Championship Drag Racing

Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals
Pomona, CA
(November 1-4)

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Driver Profile

Gary Scelzi Mopar/Oakley Dodge Charger

Pomona, prerace: 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).

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