at 301.60 mph in the final qualifying session under a hot sun and temperatures in the high 80s and track temps hovering around the 118-degree mark. It was the third quickest of that session.

His other passes included a less-than-stellar 11.490/78.13 to begin the weekend, followed by a 4.938/295.40, and a 4.967/298.01.

"That was really good," he said of his final pass. "We only missed on one run out of four. Todd (Okuhara, crew chief) did some crazy stuff on that run that I wasn't sure about and he said, 'No, that's what I think I need to do.' I know why I'm not a crew chief. And it worked exactly like he thought it would, so I'm pretty pleased about that. It tells me that tomorrow when she's going to be warm that we got something to play with."

Scelzi faces off against No. 7 qualifier Robert Hight in first round of eliminations on Sunday.

-credit: dsr