"We’re going to do whatever it takes to get back in the middle of this Winston championship chase because that’s where we belong."

 

The next Winston Drag event on Gary's schedule is the 19^th Annual Advance Auto Parts Southern Nationals, May 14-16 at Atlanta Dragway in Commerce, Ga.

• Team Winston Top Fuel driver Gary Scelzi comes to the Atlanta Dragway with the hopes of regaining the consistency that carried the Fresno, Calif. resident to back-to-back Winston Championships in 1997 and ‘98. Scelzi captured the No.1 qualifying position at the Pennzoil Nationals in Richmond (April 30-May 2) but suffered his fourth first-round setback of the season, losing to Doug Herbert. Scelzi ran a 7.794-second pass to Herbert’s 7.800, but tire smoke early in the run enabled Herbert to claim the victory.
  
• Scelzi remained 10^th in the NHRA Winston Top Fuel standings for the second consecutive week. Scelzi trails first-place Mike Dunn by 208 points. Scelzi has been in the Winston Top 10 following four of the six races this season and 48 of the 50 races in his three-year professional career.

• Scelzi ran the quickest pass of his professional career during the second round of qualifying for the Pennzoil Nationals in Richmond, Va.  The Team Winston driver ripped off a pass of 4.494 seconds - the second-quickest pass in NHRA Winston Drag Racing history - to capture low qualifying position. It was Scelzi’s first low qualifying effort of 1999 and the 14^th of his career.

• Scelzi recorded the second low qualifier award of his career in 1997 at Atlanta. That year, he advanced to the final round of eliminations and finished runner-up to Kenny Bernstein. Last year, Scelzi qualified No. 2 at Atlanta and advanced to the second round before falling to Bob Vandergriff.
  
• Scelzi and crew chief Alan Johnson own the national speed record for Top Fuel, reaching 326.44 mph at the top-end of the quarter-mile at Baytown, Texas on Nov. 1, 1998.

"There were some things I said after qualifying that I was afraid would happen with the Richmond track and weather conditions, and the car did all of them and more. It’s frustrating and disappointing to know that you’ve got one of the baddest and fastest hot rods in the country, but it’s worse than Morris the cat at being finicky. We know we’ve got the car, the team and the combination to win a bunch of races.

"I know without a doubt that it’s the case, so we’re going to keep working on it. We’re going to do whatever it takes to get back in the middle of this Winston championship chase because that’s where we belong. Team Winston is going to be back, we’ve just got a couple of things we’re going to work on. When we get a handle on them, we’ll be ready to go racing."

Angelle Seeling, will also be riding her Team Winston Pro Stock Motorcycle in Atlatna.

• Angelle enters the 19^th Annual Advance Auto Parts Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway ranked first in the NHRA Winston point standings. Seeling currently holds a 45-point lead over Antron Brown and an 82-point lead over two-time defending Winston Champion Matt Hines.
  
• Seeling has advanced to the final round of eliminations in each of the first two Pro Stock Motorcycle events of the 1999 season.

She was runner-up at the most recent Pro Stock Motorcycle event, the Castrol Nationals at Ennis, Texas, when a red-light start wiped out a 7.369-second run in the finals. She advanced to the finals by beating Geno Scali, Craig Treble and John Smith.

• Seeling captured her second No. 1 qualifying position in as many races with a Texas Motorplex track-record pass of 7.269 seconds at 182.44 mph. Seeling has been low qualifier at four of the last five NHRA Winston Pro Stock Motorcycle events, dating back to last year’s AutoZone Nationals at Memphis, Tenn.
• In her two previous trips to Atlanta Dragway, Seeling has qualified second and first, yet has failed to advance past the first round of eliminations. Last year, Seeling was upset by Larry Cook when she fouled.

"Atlanta hasn’t been a very good track for us the last two times we’ve been there. I think the first time I red-lit, and then the next time my clutch broke. We’re going there this time to prove that Atlanta can be a good track for Team Winston. We haven’t made it out of the first round there yet, but we’re going to change that this time. Atlanta can be a good track if it’s cool and dry. If it gets hot and muggy, we’re going to go slower, and it becomes a battle at the light.

"I think we’re going to keep doing the things we did in Gainesville and Dallas. I wouldn’t expect us to change much, but George (Bryce, team owner) might have a couple of new things he’ll want to try. I know that what happened in Dallas was my fault with the red light, and I know we should have won that race. It’s just a matter of me trying to become the perfect robot on that bike. So I’m going to spend more time working on the light and reaction time in Atlanta."