News Director 
Story By: SHAWN MILLER / GARY SCELZI MOTORSPORTS – TULARE, CA – Giovanni Scelzi took a huge leap forward between his first weekend racing with the World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series to his second event with ‘The Greatest Show on Dirt.’
Scelzi established a new track record en route to setting quick time in his group during qualifying last Friday at Thunderbowl Raceway, where one driver in the second group narrowly timed in quicker to take the overall track record from the Paul Silva owned, Priority Aviation Services sponsored No. 57 sprint car.
“Coming out of Las Vegas I had my head down a bit, but going quick time and making the dash was really big,” Scelzi said. “Being at a slower track and a track I’ve been to helped because comfort matters a lot. I think when I go to the tracks that are smaller it’ll be better like last weekend.”
Scelzi finished second in his heat race to World of Outlaws champion Donny Schatz to earn a spot into the dash. He placed seventh in the dash to line up on the inside of the fourth row – next to his older brother, Dominic – in the A Main.
“It’s eye opening to race toe to toe with those guys,” Scelzi said. “That’s the hardest I’ve raced in my life. It’s a whole different aspect how deep the talent is and how many good cars there are.”
Scelzi battled for a top-10 finish throughout the 35-lap feature before ending 11th. Here is a link to watch the main event: https://youtu.be/VRktRM1cfaw.
“I rode around in eighth or ninth for a while,” he said. “Then I battled back and forth with Tim Kaeding and Rico Abreu. For a 35-lap A Main it had quite a few long green-flag runs. It’s a whole new level of competition. An 11th-place finish with the Outlaws is a win.
“Thanks again to Paul Silva and Richard and Jennifer Marshall for supporting me. We’ve made a lot of progress and I’m looking forward to keeping that going.”
Saturday’s event at Thunderbowl Raceway rained out.
Scelzi and the team are slated to compete this Friday and Saturday at Stockton Dirt Track in Stockton, Calif., for the FVP Platinum Battery Western Spring Shootout with the World of Outlaws.
“Hopefully we can time trial well again,” he said. “That’s the key to this whole thing. If you do that then you start up front in a heat race and it makes the rest of your night a lot easier.”
