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Giovanni Scelzi Top of the Class in Night #1 Knoxville Nationals!

Giovanni Scelzi Top of the Class in Night #1 Knoxville Nationals!
by Bill Wright

KNOXVILLE, Iowa (August 7, 2024) – Gio Scelzi emerged victorious on BRANDT Professional Agriculture Qualifying Night #1 at Knoxville Raceway Wednesday. The Fresno, California driver worked forward steadily and took a late lead to take the $12,000 prize and the honor of the top point driver for Wednesday. He will see how his 471 point total fares after Thursday’s qualifiers run tomorrow (complete points below).

Jacob Allen looked strong early in the 25-lap main event and took the early lead over Justin Peck, Chase Randall, Scott Bogucki and Scelzi. Brent Marks surged from sixth to fourth on lap two, and Scelzi worked by Bogucki to enter back in the top five on lap three.

Allen began to enter traffic, before Jamie Ball slowed on lap nine to bring the only caution of the event. That negated a Scelzi pass of Marks for fourth, but he repeated the move on lap 12, and then shot under Randall to take over third on lap 13.

Allen entered lapped traffic on lap 17. Behind him, Scelzi, rode under Peck to take the runner-up spot. Allen maneuvered traffic well, but Scelzi slowly reeled him in. The racing was tight, and Scelzi squeezed by in heavy lapped traffic to tak ethe point on lap 21.

Scelzi was first to the line in his fifth career win at Knoxville over Allen, Peck, Randall and Marks. Bogucki, Brock Zearfoss, Aaron Reutzel, Corey Day and hard-charger Anthony Macri rounded out the top ten. Matt Juhl set quick time over the 52-car field and Sam Hafertepe Jr., Ball, Donny Schatz, Reutzel and Randall won heats. Cale Thomas won the C main and Macri claimed the B.

“What an incredible job to my guys,” said Scelzi in Victory Lane. “Normally, yellows are by kryptonite, and I just got by Marks and the yellow came out. The bottom seemed to get easier and easier to run as all the crumbs got thrown up. I’ve never won a prelim night here, I’ve run second. This just sets us up well for Saturday.”

“Honestly, I think I ran a pretty good race,” said Allen. “It was a race I was pretty proud of running. I felt like my racecar was really good. Obviously, Gio had a really good car as well. There’s honestly nothing to hang our heads about. Last year, I didn’t even run this race and took some time to come back. To lead my prelim night and run second is a huge accomplishment.”

“I feel like we struggled most of the night,” said Peck. “I think we have a lot of improving to do for Saturday, but all in all I think we’re pretty close. We need to find a little bit more speed. I feel like I’m struggling getting in the corner. We’ll keep working. It’s cool to get on the podium at the Knoxville Nationals. We’ll keep tuning on it for Saturday.”

Join us Thursday, August 8, for the Toyota Qualifying Night #2 at the 63rd NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals Presented by Casey’s. For tickets and more information on the Knoxville Raceway, visit us online at www.KnoxvilleRaceway.com or on Facebook.

63rd NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals Presented by Casey’s BRANDT Professional Agriculture Qualifying Night #1 Results

