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POMONA, Calif. (Oct. 30, 2007) - It's now down to one event in the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series new Countdown to One format to name the 2007 Funny Car champion. And Gary Scelzi is second in the point standings coming into this weekend's Auto Club NHRA Finals.
Scelzi, driving the Mopar/Oakley Dodge Charger R/T for Don Schumacher Racing, is 91 points behind leader Tony Pedregon following last weekend's Las Vegas event, where Pedregon was the victor and the other three in the top four were dismissed in the opening round. Mathematically, Scelzi is still in the running, but, in truth, all Pedregon has to do is qualify this weekend to claim the crown.
The one chance Scelzi and the others have to take the crown is to win the event and set a national elapsed-time record (20 bonus points). Pedregon not qualifying would help.
"We're going to Pomona to try to set the record and who knows?" said Scelzi. "Pomona is a great race track. Boy, you can haul ass. We're going to go there and try to haul ass. We're going to go there more aggressive than ever, because that's what we need to do.
"And I think this Mopar/Oakley Dodge will run as hard if not harder than anybody. Like I've said before, we'll take the gloves off, and we'll just go kicking and fighting and biting and screaming and see if we can't finish as high as we can, if not get the championship."
Scelzi's Pomona record includes three Top Fuel wins (Pomona 1 in 1997, Pomona 1 and 2 in 2000), and his first Funny Car win at this season's opening event. He's qualified No. 1 five times at Pomona Raceway: three times in Top Fuel, and twice in Funny Car (at the opener earlier this year and in last year's Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA finals).
FUNNY CAR COUNTDOWN TO ONE STANDINGS (season event wins in parentheses)
1. Tony Pedregon (3) - 3,147
2. Gary Scelzi (4) - 3,056 (-91)
3. Robert Hight (2) - 3,048 (-99)
4. Ron Capps (3) - 3,034 (-113)
GARY SCELZI QUICK FACTS:
* Second in Countdown to One point standings, 91 points behind Tony Pedregon with one race remaining
* Earned seventh in the Funny Car Countdown to the Championship points for the top eight, then moved into second after winning Richmond, solidifying a spot in the top four for the Countdown to One
* Qualified No. 1 and won the 2007 season-opening Pomona event, again qualified No. 1 and won the Chicago event, then won in Memphis and Richmond
* His other results this season are first-round losses in Phoenix, Gainesville, Las Vegas, Englishtown, Denver, Sonoma, Reading, Indianapolis Dallas and Las Vegas 2, quarterfinal finishes in Houston, Atlanta, St. Louis, Topeka, Bristol and Seattle, a semifinal finish in Brainerd, and a DNQ in Norwalk
* Has three Top Fuel wins at Pomona Raceway (Pomona 1 in 1997, Pomona 1 and 2 in 2000), and his first Funny Car win at this season's opening event. He's qualified No. 1 five times at Pomona Raceway: three times in Top Fuel, and twice in Funny Car
* Qualified No. 10 at Auto Club Finals in 2006, lost first round to Tommy Johnson Jr.
* Seventh in 2006 Funny Car points, with a win in Denver (three final rounds), runner-up in Englishtown, N.J., runner-up in Brainerd, Minn., and three semifinal finishes in Bristol, Tenn., Joliet, Ill., and St. Louis.
* Also had seven quarterfinal finishes and no No. 1 qualifiers in '06
* Claimed the 2005 Funny Car championship, his first, by eight points over his teammate Ron Capps, 32 over third-place John Force
* Won three times in 2005 (Bristol, Chicago 1 and Sonoma); was low qualifier six times (Las Vegas 1, Atlanta, St. Louis, Reading, Las Vegas 2, Pomona 2)
* Is a three-time Top Fuel champion (1997, 1998, 2000)
* Became only the second NHRA driver to have won crowns in both Top Fuel and Funny Car. Kenny Bernstein is the first
* Has set 24 Funny Car top speeds since joining Don Schumacher Racing in 2003
* Is a member of the largest team in NHRA pro history: Don Schumacher Racing - one in Top Fuel, three in Funny Car, one in Pro Stock, two in Pro Stock Motorcycle (all four pro categories)
* Is first Funny Car driver to break the 330-mph barrier (330.15 mph at Route 66 Raceway in 2004)
* Career Funny Car bests: 4.690-second ET (Pomona 1 '07), 333.49 mph (Pomona 1 '07)
* Qualified in top five 19 times in 2005, No. 1 six times
* Age 47 (Aug. 11, 1960), born and raised in Fresno, Calif., where he lives with wife Julianne and sons Dominic and Giovanni
* Dominic, 10, races Restricted 600 Mini Sprints
* Runs Scelzi Enterprises, a custom truck body design and manufacturing business in Fresno with his two brothers
* Won his first Top Fuel crown as a rookie
* Has 12 Funny Car wins, 25 Top Fuel wins
* Sixth in 2003 Funny Car points, his first full season in that class
* 2007 is his fifth straight season racing for Don Schumacher Racing
* Is the only NHRA driver to have won in Top Fuel, Funny Car, Top Alcohol Dragster and Top Alcohol Funny Car. He accomplished this feat by winning Nitro Funny Car at Infineon Raceway in 2003
* Is one of the few Funny Car drivers who has a round winning record against the 14-time Funny Car champion John Force: 12-10, 3-1 in final rounds
* Said earlier this year that he would step away from NHRA competition at end of 2007. An offer from NHRA team owner Ken Black to fly him to and from 10 races in 2008, so he could spend more time with family business and family, helped him change his mind and return with DSR in 2008
LAST-DITCH EFFORT IN POMONA FOR SCELZI
POMONA, Calif. (Oct. 30, 2007) - It's now down to one event in the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series new Countdown to One format to name the 2007 Funny Car champion. And Gary Scelzi is second in the point standings coming into this weekend's Auto Club NHRA Finals.
