Do Scelzi
by Bill Wright
KNOXVILLE, Iowa (Aug. 7, 2021) – Gio Scelzi took the lead in the 360-sprint auto world by winning the 31st Annual My Place Hotels 360 Knoxville Nationals Presented by Great Southern Bank on Saturday night. The Fresno, Calif. Native, victory came aboard KCP Racing # 18 and grossed $ 15,000.
Daryn Pittman found the low groove to his liking when he led the 25-round main event early on over Shane Golobic, Scelzi, Clint Garner and Sam Hafertepe Jr. Scelzi worked from Golobic for second place in the second round and Justin Henderson made it into the top 5.
Henderson continued his climb, overtaking Garner in fourth on lap five. The battle for the South Dakota duo wasn’t over, however, as they traded places three times over the next four rounds and Henderson eventually pinned the place down.
Meanwhile, Scelzi pulled past Pittman briefly on turn two to take the lead, but gave up the place on lap nine due to the checkered flag. On the twelfth lap, several cars were in a scrum at the back and Brian Brown fell over. He returned to the race but withdrew shortly afterwards.
Pittman led Scelzi, Golobic, Henderson, and Garner back to the green. Brooke Tatnell jumped from seventh to fifth place at the restart. Henderson shot from Golobic to finish in the top three on lap 14 and Tatnell followed him in fourth on lap 17.
Pittman was closely followed by Scelzi and the final five laps got really hot. Scelzi drove through the middle of corner four to stay ahead on lap 23. Pittman stormed back to run the white flag in the end.
Pittman tried to steal Scelzi’s high groove in one and two. Scelzi went up on lap one and then flipped to the low side on lap two, which would be a winning diamond move.
Scelzi raced to the checkers before Pittman, Henderson, Golobic and Tatnell. Hafertepe, Garner, Scott Bogucki, Terry McCarl and hard charger Tyler Courtney completed the top ten. Matt Covington started the evening by winning the D-Main and Michael Faccinto won the C-Main. Cory Eliason claimed the B-Main.
Kyle Reinhardt from New Jersey was the top ranked rookie. The Knoxville 360 Booster Club recognized Clint Garner ($ 1000) and Jamie Ball ($ 500) as the Knoxville 360 Regulars with the highest degree. The DGRD Best Appearing Car was Rob Kubli’s # 23K ($ 360).
“I ran as hard as I could,” said Scelzi on Victory Lane. “My car was amazing. I love Bernie (Stübgen). I can not believe it. Winning a crown jewel like this is incredible. I love this place. Pittman was basically so good that I never gave up. He’s such a smart racing driver. He broke my momentum when he went into one and luckily I was able to ride back under him. “
“We just got hit,” said Pittman. “They are hard to take as a driver. I thought we were good. (Gio) has been phenomenal since last week when he won here, he unloaded and went really well. Getting that close and letting go on the last lap is tough. This team works really hard and we just kept getting better. I enjoy driving the car. Congratulations to Gio and the entire KCP team. I have to give it to him. I think the lower one was the preferred line and it drove past me. I fully expected him to come on my nose, and he didn’t. He drove his line and hit me flat. “
“We started eighth and had a high quality racing car,” said third-placed Henderson. “The engine ran really well, and it got a little hot under the red ones and spat out a lot of water, but that’s the 360 Nationals and we wanted to win. Congratulations to Gio and good job Daryn Pittman, but if we’d started a few rows up we might have had something. Places eight to three are nothing special and we are really proud of this team. “
The 10th Annual Fatheadz Eyewear Capitani Classic presented by Great Southern Bank begins Sunday August 8th! For more information, visit www.KnoxvilleRaceway.com or check out Knoxville Raceway’s Facebook and Twitter.
