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Giovanni with his crew chief Frank Potter at Lemoore Raceway
Around the neighborhood, Dominic and Giovanni Scelzi look just like a couple of regular kids, the kind that tool around on BMX bikes, or rock the streets on skateboards. Put them on a track though, behind the wheel of a racecar, and they've been known to bring tears to grown men's eyes.
Portrait of a family racing destiny for years to come, Dominic, Giovanni and Gary Scelzi
Dominic "The Dominator" and Giovanni "Hot Sauce" Scelzi were born to be racecar drivers. It's in their blood and in the air they breathe each day. Their father is four-time NHRA Drag Racing Champion Gary Scelzi, from Fresno, California. Although his exploits and accomplishments in both Top Fuel and Funny Cars are the stuff of legends, he would rather not talk about that just now, preferring rather to keep the spotlight where it currently and rightly belongs – on his two remarkable sons. Gary is having far too much fun witnessing racing from Dominic and Gios' perspective, as though viewing Disneyland all over again through a child's eyes.
Dominic is the older brother and drives in the Super 600 Class now. He was told guys in their 20 and 30's are never going to move over when a 12 year-old kid tries to pass them. Yet, it only took Dominic four races to win his first Super 600 race in Lemoore, California earlier this year.
Giovanni, unlike Dominic, never raced go-carts or anything else until he got into a Jr. Sprint car. He won his first race at age six. Gio won't turn nine until November and even though everyone considers him mentally ready to race Restricted 600's, the official age limit is ten.
Last weekend Scelzi Motorsports returned to Lemoore Raceway and Gio was ready to add to his winning streak of five consecutive wins going into the event. In his first heat race he crossed the finish line with more than half a lap lead on the second place car. He won his second heat race as well.
"The Main event was like no other main we have ever experienced," commented Gio's crew chief Frank Potter after the race. The track had become very rough and turned into a huge challenge for the Jr. Sprints. There were an unusual number of mishaps and cars flipping during the race. Gio got wrapped into one crash while attempting to take the lead. This put him at the back of the pack for the restart. Even with a badly damaged right front wheel, Gio was steadily working his way back to the front when track officials cut the race short to only 11 of the scheduled 20 laps. Giovanni finished fifth and was upset that he didn't have all the laps to work himself back into winning his sixth straight race.
Dominic was on a mission going into the race as well. He had a couple mishaps at the last two main events at Lemoore and was determined to rectify that. He won his first heat race with a dramatic lap seven pass on the leader. In the second heat race, working hard to stay away from the roughest parts of the racetrack, Dominic played it smart and did a great job finishing fourth.
With the win and fourth place heat finishes, Dominic started the 30 lap Main Event in second. At the green flag Dominic jumped out into the lead and held it for 16 laps, at times several car lengths in front of the second place car. The leaders got into lapped traffic though and Dominic did a great job working his way through the traffic, swapping places with the pole setter for most of the race.
They continued working through lapped traffic until the yellow flag came out with eight laps to go. On the restart Dominic was in second, ultimately staying with the lead car for a second place finish. "Considering the rough track conditions and the great competition, Dominic did an outstanding job, we are all very proud of him," remarked his proud father.
Hull visits victory lane for the 13th time in his career in Sprint Invader Association. Hull is pictured in victory lane with 34 Raceway Promoter Jeff Laue. Photo by Dana Royer
For years the Sikeston, Missouri native Jerrod Hull was top-dog, the winningest driver in the Sprint Invader Association, then for a blink he fell off. But, when the checkered-flag waved at the familiar grounds of Southeast Iowa's 34 Raceway recently for the season opener, Hull was back.
Hull finds the "sweet spot" in turn two to power his Heartland Trailer Manufacturing number 12 car forward in Sprint Invader action at 34 Raceway in Burlington, Iowa. Photo by Dana Royer
"It feels real good to be back at the top with the Sprint Invaders," commented the three-time Midwest All Star Champion. "We don't get to run the series as much as we would really like to because of our scheduling conflicts. My team primarily is from the Burlington, Iowa area, which is the same area the Sprint Invaders typically run their events, so anytime we win, it's like we are winning in front of a hometown crowd. To get to 13 wins with the limited schedule we run with them is a true testament to this team."
To clarify, Hull runs a typical "Outlaw" style season, meaning he doesn't commit to any one series or track for a full season. In sprint car racing there are a number of different sanctioning bodies, tracks and classes racers can compete in. Hull runs 410 Sprints and 360 Sprints, the Sprint Invader Association covering the latter of the two. Hull is a three-time Champion with the Midwest All Star Series, which is a 410 Sprint Car series.
