NHRA News: Scelzi: 3-race stretch will separate men from boys (5/17/2000)

Scelzi: 3-race stretch will separate men from boys

by Rob Geiger, NHRA.com
5/17/2000

"I'd love to be a fan over the next month because this might be some of the best Top Fuel racing of all time."
--Gary Scelzi

Forgive Top Fuel driver Gary Scelzi if he seems a little confused this season. For more than three months now, the sport's most successful Top Fuel pro has been fielding questions from fans and media members alike asking him what's wrong with his Team Winston dragster. Quite frankly, the well liked, fourth-year driver from Fresno, Calif., doesn't understand the line of questioning.

"So many people are saying to me, 'What's wrong?' or 'Is everything okay over here?' or my favorite one, 'Hang in there buddy, things will get better,' " Scelzi said with a puzzled laugh. "I say, 'What are you, nuts?' Last year was tough. This year has been a dream. With the exception of one race where we lost in Round 1, we've either been to the semi's or won the race. We're averaging better than two round wins per race. I'll take that anytime."

Compare and contrast
After seven events last season, Scelzi had the same number of wins as he has this year (two) but he also had four first-round losses, a DNQ, and was eighth in the points. The team was sporadic, to say the least. In 2000, Scelzi has a dominating 16-5 elimination record and is 25 points out of first place. "Big Red" is humming right along.

"I'm comparing everything to last year at this point," said Scelzi, the 1997 Rookie of the Year. "The whole Top Fuel field was wide open and we were struggling. I know everyone goes through times when they're down and the tune-up is lost. Then the driver is off because his confidence is shaken and the team goes into a panic scenario and it seems like all you can do is roll down that hill quicker and quicker.

"It took us the whole season to get out of the funk we were in and yet we still finished in second place. That's pretty remarkable to me.

"I admit it, I've already had a career that most people would kill for. Heck, I'd kill for the career I've had. Think about it, we had a totally off year and still had a chance to win the championship until the last two races.

Confidence shaken, but restored
"There were times last year when I didn't have much confidence. But this year that's all changed. We have a great qualifying car [his worst effort was a seventh-place seeding, from which he won the race] and I have that same feeling inside like I had in our championship years. I know we can beat anyone out there."

Not only does Scelzi have his swagger back, he also feels safer now than he ever has before when he's strapped in the cockpit.

"We had some incidents last year where, because we were behind our championship pace, I pushed the car," Scelzi said. "There were some laps that I should have gotten out of that I drove through to the end because we needed the win. Instead of thinking about driving, I'm thinking about the motor exploding and shredding a tire and me going into the wall or the other lane. Those aren't the thoughts you want to have when you're at 300 mph.

"Then (NHRA President) Tom Compton says he's going to limit the nitro percentage we can use. Man, I liked the sound of that when I heard it and I love it now that we've raced under it. First of all, the cars are way safer. I never have those scary thoughts any more. Plus, parts attrition is way down, almost every race is close so the fans are getting the best show ever, and we're all getting to eat dinner on Sunday night. I haven't met anyone with any sense at all who doesn't love this rule."

As expected, cream rising to top
As Scelzi predicted in the off-season, the world's best teams and crew chiefs have already found a way to make up for the 10 percent loss of nitromethane. In fact, elapsed times and speeds are just about where they were a year ago.

At the same time, the best teams have once again begun to rise to the top and Scelzi predicts the brutal back-to-back-to-back stretch the circuit will start May 18-21 in Englishtown, N.J., with the 31st annual Matco Tools Spring SuperNationals will, in his words, "separate the men from the boys."

"We go to E-town, Dallas, and Chicago on consecutive weekends with no time to look up," Scelzi said. "If you don't have your stuff together than this freight train is going to blow right by you. I'd love to be a fan over the next month because this might be some of the best Top Fuel racing of all time.

"The way I see it, five teams will emerge from this stretch with a chance to win the championship. I put us in there, along with Tony Schumacher, Kenny Bernstein, Larry Dixon, and Joe Amato.

The main combatants
"The most impressive team is Schumacher's. I hate to say it but those guys are so strong. Dan Olson is the man. They've been to five out of seven final rounds. That's ridiculous. It's like we were in '97. They aren't lucky either; they're earning it. That Exide car goes down the track every time."

Scelzi modestly omits the fact that his Johnson-led team is 5-0 against Schumacher in final rounds and 9-4 overall in head-to-head battles.

"Alan is consistent and he's consistently quick," Scelzi said. "And he also has this mean, little step-on-the-throat attitude about him. How shocking was it for him to tune the car to a 4.56 in the semi's at Atlanta in the heat of the day when a 4.64 would have gotten us lane choice in the finals? But, you know what, those guys (Team Exide) had 75 minutes to think about it and maybe that played into our hands.

"We want the points lead back. We want people chasing us. I want to run away with the championship. We don't want to beat you; we want to crush you. That's the way we are on this team.

"I want to win 24 races this year. Can I still do that?"

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