Time Trials (Qualifying Order), 2 laps: 1. 09, Matt Juhl, Tea, SD (1), 15.431; 2. 39M, Anthony Macri, Dillsburg, PA (11), 15.654; 3. 55, Kerry Madsen, St. Mary’s, NSW, Aust. (5), 15.669; 4. 23, Garet Williamson, Columbia, MO (9), 15.707; 5. 18T, Tanner Holmes, Jacksonville, OR (3), 15.737; 6. 14J, Jack Dover, Springfield, NE (2), 15.738; 7. 17, Sheldon Haudenschild, Wooster, OH (35), 15.783; 8. 2, David Gravel, Watertown, CT (21), 15.785; 9. 14, Corey Day, Clovis, CA (28), 15.809; 10. 22, Riley Goodno, Knoxville, IA (4), 15.823; 11. 18, Gio Scelzi, Fresno, CA (31), 15.825; 12. 2X, Lynton Jeffrey, Sydney, NSW, Aust. (36), 15.828; 13. 10, Scott Bogucki, McLaren Vale, SA, Au (24), 15.828; 14. 101, Kalib Henry, Sacramento, CA (10), 15.834; 15. 19, Brent Marks, Myerstown, PA (29), 15.839; 16. 83JR, Buddy Kofoid, Penngrove, CA (30), 15.876; 17. 21T, Cole Macedo, Lemoore, CA (14), 15.878; 18. 3P, Sawyer Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (7), 15.898; 19. 1M, Don Droud Jr., Lincoln, NE (12), 15.909; 20. 2KS, Chase Randall, Waco, TX (42), 15.953; 21. 13, Justin Peck, Monrovia, IN (37), 15.962; 22. 1A, Jacob Allen, Hanover, PA (38), 15.973; 23. 55T, McKenna Haase, Des Moines, IA (40), 15.974; 24. 9, Kasey Kahne, Enumclaw, WA (41), 15.983; 25. 27, Carson McCarl, Altoona, IA (33), 15.986; 26. 3Z, Brock Zearfoss, Jonestown, PA (45), 16.006; 27. 24T, Christopher Thram, Sanborn, MN (25), 16.019; 28. 48, Danny Dietrich, Gettysburg, PA (19), 16.023; 29. 87, Aaron Reutzel, Clute, TX (23), 16.050; 30. 23L, Jimmy Light, West Springfield, PA (13), 16.060; 31. 70, Kraig Kinser, Bloomington, IN (47), 16.062; 32. 52, Blake Hahn, Sapulpa, OK (15), 16.075; 33. 9P, Parker Price-Miller, Kokomo, IN (18), 16.094; 34. 49X, Tim Shaffer, Aliquippa, PA (22), 16.107; 35. 6B, Brandon Wimmer, Fairmount, IN (50), 16.144; 36. 15H, Sam Hafertepe Jr., Sunnyvale, TX (51), 16.148; 37. 4W, Jamie Ball, Knoxville, IA (52), 16.168; 38. 15, Donny Schatz, Fargo, ND (43), 16.181; 39. J2, John Carney II, El Paso, TX (44), 16.185; 40. 23M, Lance Moss, Cherryville, NC (8), 16.205; 41. 17GP, Cale Thomas, Fairland, IN (17), 16.207; 42. 99, Skylar Gee, Leduc, ALB, Can. (48), 16.226; 43. 44, Chris Martin, Ankeny, IA (20), 16.259; 44. 6W, Dustin Selvage, Indianola, IA (27), 16.263; 45. 45X, Jace Park, Overland Park, KS (34), 16.279; 46. 15JR, Cole Mincer, Burlington, IA (49), 16.424; 47. 19H, Joel Myers Jr., Sebastopol, CA (26), 16.439; 48. G5, Gage Pulkrabek, East Grand Forks, MN (16), 16.459; 49. 11N, Kasey Jedrezek, Lagrange, OH (46), 16.856; 50. 10V, Brian Paulus, Six Mile, SC (39), 16.888; 51. 2K, Kevin Ingle, Huron, SD (32), 17.296; 52. 1, Sammy Swindell, Lakeland, TN (6), NT.

Heat one (started), 10 Laps, 2:46.6: 1. Sam Hafertepe Jr. (1); 2. Brock Zearfoss (3); 3. Justin Peck (4); 4. Gio Scelzi (6) / 5. Buddy Kofoid (5); 6. Kraig Kinser (2); 7. Matt Juhl (8); 8. Jack Dover (7) / 9. Cole Mincer (10); 10. Cale Thomas (9)

Heat two (started), 10 Laps, 2:47.3: 1. Jamie Ball (1); 2. Jacob Allen (4); 3. Blake Hahn (2); 4. Sheldon Haudenschild (7) / 5. Christopher Thram (3); 6. Anthony Macri (8); 7. Cole Macedo (5); 8. Lynton Jeffrey (6) / 9. Joel Myers Jr. (10); 10. Skylar Gee (9)

Heat three (started), 10 Laps, 2:46.2: 1. Donny Schatz (1); 2. Parker Price-Miller (2); 3. Scott Bogucki (6); 4. Danny Dietrich (3) / 5. Kerry Madsen (8); 6. David Gravel (7); 7. Sawyer Phillips (5); 8. McKenna Haase (4) / 9. Chris Martin (9); 10. Gage Pulkrabek (10)

Heat four (started), 10 Laps, NT: 1. Aaron Reutzel (3); 2. John Carney II (1); 3. Kasey Kahne (4); 4. Corey Day (7) / 5. Tim Shaffer (2); 6. Garet Williamson (8); 7. Don Droud Jr. (5); 8. Dustin Selvage (9) / 9. Kalib Henry (6) DNS - 10. Kasey Jedrezek