Since the inception of the Sprint Invader Association back in 2002, Hull has competed with them 40 times, but he's never run a full season due to scheduling conflicts. Out of those 40 times Hull has earned 13 victories, 25 top-three finishes, and 33 top-tens. In 2005, while running the same limited schedule, Hull ran in eight events, winning six, and was named Driver of the Year.
Hull is also fast to give credit to members of his Jerrod Hull Motorsports team and his product sponsors. "I am very pleased with the partnership we have with K&N Filters," says Hull.
"A couple of years ago in the offseason, I was looking to make some changes in the approach to how we could get more advertisers excited about partnering with my team. What we came up with is a unique approach that focuses on trying to give back more than we get from the supporter. Whether it is handing out flyers, talking to other car owners about products, or even just wearing logoed apparel, we strive to make sure that when the season is over our supporters come knock on our door to come back with us."
"Currently we are using the K&N Filter Box with all of the supplies it takes to maintain the filters, as well as the K&N Wrench-off Oil Filters. Bottom line is, K&N products provides my team with the competitive advantage we need to make it to victory lane, it is race proven week after week."
"Our current plans for the season are to continue our formula of success," remarks a confident Hull.
"We are looking to make it four Championships in a row with the Midwest All Star Series, as well as hitting some additional Midwest events in Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, Wisconsin, and many other local areas. Up next for us is the first Midwest All Star event of the year, which will be co-sanctioned with the Interstate Racing Association (IRA), at Charter Raceway Park in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin."
Eric Holmes won for the first time at Phoenix International Raceway on April 8
Eric Holmes won the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West race at Phoenix International Raceway and rebounded after a disastrous opening night race.
Eric Holmes is now third place in the West Series points standings
Holmes won for the first time at Phoenix International Raceway in the race on April 8. It was the 10th win of his West Series career.
The win moved the two-time West Series champ into third place in the West Series standings.
"We needed it bad," Holmes said of the Phoenix win. "We had a bad day at All American Speedway (Roseville). We came here to win the race and get the most points and we did that. So, now we'll move on to the next race and try to do the same thing."
Holmes crashed and finished 20th in the opening night race in Roseville. It was not the way he wanted to start the 2010 West Series season.
Holmes started the Phoenix race on the outside of row one, but didn't take the lead in the race until lap 47 of the Jimmie Johnson Foundation 100.
Andrew Myers won the pole for the race. He led the first nine laps of the race. Greg Pursley took over on lap 10 and led for the next 22 laps. Then it was David Mayhew's turn to take the lead. He held the top spot for 13 laps before Holmes took over.
Brett Moffitt got the lead on lap 52 and again on lap 62. He led the most laps in the race, but spun out on lap 88 and dropped out of contention.
Pursley led for four more laps before Holmes took back the lead on lap 93 and led the rest of the way, surviving a crash on lap 98 that took out three cars. Brett Thompson, Kyle Kelley and Brian Wong were collected in the crash.
"Those guys were racing hard and got together and it got us back to second and we got a great restart," said Holmes, a driver from Escalon, Calif., and for Bill McAnally Racing. "We thought we had it won, but got another caution for a green-white-checkered. I got a good restart."
The race ended under caution after a four-car crash in lap 104. Auggie Vidovich, Moses Smith, Josh Combs and Luis Martinez Jr. were collected in the last-lap crash.
"I've wanted to win a race here for quite some time," said Holmes. "We had a good car all day. I just saved it for the end. The NAPA team did a great job on the last pit stop making the call. We had some great restarts at the end and got us the win."
Jason Bowles, the 2009 West Series champion, was second, followed by Pursley in third. Pursley and Mayhew are tied for the leaed in the West Series standings with 320 points. Holmes is in third, 32 points out of first.
"This was a big picture race for us and as much as I wanted to win, finishing third is a great night," said Pursley, a driver for Gene Price Motorsports. "We had a lot of concern about the engine but the thing never missed a beat. This whole Gene Price Motorsports team does a fantastic job and Jerry (Pitts) made great calls and had a set up that was perfect. This was a fun car to drive."
The next race for the West Series is at Iowa Speedway on May 23. It will pit drivers from the West and East series against each other.
Bobby Santos was the only driver to win in all three USAC National Series in 2009
Bobby Santos started racing go-karts and quarter midgets before he had even started kindergarten and he has been racing ever since. "Both my grandfather and father drove race cars, and it was my father who got me involved in racing. Racing has always been a very important part of my life, and for as long as I can remember, it has been my goal to make a career in racing," says Santos.
