Scelzi weighs in on the alcohol ranks at CompetitionPlus....

Reprinted with the permission of www.CompetitionPlus.com

(7-25-2006) – The most popular topics on the drag racing message boards this week have centered on comments Hot Rod Fuller made comparing the alcohol class drivers to those who run in the indexed-pro tree divisions. Those discussions made their way to the pits of Pacific Raceways.

Gary Scelzi is one of the drivers that graduated from the alcohol ranks into the nitro division. He had a few comments on the merits of alcohol racing this weekend.

‘I got news for you, an Alcohol Funny Car is a son of a bitch to drive and an Alcohol Dragster is as well,” Scelzi said. “The shift points are so critical. You have to shift them and you have to be on the money. If you you’re 300 off it will slow things down about .02 to .03 hundredths.”

Scelzi will admit that he’s not educated on the inner workings of the Super class cars but has seen enough to know that it isn’t his cup of tea.

“I was born and raised that when you stage your car, you hit the car and the first one to the finish line wins. There’s no shutting off stuff. No nothing. That’s just the way I was raised. I’ve never been one for bracket racing. I’m not saying that it’s bad. It’s just never done much for me.”

Scelzi feels that when it comes to the Top Alcohol ranks, the best grooming for the nitro ranks comes when a driver pilots a supercharged alcohol car. He’s not sold on the A/Fuel combination either.

“I think the A/Fuel Dragster grooms you for Top Fuel and to me, it doesn’t take as much talent to drive an A/Fuel car as it does a Blown Alcohol Dragster,” Scelzi said. “The BAD cars are so critical on shift points and they dart around more than a nitro car. When you hit the throttle in a Top Fueler, it crushes your body. I just don’t see that in an injected car. It’s more of a learning experience to drive a dragster with a blower on it because the shift point.”

Scelzi’s opinion is that a no matter the years involved in driving an alcohol car can adequately prepare a driver for the first time they get behind the wheel of a supercharged nitro car, particularly a Funny Car.

“I know Dennis Taylor [an Alcohol Funny car racer] thinks a Top Alcohol Funny Car is harder to drive than a nitro Funny Car. Dennis ought to sit behind the wheel of one. There ain’t nothing harder than a nitro Funny Car and I’ve driven them all. I’m gonna tell you a nitro Funny Car is the hardest thing to drive. You never know what they are going to do. They drop a whole and they take off. They are wicked. I may be the world’s worst driver but I’m saying it was the hardest for me. “

“To me if I was a car owner, the Top Alcohol class is the first place I would look if I’m evaluating talent. The may run 260 miles per hour, but you have to listen to the engine and shift them. You have to feel them and be able to pedal them through the shake. They have enough power to get you in trouble. An alcohol car is going to do that early and if you can get it together after 300 feet on the ride is over.

“A nitro car pulls all the way to the finish line and if it puts a hole out, you could be in the fence before you know it. I don’t care if you’re Jesus and you have the steering wheel turned all the way in…if it wants to go there…it will go there.”