NHRA: SCELZI GOES AFTER IT, GETS 9TH WIN OF YEAR.Byline: Steve Ramirez Staff Writer POMONA - Gary Scelzi Gary Scelzi, (born August 11, 1960, Fresno, California), is an American dragster racer and midget car owner who has won the NHRA Powerade Top Fuel championship on three occasions and the Funny Car title once. hasn't won three Top Fuel titles in the past four seasons by playing it easy. Sunday wasn't the time to start. ``I had already decided in my mind to let's go Let's Go may refer to: Television
(Triple A) A common single-cell battery used in a myriad of electronic devices of all variety. Like its double A (AA) cousin, it provides 1.5 volts of DC power. When used in series, the voltage is multiplied. NHRA NHRA National Hot Rod Association NHRA Northland Human Resource Association NHRA National Human Resources Association NHRA Nursing Home Reform Act NHRA National Hospice Regatta Alliance NHRA National Heritage Resources Act (South Africa) Finals on Sunday at Pomona Raceway. It was Scelzi's ninth victory of the season and the 23rd of a career that dates back to 1997. Other winners were 10-time champion John Force in Funny Car, Kurt Johnson Kurt Johnson (born March 23, 1963) is a professional American drag racing driver. He was born in Virginia, Minnesota, and currently resides in Buford, Georgia. He competes in the NHRA’s POWERade Drag Racing series, driving a Chevrolet Cobalt in the highly competitive Pro Stock in Pro Stock, Tony Mullen in Pro Stock Bike and Greg Stanfield in Pro Stock Truck. West Covina's Steve Gasparrelli won in Top Alcohol Funny Car. ``(Crew chief Alan Johnson) asked me, `What do you want to do?' '' Scelzi said. `` 'Do you want me to just slide it down there (to the finish line)?' I said, '(Heck), no. We came here with a bang (at the Winternationals in February), let's (end the season) with a bang. Let's get it.' '' Man, did he get it. Scelzi, who defeated Kenny Bernstein Kenny Bernstein (born September 6 1944 in Clovis, New Mexico), is an American drag racing driver. Drag racing career Bernstein first became a full-time professional Funny Car driver in 1979, although he had participated in a few events in preceding years. , Melanie Troxel and Mike Dunn Mike Dunn (born 20 November 1971) is an English snooker player who currently lives in Redcar. Dunn turned professional in 1991. His best performance in a ranking competition came in the 2005 Malta Cup when he beat five players including Marco Fu and David Gray to reach the last 16 en route to his 11th final round of the season, clicked off his best run of the weekend, a 4.547-second pass at 319.75 mph, which easily out ran Tony Schumacher's 4.676. ``We didn't have it easy (Sunday),'' Scelzi said. ``We didn't have a dog at all. We had Kenny, Melanie, Mike Dunn - the big ball hitter and Schumacher in the final. This was big.'' But Scelzi proved he was ready, ripping off a 4.563 in the victory over Bernstein. It highlighted a first round that also saw Australian Andrew Cowin win a tire-smoking battle against NHRA legend Shirley Muldowney Shirley Muldowney (b. June 19 1940, Schenectady, New York), the "First Lady of Drag Racing" was the first woman to receive a licence to drive a top fuel dragster by the NHRA. She won the NHRA Top Fuel championship in 1977, 1980 and 1982. , running a 8.208 compared to 8.364 for Muldowney. ``I tried everything I could,'' Muldowney said. ``We were just way too aggressive.'' So were both Scelzi and Dunn in the semifinals when Scelzi out-pedaled the La Mirada La Mirada (lä mĭrä`də), city (1990 pop. 40,452), Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1960. La Mirada derives from the Spanish for "the view," referring to the panoramic view of the surrounding valleys from atop the city's hills. native to advance to the finals. The victory made a statement for Scelzi, who was upset that some believed his title wasn't earned when Schumacher was forced to miss two national events after being involved in a horrific crash in Memphis last month. ``There is always going to be someone who says it was tainted,'' Scelzi said. ``We raced Schumacher three times and we whipped him. To me, it's not tainted. We won the Winston Championship. We won nine races out of 11 final rounds. I'm enjoying the (heck) out of it. My hat's off to Tony (for coming back), but you know what? They weren't as good as us.'' And the rest of Funny Car wasn't as good as Force. The Bell Gardens racer proved it by ripping off two 4.85 passes en route to his 11th victory of the season, including a 4.855 at 316.90 mph to defeat Bruce Sarver in the final. Sarver crossed the finish line in 4.892. ``We lost lane choice to Sarver,'' Force said. ``That put us in the right lane, but (crew chief Austin Coil) said, 'If it gets late enough and gets past dark, it will work.' That's what we were hoping for, that the sun would go away and hurt the personality of the race track. In the middle of the day, it would have blown the tires off (lost traction). That was the strategy, and we just got enough time.'' Johnson defeated Jeg Coughlin Jr. in the Pro Stock final, running a 6.854 compared to 6.887 by Coughlin. ``All I could see was the shadow of (Coughlin's) front end, and he gained about three or four feet on me,'' Johnson said. ``I said, 'Oh (no). I lost this one.' Then all of a sudden the win light came on.'' Mullen notched his first Pro Stock Motorcycle Pro Stock Motorcycle, formerly known as Pro Stock Bike is a drag racing class that is the two-wheeled equivalent of Pro Stock. It has been a feature of NHRA drag racing since the 1980s when it was added to the professional class structure and has since spread around the victory of the season when three-time champion Matt Hines suffered a red-light start in the final and was disqualified dis·qual·i·fy tr.v. dis·qual·i·fied, dis·qual·i·fy·ing, dis·qual·i·fies 1. a. To render unqualified or unfit. b. To declare unqualified or ineligible. 2. . CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1) Above, George Seeley Jr. of Glendale, the points leader in the Class 5 division of the SCORE Desert Series, blasts out of Ensenada, Baja California
Ensenada is the third-largest city in the Mexican state of Baja California. It is located 116 km (about 70 miles) south of Tijuana, at . , Mexico on Sunday morning for the start of the Baja 2000. (2) Below, Walker Evans of Riverside takes his Chevy Silverado Trophy Truck entry out of the starting gate. As of 6 p.m. Sunday, approximately nine hours into the race, Seeley was second in his class and Evans was third. The estimated time of completion for the race is 35 hours. Larry Ragland and Ivan Stewart are engaged in a two-man battle for the overall lead. Both Trophy Truck drivers are separated by one minute, five seconds, after 300 miles of the 1,679-mile race. Ragland, who has won four of the last five Baja 1000s, has his Chevy Blazer in the lead. Stewart, in his Toyota Tundra, is second. He won Baja 1000 in 1998. Gene Blevins/Special to the Daily News |
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