Scelzi gears up for run at NHRA title

Gary Scelzi has been in his share of championship battles.

He won three NHRA Top Fuel titles from 1997 to 2000 and added another title two years ago when he outlasted teammate Ron Capps by two points in the series' closest Funny Car battle.

Scelzi, a 47-year-old from Fresno, Calif., spent the past two days at Las Vegas Motor Speedway getting his Don Schumacher Racing Dodge ready for the Oct. 26-28 NHRA Powerade Drag Racing Series event.

It is one of two remaining events in the inaugural Countdown for the Championship, an elimination format being used to crown the best racers in four NHRA professional categories. The top eight drivers in each class after 17 events qualified for the Countdown, and that field was cut to four for the season's last two events.

Scelzi won the last NHRA event two weeks ago in Richmond, Va., to earn a spot, along with points leader Tony Pedregon, Robert Hight and Capps.

In addition to the prestigious Funny Car championship, the winning team will receive a $500,000 bonus.

Those are good reasons for each of the four finalists to spend this week testing.

"You can't come back here next week with a squirt gun when the other guys are going to be firing howitzers," said Scelzi, who has won four event titles this year.

He might have had a bit too much firepower on one of his early runs Wednesday. A fitting on the fuel line broke, causing a new engine to explode midway through the run. Scelzi was uninjured, but a sleeve on his protective firesuit was singed.

He rallied on his next and last pass with a run of 4.90 seconds at around 279 mph, despite shutting off the engine 300 feet from the finish line.

"We learned a lot," he said. "When we come back next week, we have to be able to get after it right away."

• NOTES -- The John Force Racing team was out testing, but not in full force, as owner and 14-time champion John Force remained in a Dallas hospital. Force, who could be released this weekend, has been hospitalized since a Sept. 23 racing accident.

It marked the first time Ashley Force has been in her Funny Car since her dad's accident.

"It felt good. All the changes that were made fit great," she said of how each chassis on the team's cars was reinforced after her father's crash.

Veteran Phil Burkart was testing John Force's car, and Mike Neff, the newest member of the team, was making runs in preparation for his full-time debut next year. Burkart could drive for Force in the Las Vegas event. ...

Top runs of the day were Tony Schumacher (4.52 seconds, 330.55 mph) and Brandon Bernstein (4.57, 326.63) in Top Fuel, Jack Beckman (4.75, 325.30) and Tony Pedregon (4.76, 322.81) in Funny Car and Greg Anderson (6.75, 203.86) in Pro Stock. ...

Today is the last of three testing days at the speedway.

Contact reporter Jeff Wolf at jwolf@reviewjournal.com or (702) 383-0247.