Scelzi, driving the Mopar/Oakley Dodge Charger R/T for Don Schumacher Racing, is 91 points behind leader Tony Pedregon following last weekend's Las Vegas event, where Pedregon was the victor and the other three in the top four were dismissed in the opening round. Mathematically, Scelzi is still in the running, but, in truth, all Pedregon has to do is qualify this weekend to claim the crown.
The one chance Scelzi and the others have to take the crown is to win the event and set a national elapsed-time record (20 bonus points). Pedregon not qualifying would help.
"We're going to Pomona to try to set the record and who knows?" said Scelzi. "Pomona is a great race track. Boy, you can haul ass. We're going to go there and try to haul ass. We're going to go there more aggressive than ever, because that's what we need to do.
"And I think this Mopar/Oakley Dodge will run as hard if not harder than anybody. Like I've said before, we'll take the gloves off, and we'll just go kicking and fighting and biting and screaming and see if we can't finish as high as we can, if not get the championship."
Scelzi's Pomona record includes three Top Fuel wins (Pomona 1 in 1997, Pomona 1 and 2 in 2000), and his first Funny Car win at this season's opening event. He's qualified No. 1 five times at Pomona Raceway: three times in Top Fuel, and twice in Funny Car (at the opener earlier this year and in last year's Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA finals).
FUNNY CAR COUNTDOWN TO ONE STANDINGS (season event wins in parentheses)
1. Tony Pedregon (3) - 3,147
2. Gary Scelzi (4) - 3,056 (-91)
3. Robert Hight (2) - 3,048 (-99)
4. Ron Capps (3) - 3,034 (-113)
GARY SCELZI QUICK FACTS:
* Second in Countdown to One point standings, 91 points behind Tony Pedregon with one race remaining
* Earned seventh in the Funny Car Countdown to the Championship points for the top eight, then moved into second after winning Richmond, solidifying a spot in the top four for the Countdown to One
* Qualified No. 1 and won the 2007 season-opening Pomona event, again qualified No. 1 and won the Chicago event, then won in Memphis and Richmond
* His other results this season are first-round losses in Phoenix, Gainesville, Las Vegas, Englishtown, Denver, Sonoma, Reading, Indianapolis Dallas and Las Vegas 2, quarterfinal finishes in Houston, Atlanta, St. Louis, Topeka, Bristol and Seattle, a semifinal finish in Brainerd, and a DNQ in Norwalk
* Has three Top Fuel wins at Pomona Raceway (Pomona 1 in 1997, Pomona 1 and 2 in 2000), and his first Funny Car win at this season's opening event. He's qualified No. 1 five times at Pomona Raceway: three times in Top Fuel, and twice in Funny Car
* Qualified No. 10 at Auto Club Finals in 2006, lost first round to Tommy Johnson Jr.
* Seventh in 2006 Funny Car points, with a win in Denver (three final rounds), runner-up in Englishtown, N.J., runner-up in Brainerd, Minn., and three semifinal finishes in Bristol, Tenn., Joliet, Ill., and St. Louis.
* Also had seven quarterfinal finishes and no No. 1 qualifiers in '06
* Claimed the 2005 Funny Car championship, his first, by eight points over his teammate Ron Capps, 32 over third-place John Force
* Won three times in 2005 (Bristol, Chicago 1 and Sonoma); was low qualifier six times (Las Vegas 1, Atlanta, St. Louis, Reading, Las Vegas 2, Pomona 2)
* Is a three-time Top Fuel champion (1997, 1998, 2000)
* Became only the second NHRA driver to have won crowns in both Top Fuel and Funny Car. Kenny Bernstein is the first
* Has set 24 Funny Car top speeds since joining Don Schumacher Racing in 2003
* Is a member of the largest team in NHRA pro history: Don Schumacher Racing - one in Top Fuel, three in Funny Car, one in Pro Stock, two in Pro Stock Motorcycle (all four pro categories)
* Is first Funny Car driver to break the 330-mph barrier (330.15 mph at Route 66 Raceway in 2004)
* Career Funny Car bests: 4.690-second ET (Pomona 1 '07), 333.49 mph (Pomona 1 '07)
* Qualified in top five 19 times in 2005, No. 1 six times
* Age 47 (Aug. 11, 1960), born and raised in Fresno, Calif., where he lives with wife Julianne and sons Dominic and Giovanni
* Dominic, 10, races Restricted 600 Mini Sprints
* Runs Scelzi Enterprises, a custom truck body design and manufacturing business in Fresno with his two brothers
* Won his first Top Fuel crown as a rookie
* Has 12 Funny Car wins, 25 Top Fuel wins
* Sixth in 2003 Funny Car points, his first full season in that class
* 2007 is his fifth straight season racing for Don Schumacher Racing
* Is the only NHRA driver to have won in Top Fuel, Funny Car, Top Alcohol Dragster and Top Alcohol Funny Car. He accomplished this feat by winning Nitro Funny Car at Infineon Raceway in 2003
* Is one of the few Funny Car drivers who has a round winning record against the 14-time Funny Car champion John Force: 12-10, 3-1 in final rounds
* Said earlier this year that he would step away from NHRA competition at end of 2007. An offer from NHRA team owner Ken Black to fly him to and from 10 races in 2008, so he could spend more time with family business and family, helped him change his mind and return with DSR in 2008