Bobby Santos' racing team is one of the most versatile auto racing teams in the country
Santos Motorsports is a small, family team and Santos' sister also races. "Racing has allowed me to travel around the country and to see places I probably would not have had the opportunity to see otherwise. It has also allowed me to stay very close with my family," says Santos. "We have had success racing against factory-supported teams. We were the only team to win in every USAC pavement division (sprint, midget and silver crown) in the 2009 racing season, racing against Toyota, Ford and other factory-supported teams," says Santos. He has also raced for some other well-known teams and car owners, including Bill Davis Racing, Bob East and Carl Edwards.
Bobby Santos won the Whelan Modified Tour season opener at Thompson Speedway's Icebreaker in CT
At the age of seventeen, Bobby was the youngest driver to ever win an ISMA supermodified event. In 2006, he won the Inaugural "Big One" at Stafford Motor Speedway. "I won the open-competition midget race and then chose to start last in the PRA Big Car race for the opportunity to win $50,000 by winning both events. I ended up winning both events and taking home the $50,000 prize for my team," says Santos. He also won the "Night Before the 500" event at Indianapolis Raceway Park. In 2007, Santos qualified 4th in the NASCAR Nationwide Series at New Hampshire International Speedway and won The World Series in NASCAR Whelan Modified Tour Finale at Thompson Speedway.
In 2009, he was the only driver to win in all three USAC National Series, including winning the Copper World Classic at Phoenix International Raceway.
Bobby is already off to a good start for the 2010 season. "In my first race this year, driving the Mystic Missile Racing v4 modified in NASCAR's Whelan Modified Tour, I won the pole, set a new track record and won the 150 lap feature at Thompson Speedway," says Santos. "My plan for the 2010 season is to race on a full-time basis in the Whelan Modified Tour with the Mystic team. I am very excited about this opportunity, because the Mystic Missile Racing team is a championship team that has won championships in two of the last three years." Santos will also be participating in all USAC pavement races with Carl Edwards/R.E. Technologies Racing. "The 2010 season has been a success so far. I won the Whelan Modified Tour's season opener at Thompson Speedway's Icebreaker in Thompson, CT. I also set a new track record. That track record was a proud accomplishment for me because I consider Thompson Speedway to be my home track. I grew up racing quarter midgets at the small track on the speedway grounds," says Santos.
Bobby Santos' racing team is one of the most versatile auto racing teams in the country. They have won or set poles in numerous styles and sanctions of racing, including USAC (midget, sprint and silver crown), super modified racing (with and without wings), NEMA midgets, NASCAR's modified tour, PRA, ARCA. "While there are plenty of teams that have had great success in any particular sanction, I feel that we are one of the few teams able to win in multiple sanctions across the country," says Santos. Versatility in racing calls for versatile car products. "I choose K&N because they produce the best quality products on the market. I feel that if we want to win races, we need to put only the best quality products in my car. And I love the look of the Carbon K&N Air Filter on my midget."
With his recent win in the USAC Western States Midget Series Kruseman is now in second place for the championship
At some point you expect the master to always revert to being the pupil, but not just yet for Cory "The Kruser" Kruseman. Kruseman has been racing for 26 years and teaching at his driving school for 11 years, and he's far too focused on winning championships to take a backseat to anyone real soon.
Still the best way to learn how to race is to watch the master churn up a track
Recently Kruseman had a very impressive showing on his home track at Ventura Speedway in Ventura, California; he won a heat race and placed fourth in the main.
"It was a great weekend for us running fourth in the midget and as well as winning the sprint car race that same night," remarked Kruseman.
He followed that up by notching his first USAC Western States Midget Series victory of the year at Bakersfield Speedway in Bakersfield, California. It was an important win for Kruseman, as he has his sights set on winning the 2010 championship. He now finds himself in second place in the point standings.
Kruseman's Sprint Car and Midget Driving School, run at Ventura Speedway, is the official driving school of the United States Auto Club (USAC). "Our Goal at Cory Kruseman's Sprint Car and Midget Driving School is to give the fan, or racecar driver, some safe seat time and instruction in a Sprint Car or Ford Focus Midget," says Kruseman. The course is approximately 80 laps, split up into four sessions of 20 laps, with Kruseman supplying individual hands-on instruction between each session.
There is also a "Semi Advance Course" offered, which mainly focuses on driving lines, braking drills, apex drills and learning how to read the race track. The majority of this course is spent on the track driving.
Kruseman says, "We always use K&N oil and air filters in all of our racing applications - we simply think it is to our advantage to do so."
Asked about his goals for the rest of the year Kruseman says, "We plan on racing for a championship in the USAC Western States Midgets."
Kruseman is a native of Ventura and has already earned such titles as Non-winged World Champion, Chili Bowl Champion, Western States Dirt Track Champion, ESPN Points Series Winner, TQ Midget Fall Nationals Champion, and set numerous records, some of which still stand.