31st Annual My Place Hotels 360 Knoxville Nationals presented by Great Southern Bank Results
D main (started), 10 rounds, NT: 1.95 to Matt Covington, Glenpool, OK (3); 2. 24T, Christopher Thram, Sanborn, MN (1); 3. 11N, Harli White, Lindsay, OK (8); 4.2F, Casey Friedrichsen, Odebolt, IA (2); 5. 21G, Gunner Ramey, Sedalia, MO (6); 6. 18T, Tanner Holmes, Jacksonville, OR (11) /7.23K, Rob Kubli, Milo, IA (9); 8. 66, Chase Dunham, Leipzig, OH (10); 9. 8M, Kade Morton, Coweta, OK (14); 10. 17B, Ryan Bickett, Ramona, SD (5); 11-19, Wes Wofford, Alamogordo, NM (19); 12. 22s, Slater Helt, Harrisonville, MO (12); 13. 86, Elliot Amdahl, Flandreau, SD (13); 14. 13MJ, Brandon Halverson, Jackson, MN (7); 15.88, Rowdy Reber, Rapid City, SD (23); 16. 55B, Brandon Anderson, Glenpool, OK (20); 17. 33, Alan Zoutte, Knoxville, IA (15); 18. 116 to Vance Wofford, Alamogordo, NM (18); 19. 14J, Mike Johnston, Des Moines, IA (21); 20. 1A, John Anderson, Des Moines, IA (16); 21. 57B, Boyd Peterson, Ithaca, NE (22); 22. 23, Devon Dobie, Wapakoneta, OH (17); 23.2, Chase Porter, St. Joseph, MO (4); 24. 35s, Jason Shultz, Carlisle, Pa. (24) DNS-77x, Alex Hill, Six Nations, ONT, Can .; 75, Tyler Blank, California, MO; 7TAZ, Tasker Phillips, Pleasantville, IA; 2c, Pentecost Gastineau, Moore, OK; 18w, Lorne Wofford, Alamogordo, NM; 1K, Kelby Watt, Adel, IA
C main (started), 12 rounds, NT: 1.5H, Michael Faccinto, Hanford, CA (1); 2.5V, Colby Copeland, Roseville, CA (2); 3. 91, Kyle Reinhardt, Neptune City, NJ (10); 4. 70, Calvin Landis, Knoxville, IA (7) / 5. 7c, Devin Kline, Knoxville, IA (12); 6. 53, Joe Beaver, Knoxville, IA (11); 7. 44, Chris Martin, Ankeny, IA (13); 8. Tanner Holmes (24); 9. 35L, Cody Ledger, Omaha, NE (17); 10.9m, Ricky Montgomery, Lakewood, CO (8); 11. 22x, Riley Goodno, Knoxville, IA (18); 12. 7M, Chance Morton, Coweta, OK (16); 13. Gunner Ramey (23); 14. 83A, Austin Miller, Lacona, IA (5); 15. Casey Friedrichsen (22); 16. 83T, Tanner Carrick, Lincoln, CA (9); 17. 22L, Connor Loeffler, Georgetown, SC (4); 18. Harli White (21); 19. 36, Josh Baughman, Odessa, TX (6); 20. 18R, Ryan Roberts, Aurora, NE (14); 21-22, Ryan Leavitt, Knoxville, IA (3); 22. 24N, Nathan Mills, Bondurant, IA (15); 23. Christopher Thram (20); 24. Matt Covington (19) DNS – 20, AJ Moeller, Rockwell City, IA; 15, Christian Bowman, Altoona, IA
B main (started), 15 rounds, NT: 1. 26, Cory Eliason, Visalia, CA (1); 2.01, Sammy Swindell, Lakeland, TN (2); 3. 17A, Austin McCarl, Altoona, IA (3); 4. 21, Brian Brown, Grain Valley, MO (9) / 5. 9, Ryan Giles, Grimes, IA (5); 6. 22MM, Kaleb Johnson, Sioux Falls, SD (4); 7. 47x, Dylan Westbrook, Scotland, ONT, Can. (6); 8. 63, JJ Hickle, Quilcene, WA (11); 9. 94 to Jeff Swindell, Memphis, TN (16); 10. 56N, Davey Heskin, St. Michael, MN (13); 11. Calvin Landis (24); 12. 97, Greg Wilson, Benton Ridge, OH (20); 13. Michael Faccinto (21); 14. Colby Copeland (22); 15. Kyle Reinhardt (23); 16. 27B, Jake Martens, Fairview, OK (17); 17.2 m, Matt Moro, Polk City, IA (15); 11/18, Roger Crockett, Broken Arrow, OK (10); July 19, John Carney II, El Paso, TX (18); 20. 9x, Jake Bubak, Arvada, CO (7); 21. 13v, Seth Brahmer, Wisner, NE (19); 22. 53D, Jack Dover, Springfield, NE (12); 23. 35, Josh Higday, Des Moines, IA (8); 24. 9JR, Derek Hagar, Marion, AR (14)
One main (started), 25 rounds, NT: 1. 18, Gio Scelzi, Fresno, CA (4); 2. 39, Daryn Pittman, Owasso, OK (2); 3. 83H, Justin Henderson, Tea, SD (8); 4. 17w, Shane Golobic, Fremont, CA (1); 5. 14, Brooke Tatnell, Sans Souci, NSW, Aust. (12); 6. 15H, Sam Hafertepe Jr., Sunnyvale, TX (3); 7. 40, Clint Garner, Sioux Falls, SD (6); 8. 28, Scott Bogucki, McLaren Vale, SA, Aust. (11); 9. 24, Terry McCarl, Altoona, IA (5); 10. 7BC, Tyler Courtney, Indianapolis, IN (19); 11.83, Lynton Jeffrey, Prairie City, IA (9); 12. 27, Carson McCarl, Altoona, IA (7); 13. Cory Eliason (21); 9/14, Matt Juhl, Tee, SD (13); 15. Austin McCarl (23); 16.52, Blake Hahn, Sapulpa, OK (14); 17. Sammy Swindell (22); 18. 35P, Skylar Prochaska, Lakefield, MN (10); 19. 69 to Brady Bacon, Broken Arrow, OK (20); 20. 3P, Sawyer Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (15); 21. 24w, Garet Williamson, Kingdom City, MO (16); 22. 4w, Jamie Ball, Knoxville, IA (17); 23.64, Ian Madsen, St. Mary’s, NSW, Aust. (18); 24. Brian Brown (24). Round leader: Pittman 1-22, G. Scelzi 23, Pittman 24, G. Scelzi 25. Hard charger: Courtney. $ 1,000 Knoxville 360 Booster Club Award: Garner. $ 500 Knoxville 360 Booster Club Reward: Ball. Beginner of the year: Reinhardt. $ 360 DGRD Best Appearing Car: Kübli.
