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Photos courtesy Petersen Media
Dominic Scelzi claims 2nd career King of the West 410 Sprint Car Series win & takes the point lead on Saturday at the Stockton Dirt Track
By Gary Thomas
Stockton, CA – June 13, 2015…When Dominic Scelzi scored his first King of the West 410 Sprint Car win at the Stockton Dirt Track he was a young 16-year-old series rookie in 2013. Fast forward two years later the now 18-year-old recent High School graduate returned to the site of his initial victory and once again put it all together, racing to his second career KWS triumph on Saturday night.
With the win the Fresno, California driver also takes over the King of the West 410 Sprint Car Series point lead going into a big double header on June 26 & 27 in Watsonville & Calistoga. Scelzi picked up the victory even despite a souring engine over the later stages of the race that showed slight plumes of smoke the final few laps.
“This is so unreal right now I don’t know what to say,” commented an emotional Scelzi. “We’ve had a long dry spell and these King of the West races are so hard to win. I feel like I’m in a dream and I don’t want to wake up. I can’t thank my parents and everyone enough that supports this race team. Peter Murphy wasn’t here tonight, but I couldn’t do this without him. He’s been such a big help for us. The win is great tonight, but I really want to bring home this championship. Thank you everyone for coming tonight and we hope to see you all back next time. We love racing in Stockton.”
The 30-lap feature got off to a rough start when front row starters Bud Kaeding & Jonathan Allard were involved in an accident off turn two after one lap, which also collected Willie Croft. Allard got upside down during the melee, but luckily all three drivers were able to restart. Los Angeles, CA’s Tyler Walker led the field back to green, but Scelzi made a great move to take over the top-spot heading down the back stretch. A wide & racy Stockton Dirt Track was presented on Saturday and Scelzi held command during much of it. Walker poked his nose in a few times though, as restarts kept things interesting.
The final restart came on lap 25 and during it Chico’s Kyle Hirst made an exciting move around the outside to take second from Walker. He tried to track down Scelzi out front, but the former series Rookie of the Year pulled away, hit his marks and his engine lasted to take the checkered flag by nearly two seconds. The win, coupled with Bud Kaeding & Carson Macedo finishing outside of the top-10, gives Scelzi a 14-point lead in the KWS standings. He also became the second driver in as many events to earn his second career King of the West win, after Craig Stidham performed the feat in Chico the previous week.
The runner up for Hirst was his second podium finish of the KWS season. The two-time & reigning series champion captured the season opener back in April. “We had a great car in the main event and I was luckily able to get by Tyler (Walker) on that restart,” said the driver of the Roth Motorsports/ HR Livestock Transportation No. 83jr. “Dominic Scelzi was really fast though so I want to congratulate him. We always love racing in front of great crowds here in Stockton and I couldn’t be happier where I’m at right now. Thank you to Dennis & Teresa Roth for the chance to drive this car once again.”
Walker brought home a podium finish for the second straight weekend aboard the Richie Rich Motorsports/ RRTP Customs No. 88 Sprinter. It’s been a great return for the 2009 King of the West Series champ. “This Stockton track is awesome and I’m so happy to be back driving Sprint Cars again. We were good, but Dominic Scelzi was really fast tonight. I can’t thank the Richie Rich team enough for allowing me to drive for them and giving me a chance. I also want to thank everyone that has been so supportive because it definitely means the world to me. I’m having so much fun right now.”
The battle for fourth on back was an entertaining one over the later stages of the main event, with some good hard fought racing. Fresno’s Cory Eliason did a great job to carve his way from 10th to fourth and even challenge for third at one point. Elk Grove veteran Bobby McMahan had his best night of the season and rounded out the top-five. Campbell’s Brent Kaeding also had a strong run to earn the KSE Hard Charger Award by coming from 16th to sixth in the 30-lapper. Grass Valley’s Jason Statler ran among the top-three the first half of the race, before crossing the stripe in seventh. Shane Golobic, DJ Netto and Mitchell Faccinto completed the top-10.
Bud Kaeding captured the night’s dash, with the three heat races picked off by Tyler Walker, Jonathan Allard and Jason Statler. Kyle Hirst kicked-off the evening by setting his first fast time of the year with a clocking of 13.653 around the 3/8 mile oval. Full results from the night are available at www.racepmg.com
A-main finish: #41 Dominic Scelzi #83JR Kyle Hirst #88 Tyler Walker #00JR Cory Eliason #25 Bobby McMahan #69 Brent Kaeding #00 Jason Statler #22 Shane Golobic #88N DJ Netto #37 Mitchell Faccinto #21X Carson Macedo #0 Bud Kaeding #29 Willie Croft #5V Colby Copeland #78 Mark Barroso #12 Jarrett Soares #68 Chase Johnson #3C Jonathan Allard #94 Gordon Rodgers #12X Scott Parker.
The King of the West 410 Sprint Car Series has this coming weekend off, before resuming things on Friday June 26 with the annual Pombo/Sargent Classic held for the first time at Ocean Speedway in Watsonville. The following night on June 27 the series invades Calistoga Speedway for the Wine Country Classic, in what will be the lone visit to the world’s most beautiful dirt track this season. Make plans to join us for two great nights of racing at a pair of the premier facilities in California.
Tickets are on sale for the June 27 Wine Country Classic at Calistoga and can be purchased by contacting (916) 773-7225. Adult Reserved Tickets cost $30, with Adult General Admission Tickets $25. Children 6-12 are $10 with kids 5 & under free. Hotel Info: The Sandman Inn / Santa Rosa located at 3421 Cleveland Ave. 95403. Phone Number 707-293-2100. Must Mention CALI15 / Calistoga Speedway for an $85.00 rate.
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www.sprintcarchallengetour.com
www.placervillespeedway.com
www.stocktondirttrack.com
www.thunderbowlraceway.com
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