Dominic Scelzi
(Bill W) Eldon, IA, June 13, 2019 – Dominic Scelzi had no peer in his first trip ever to the Eldon Raceway. The Fresno, California driver was able to sweep his heat the Dash and the feature to take home the $1,500 prize in claiming his third career Sprint Invaders win. A strange night saw two former series champions eliminated in preliminary action. Both defending champion, Cody Wehrle, and three-time titlist, Jon Agan, flipped hard in a heat race and the Dash, respectively. Both walked away.
Chris Martin led early in the 25-lap main event over Scelzi and Jake Blackhurst. Austin McCarl shot around Blackhurst on lap two for third. A red flew on lap three, with an incident involving Dustin Selvage, Harold Pohren and John Schulz. Pohren would be done.
The red proved to be the only stoppage. When the green flew, Scelzi dogged the leader, until passing him on lap five. Mason Daniel was working his way forward, and claimed fourth from Blackhurst on lap nine. While Scelzi took off from the field, a dogfight between Martin, McCarl and Daniel ensued for second, third and fourth. The three traded all three spots numerous times.
Daniel traded third twice with McCarl. McCarl moved up to second with five to go. Daniel went from fourth to third on lap 21, and then took second from McCarl a lap later. The “Super Half-mile” was fast, and yielded multiple grooves.
Scelzi’s win came ahead of Daniel, McCarl, Chris Martin and Jamie Ball. Blackhurst, Dustin Clark, Selvage, Josh Higday and Daniel Bergquist completed the top ten. Blackhurst, Martin and Scelzi won heats, while Scelzi won the Dash.
“Some of the lapped cars…it was tough to judge where they were going,” said Scelzi of his winning run. “First and foremost, this racetrack was amazing. The track prep was absolutely perfect. We were about touching the wall on top and you could still run the bottom. Hat’s off to the track prep. This place was a blast to race on. This car was perfect. I knew from the first lap that I felt really strong. We got our wing back, and got better as the race went on. I think we’re three for three now on Sprint Invaders wins, so that’s pretty cool. The Sprint Invaders are fun to race with, and I’ve become friends with some of them. I always enjoy racing with them.”
“Starting seventh, it took me a while to get to fourth,” said Scelzi’s fellow Californian, Daniel. “I saw McCarl and (Blackhurst) battling it out. I got to watch it all and make my moves on the top and bottom. We were able to get to third and I clipped the tire down in one and two. I think I bent the axle a bit…something felt different. That’s when McCarl got back by me for second. The last couple laps, we were able to go on the bottom and use lapped traffic to get back by him. Danny (Lasoski) had the car set up well. We were able to go anywhere on the track we wanted.”
“Scelzi was definitely the class of the field,” said Austin McCarl. “I couldn’t see him for the half the race. It was fun there with Mason and Chris. It was a really good racetrack. The top was up by the fence, if you were nice enough, you could roll the bottom. We started sixth and ran third…no complaints. We’ll roll it back on the trailer and live to race the Outlaw show (at Knoxville) tomorrow. It was a fun racetrack, and we can’t wait to come back.”
The Sprint Invaders next action will be Friday, July 11, at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson, Iowa during the Lee County Fair.
Sprint Invaders A main (started), 25 laps: 1. 41s, Dominic Scelzi, Fresno, CA (4) 2. 33m, Mason Daniel, Springfield, CA (7) 3. 17A, Austin McCarl, Altoona, IA (6) 4. 44, Chris Martin, Ankeny, IA (1) 5. 5J, Jamie Ball, Knoxville, IA (10) 6. 50, Jake Blackhurst, Hanna City, IL (2) 7. 16, Dustin Clark, Agency, IA (5) 8. 88, Dustin Selvage, Indianola, IA (9) 9. 35, Josh Higday, Des Moines, IA (13) 10. 9, Daniel Bergquist, Burlington, IA (12) 11. 69, Justin Buchholz, Davenport, IA (15) 12. 11, Colton Fisher, Mediapolis, IA (8) 13. 81, Tanner Gebhardt, Burlington, IA (16) 14. 13, Brayden Gaylord, Wever, IA (14) 15. 11c, Mason Campbell, New Berlin, IL (17) 16. 99, John Schulz, West Burlington, IA (18) 17. 50P, Harold Pohren, Lowell, IA (11) 18. 01, Travis Pence, Stronghurst, IL (19) 19. 27, Carson McCarl, Altoona, IA (20) 20. 14, Randy Martin, California, MO (3) DNS – 4 Jon Agan, Knoxville, IA, 40c, Cody Wehrle, Burlington, IA, 11B, Ben Woods, Newton, IA. Lap Leaders: C. Martin 1-4, Scelzi 5-25. KSE Hard-charger: Higday. Hard-charger: Daniel.
Randall’s Performance Heat one (started), 8 laps: 1. Jake Blackhurst (2) 2. Dustin Clark (1) 3. Austin McCarl (5) 4. Colton Fisher (4) 5. Harold Pohren (6) 6. Brayden Gaylord (7) 7. Mason Campbell (3) DNS – Ben Woods
CenPeCo Lubricants Heat two (started), 8 laps: 1. Chris Martin (1) 2. Randy Martin (2) 3. Mason Daniel (3) 4. Dustin Selvage (7) 5. Daniel Bergquist (5) 6. Justin Buchholz (4) 7. Cody Wehrle (6) 8. Travis Pence (8)
Midland Performance Heat three (started), 8 laps: 1. Dominic Scelzi (2) 2. Jon Agan (4) 3. Carson McCarl (3) 4. Jamie Ball (7) 5. Josh Higday (5) 6. Tanner Gebhardt (1) 7. John Schulz (6)
Budweiser King of Beers – Golden Eagle Distributors Shake-up Dash (started), 6 laps: 1. Dominic Scelzi (1) 2. Chris Martin (4) 3. Jake Blackhurst (5) 4. Randy Martin (6) 5. Dustin Clark (2) 6. Jon Agan (3)
Contingencies
Pyrotec – Tanner Gebhardt
Saldana Racing Products – Brayden Gaylord
Kreitz Oval Track Products – Colton Fisher