GIO SCELZI VICTORIOUS AT KNOXVILLE
Photo: Friday’s Podium at the 31st Annual My Place Hotels 360 Knoxville Nationals Presented by Great Southern Bank Carson McCarl (2nd), Gio Scelzi (1st), Skylar Prochaska (3rd) (Paul Arch Photo)
Late Pass Nets Win for Gio Scelzi on Night #2 of My Place Hotels 360 Knoxville Nationals Presented by Great Southern Bank! Daryn Pittman is Friday’s High Point Getter, and Earns Front Row Starting Spot Beside Shane Golobic
by Bill Wright
KNOXVILLE, Iowa (August 6, 2021) – Gio Scelzi emerged victorious on Night #2 of the 31st Annual My Place Hotels 360 Knoxville Nationals Presented by Great Southern Bank. The Fresno, California native netted $3,000 aboard the KCP Racing #18 sprinter. Oklahoma’s Daryn Pittman was the high point getter in Friday’s action and will start beside California’s Shane Golobic in Saturday’s championship event.
Carson McCarl led early in the 20-lap feature event, ahead of Scott Bogucki, Skylar Prochaska, Scelzi and Terry McCarl. Most action early was back in the pack, where B main winner, Sawyer Phillips, had charged up ten spots in the first six laps.
The leaders entered lapped traffic at the halfway point of the non-stop event, and things got interesting. Prochaska, who had started on the pole, shot under Bogucki into the runner-up position on lap 12. Scelzi also took off about that time, and on lap 13, in heavy lapped traffic, he shot from fourth to second, surviving a close call with Prochaska.
Scelzi suddenly pulled up to the rear bumper of the leader. As McCarl cruised on the low side of one and two, Scelzi chose a line through the middle and shot around to lead lap 19. He pulled away for his second career 360 win here (his first came last Saturday, July 31).
Following Scelzi and McCarl across the line were Prochaska, Bogucki and Pittman. Terry McCarl, Brooke Tatnell, Clint Garner, Ian Madsen and Jake Bubak rounded out the top ten. Pittman set quick time over the 47-car field, while Scelzi, Jake Martens, Bubak, Colby Copeland and Seth Brahmer won heats. Sawyer Phillips won the B main. B main flip victims included Boyd Peterson, Whit Gastineau, Tyler Blank and Rowdy Reber. (Tentative Feature Lineups Below)
“I got stuck behind Skylar there for a while,” said Scelzi in Victory Lane. “He was just good enough that I couldn’t clear him on top. Once I got clear of him, I got going. I lost track of where Carson was at, and he was right in front of me. Amazing car, this thing pretty much drove itself. When I could finally get out front and get my own lane running, I felt awesome.”
“The car felt really good,” said McCarl. “My guys gave me a great car. We got to traffic there, and there was so much juice in one and two, I could kind of go through the middle. I just slowed down a little too much. I knew there weren’t too many laps to go, and I just slowed down to make sure I didn’t miss it. Gio was able to stick that middle and get right around me. It was a great night for our team.”
“We were a little off at the beginning,” said Prochaska. “I can’t complain about the car. I made a couple of mistakes. Carson got out there, and I made another mistake and Gio got by me. I can’t complain about much. We’ll do it again tomorrow.”
The 31st Annual My Place Hotels 360 Knoxville Nationals Presented by Great Southern Bank concludes on championship night, Saturday, August 7! The Pace Performance Pro Sprints will also be in action. For more information, visit www.KnoxvilleRaceway.com or check Knoxville Raceway’s Facebook and Twitter.
31st Annual My Place Hotels 360 Knoxville Nationals Presented by Great Southern Bank Night #2 Results
Time Trials (Qualifying Order), 2 laps: 1. 39, Daryn Pittman, Owasso, OK (1), 16.128; 2. 40, Clint Garner, Sioux Falls, SD (3), 16.370; 3. 3P, Sawyer Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (2), 16.513; 4. 7BC, Tyler Courtney, Indianapolis, IN (7), 16.553; 5. 83A, Austin Miller, Lacona, IA (24), 16.576; 6. 24, Terry McCarl, Altoona, IA (45), 16.622; 7. 47X, Dylan Westbrook, Scotland, ONT, Can. (11), 16.630; 8. 14, Brooke Tatnell, Sans Souci, NSW, Aust. (12), 16.713; 9. 28, Scott Bogucki, McLaren Vale, SA, Aust. (15), 16.733; 10. 97, Greg Wilson, Benton Ridge, OH (6), 16.743; 11. 18, Gio Scelzi, Fresno, CA (34), 16.757; 12. 27, Carson McCarl, Altoona, IA (16), 16.757; 13. 