Heat five (started), 10 Laps, NT: 1. Chase Randall (5); 2. Brandon Wimmer (2); 3. Brent Marks (6); 4. Carson McCarl (4) / 5. Tanner Holmes (8); 6. Jace Park (9); 7. Jimmy Light (3); 8. Riley Goodno (7) / 9. Brian Paulus (10); 10. Lance Moss (1);

C main (started), 10 Laps, NT: 1. Cale Thomas (1); 2. Skylar Gee (2); 3. Chris Martin (3); 4. Joel Myers Jr. (5) / 5. Cole Mincer (4); 6. Brian Paulus (7); 7. Gage Pulkrabek (6); 8. Kevin Ingle (8); 9. Sammy Swindell (9) DNS - 10. Kalib Henry; 11. Lance Moss; 12. Kasey Jedrezek (9);

B main (started), 12 Laps, 3:29.5: 1. Anthony Macri (2); 2. Matt Juhl (1); 3. Garet Williamson (4); 4. David Gravel (7) / 5. Buddy Kofoid (10); 6. Kerry Madsen (3); 7. Tanner Holmes (5); 8. Riley Goodno (8); 9. Sawyer Phillips (12); 10. Jack Dover (6); 11. Don Droud Jr. (13); 12. Lynton Jeffrey (9); 13. Cole Macedo (11); 14. Tim Shaffer (18); 15. Christopher Thram (15); 16. Jimmy Light (16); 17. Chris Martin (23); 18. Jace Park (20); 19. Dustin Selvage (19); 20. Kraig Kinser (17); 21. Skylar Gee (22); 22. McKenna Haase (14); 23. Joel Myers Jr. (24); 24. Cale Thomas (21)

A main (started), 25 Laps, NT: 1. Gio Scelzi (6); 2. Jacob Allen (1); 3. Justin Peck (2); 4. Chase Randall (3); 5. Brent Marks (4); 6. Scott Bogucki (5); 7. Brock Zearfoss (11); 8. Aaron Reutzel (13); 9. Corey Day (7); 10. Anthony Macri (21); 11. Parker Price-Miller (15); 12. Sheldon Haudenschild (8); 13. Kasey Kahne (9); 14. Carson McCarl (10); 15. David Gravel (24); 16. Danny Dietrich (12); 17. Sam Hafertepe Jr. (17); 18. Donny Schatz (19); 19. Garet Williamson (23); 20. Matt Juhl (22); 21. Jamie Ball (18); 22. Blake Hahn (14); 23. John Carney II (20); 24. Brandon Wimmer (16). Lap Leaders: Allen 1-20, Scelzi 21-25. Hard-charger: Macri.

Wednesday Points

1 18 Giovanni Scelzi 471
2 39M Anthony Macri 465
3 10 Scott Bogucki 460
4 14 Corey Day 459
5 19 Brent Marks 458
6 17 Sheldon Haudenschild 457
7 2KS Chase Randall 456
8 1A Jacob Allen 453
9 13 Justin Peck 450
10 09 Matt Juhl 444
11 2 David Gravel 443
12 23 Garet Williamson 443
13 3Z Brock Zearfoss 435
14 87 Aaron Reutzel 430
15 9 Kasey Kahne 424
16 55 Kerry Madsen 424
17 18T Tanner Holmes 418
18 27 Carson McCarl 417
19 9P Parker Price Miller 413
20 48 Danny Dietrich 407
21 14J Jack Dover 401
22 83JR Michael Kofoid 400
23 15H Sam Hafertepe Jr 398
24 22 Riley Goodno 397
25 15 Donny Schatz 392
26 52 Blake Hahn 390
27 4W Jamie Ball 388
28 2X Lynton Jeffrey 385
29 6B Brandon Wimmer 383
30 3P Sawyer Phillips 382
31 J2 John Carney II 377
32 1M Don Droud Jr 376
33 21T Cole Macedo 376
34 24T Christopher Thram 358
35 49X Tim Shaffer 346
36 23L Jimmy Light 344
37 55T McKenna Haase 343
38 70 Kraig Kinser 337
39 101 Kalib Henry 332
40 45X Jace Park 313
41 44 Chris Martin 310
42 6W Dustin Selvage 307
43 99 Skylar Gee 301
44 17GP Cale Thomas 297
45 19H Joel Myers 290
46 15JR Cole Mincer 278
47 23M Lance Moss 275
48 10V Brian Paulus 268
49 G5 Gage Pulkrabek 267
50 11N Kasey Jedrzejek 255
51 2K Kevin Ingle 236
52 1 Sammy Swindell 229

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