35P, Skylar Prochaska, Lakefield, MN (5), 16.810; 14. 64, Ian Madsen, St. Mary’s, NSW, Aust. (42), 16.842; 15. 35, Josh Higday, Des Moines, IA (19), 16.847; 16. 7M, Chance Morton, Coweta, OK (14), 16.877; 17. 56N, Davey Heskin, St. Michael, MN (37), 16.889; 18. 7C, Devin Kline, Knoxville, IA (47), 16.920; 19. 44, Chris Martin, Ankeny, IA (8), 16.927; 20. 22L, Connor Loeffler, Georgetown, SC (4), 16.962; 21. 18R, Ryan Roberts, Aurora, NE (23), 16.966; 22. 27B, Jake Martens, Fairview, OK (28), 16.977; 23. 9X, Jake Bubak, Arvada, CO (32), 16.984; 24. 20, AJ Moeller, Rockwell City, IA (17), 17.032; 25. 13V, Seth Brahmer, Wisner, NE (18), 17.049; 26. 7, John Carney II, El Paso, TX (33), 17.073; 27. 94, Jeff Swindell, Bartlett, TN (43), 17.086; 28. 83T, Tanner Carrick, Lincoln, CA (27), 17.175; 29. 5V, Colby Copeland, Roseville, CA (25), 17.207; 30. 15, Christian Bowman, Altoona, IA (26), 17.214; 31. 13MJ, Brandon Halverson, Jackson, MN (21), 17.220; 32. 18T, Tanner Holmes, Jacksonville, OR (30), 17.226; 33. 21G, Gunner Ramey, Sedalia, MO (20), 17.242; 34. 2C, Whit Gastineau, Moore, OK (40), 17.283; 35. 75, Tyler Blank, California, MO (9), 17.317; 36. 17B, Ryan Bickett, Ramona, SD (36), 17.320; 37. 77X, Alex Hill, Six Nations, ONT, Ca (46), 17.411; 38. 19, Wes Wofford, Alamogordo, NM (29), 17.426; 39. 95, Matt Covington, Glenpool, OK (38), 17.506; 40. 11N, Harli White, Lindsay, OK (44), 17.539; 41. 1A, John Anderson, Des Moines, IA (13), 17.544; 42. 88, Rowdy Reber, Rapid City, SD (39), 17.724; 43. 14J, Mike Johnston, Des Moines, IA (31), 17.743; 44. 116, Vance Wofford, Alamogordo, NM (10), 17.797; 45. 57B, Boyd Peterson, Ithaca, NE (35), 17.952; 46. 55B, Brandon Anderson, Glenpool, OK (41), 18.229; 47. 35S, Jason Shultz, Carlisle, PA (22), NT.
Heat one (started), 8 Laps, 2:17.1: 1. Gio Scelzi (4); 2. Terry McCarl (5); 3. John Carney II (1); 4. Daryn Pittman (6) / 5. Chance Morton (3); 6. Ryan Roberts (2); 7. Ryan Bickett (8); 8. Brandon Halverson (7); 9. John Anderson (9) DNS – 10. Brandon Anderson
Heat two (started), 8 Laps, 2:17.5: 1. Jake Martens (2); 2. Jeff Swindell (1); 3. Carson McCarl (4); 4. Clint Garner (6) / 5. Davey Heskin (3); 6. Dylan Westbrook (5); 7. Alex Hill (8); 8. Tanner Holmes (7) DNS – 9. Rowdy Reber
Heat three (started), 8 Laps, 2:18.4: 1. Jake Bubak (2); 2. Skylar Prochaska (4); 3. Tanner Carrick (1); 4. Brooke Tatnell (5) / 5. Devin Kline (3); 6. Sawyer Phillips (6); 7. Wes Wofford (8); 8. Gunner Ramey (7); 9. Mike Johnston (9)
Heat four (started), 8 Laps, 2:20.3: 1. Colby Copeland (1); 2. Ian Madsen (4); 3. AJ Moeller (2); 4. Scott Bogucki (5); 5. Chris Martin (3); 6. Matt Covington (8); 7. Tyler Courtney (6); 8. Whit Gastineau (7); 9. Vance Wofford (9)
Heat five (started), 8 Laps, 2:19.8: 1. Seth Brahmer (2); 2. Josh Higday (4); 3. Connor Loeffler (3); 4. Christian Bowman (1); 5. Greg Wilson (5); 6. Austin Miller (6); 7. Harli White (8); 8. Tyler Blank (7); 9. Boyd Peterson (9) DNS – 10. Jason Shultz
B main (started), 12 Laps, 3:28.5: 1. Sawyer Phillips (1); 2. Tyler Courtney (2); 3. Dylan Westbrook (4); 4. Davey Heskin (7); 5. Greg Wilson (5); 6. Devin Kline (8); 7. Ryan Roberts (10); 8. Chris Martin (9); 9. Matt Covington (19); 10. Austin Miller (3); 11. Ryan Bickett (16); 12. Harli White (18); 13. Alex Hill (17); 14. Gunner Ramey (13); 15. Brandon Anderson (24); 16. John Anderson (21); 17. Vance Wofford (22); 18. Brandon Halverson (11); 19. Chance Morton (6); 20. Tanner Holmes (12); 21. Tyler Blank (15); 22. Boyd Peterson (25); 23. Mike Johnston (23); 24. Whit Gastineau (14); 25. Rowdy Reber (20) DNS – 26. Wes Wofford; 27. Jason Shultz
A main (started), 20 Laps, 5:57.4: 1. Gio Scelzi (3); 2. Carson McCarl (2); 3. Skylar Prochaska (1); 4. Scott Bogucki (4); 5. Daryn Pittman (8); 6. Terry McCarl (6); 7. Brooke Tatnell (5); 8. Clint Garner (7); 9. Ian Madsen (9); 10. Jake Bubak (13); 11. Sawyer Phillips (21); 12. Tyler Courtney (22); 13. Jeff Swindell (17); 14. John Carney II (16); 15. Davey Heskin (24); 16. Dylan Westbrook (23); 17. Josh Higday (10); 18. Colby Copeland (19); 19. Tanner Carrick (18); 20. Jake Martens (12); 21. Seth Brahmer (15); 22. Christian Bowman (20); 23. AJ Moeller (14); 24. Connor Loeffler (11). Lap Leaders: C. McCarl 1-18, G. Scelzi 19-20. Hard-charger: S. Phillips.
McFADDEN IS WA SPRINTCAR CHAMPION – AGAIN!