Gio Scelzi dominates All Star visit to Knoxville Raceway and becomes youngest 410 winner in track history

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Gio Scelzi dominates All Star visit to Knoxville Raceway and becomes youngest 410 winner in track history

Story By: Tyler Altmeyer/ASCOC

Photo By: Kens Racing Pix

KNOXVILLE, Iowa (July 27, 2019) – Fresno, California’s Gio Scelzi put on a head-turning performance Saturday night at the famed Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa, ending his visit not only as an Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 main event winner, the first of his career, but also permanently etching his name in Knoxville Raceway history books as the youngest 410c.i. sprint car winner in the track’s 118-year history; Gio Scelzi is 17-years-old.

Scelzi, who started second on the feature grid as the result of his respective dash victory, did not take command for the first time until lap 10, utilizing a slider through turns one and two to work underneath the ‘Madman’ Kerry Madsen. Despite periods of intense traffic during the later stages of the main event, all potential roadblocks proved to be no match against Scelzi’s abilities, actually increasing his command to well over four seconds by halfway, eventually capping the 25-lap program by a margin of victory nearing eight seconds.

Kerry Madsen chased Scelzi to the final checkers, followed by Brian Brown, Cory Eliason, and Aaron Reutzel.

“I couldn’t pick a better time to do this than right before the Knoxville Nationals,” Gio Scelzi said in Knoxville Raceway victory lane, driver of the Indy Race Parts/No. 71. “This is a dream come true to win here during an All Star race, and we put it to some damn good guys. I owe it all to this team. They work so hard and I wouldn’t be able to do it without them.”

A pair of cautions before the field could register a lap were the only disturbances during Saturday’s feature program.

Although Scelzi started from the outside-pole position, it was actually Kerry Madsen who earned the initial jump, leading Scelzi and Brian Brown by the flagstand for the first time with Terry McCarl and Cory Eliason also in tow.
Brown made a move on lap two to take the second position away from Gio Scelzi, next setting aim on the top spot occupied by Kerry Madsen.

Unfortunately for Brown, the five-time Knoxville Raceway winner in 2019 would never get the opportunity to challenge Madsen for the top spot, as Scelzi beat him to the punch by taking over the second position on lap nine, next stealing the top spot from Madsen the following circuit.

From that point forward, it was no contest for Gio Scelzi, extending his advantage lap by lap until crossing under the final checkers with a lead pushing eight seconds.

“I think we’ve been getting better and better every time we’ve been here,” Gio Scelzi continued, whose performance will air on MAVTV Motorsports Network later this fall. “Tonight was a good night. Lapped traffic certainly went my way and I was able to push, push, push. I looked up at the scoreboard and saw that ‘21’ up there and it made me think a slider was coming. This is all just unbelievable.”

Tony Stewart’s All Stars will conclude their four-race trek through the heart of the Midwest with a visit to 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa, on Sunday evening, July 28, taking part in the highly anticipated, as well as inaugural, Rayce Rudeen Foundation Race awarding a $26,000 top prize. The Sunday night showstopper boasts a total purse nearing $75,000; $26,000-to-win, $2,000 for tenth and $800-to-start.

Those seeking additional news and notes pertaining to the events at 34 Raceway should visit the facility live on the Web at www.34raceway.com.

Contingency Awards/Results: Knoxville Raceway – July 27, 2019:
Event: Weiler Night at Knoxville Raceway featuring Tony Stewart’s All Stars
Entries: 48
C&R Racing All Star Warm-Ups: Kerry Madsen – 15.459
Lincoln Electric Fast Qualifier: Brian Brown – 15.441
Ford Performance Heat #1: Gio Scelzi
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #2: Davey Heskin
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #3: Terry McCarl
Mobil 1 Heat #4: Parker Price-Miller
Kistler Racing Products Heat #5: James McFadden
Elliott’s Custom Trailers and Carts C-Main Winner: Gerard McIntyre
JE Pistons Dash #1: Kerry Madsen
Fatheadz Eyewear Dash #2: Gio Scelzi
Classic Ink USA Screenprinting B-Main Winner: Wayne Johnson
Ollie’s Bargain Outlet A-Main Winner: Gio Scelzi
MSD Performance Hard Charger Award: Brooke Tatnell (+8)
Cometic Gasket Most A-Main Laps Led: Gio Scelzi (10-25)
Rayce Rudeen Foundation First Non-Transfer: Brock Zearfoss
(Lincoln Electric, MSD Performance, Fatheadz Eyewear, Rayce Rudeen Foundation, Cometic Gasket: Need decal to qualify for contingency award)

Qualifying

Group (A)

71-Gio Scelzi, 15.531; 2. 70-Brock Zearfoss, 15.567; 3. 13-Paul McMahan, 15.589; 4. 7-Craig Dollansky, 15.817; 5. 44-Chris Martin, 15.830; 6. 99-Skylar Gee, 15.854; 7. 5H-Spencer Bayston, 15.912; 8. 33M-Mason Daniel, 15.992; 9. 14M-Marcus Dumesny, 16.063; 10. 75-Glen Saville, 16.139

Group (B)

20-AJ Moeller, 15.650; 2. 17-Josh Baughman, 15.748; 3. 56N-Davey Heskin, 15.800; 4. 49-Josh Schneiderman, 15.827; 5. 21K-Thomas Kennedy, 15.861; 6. 70X-Justin Peck, 15.972; 7. W20-Greg Wilson, 16.246; 8. 15-Bobby Mincer, 16.398; 9. 40-George Hobaugh, 16.771; 10. 1AJ-Tevor Mell, 17.627

Group (C)

4-Terry McCarl, 15.598; 2. 26-Cory Eliason, 15.724; 3. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr., 15.758; 4. 55-Brooke Tatnell, 15.911; 5. O7-Gerard McIntyre, 15.914; 6. 14-Tony Stewart, 15.962; 7. 17W-Shane Golobic, 16.019; 8. 7T-Tasker Phillips, 16.148; 9. 56-Joe Simbro, 16.762; 10. 19-Bobby Weuve, 16.780

Group (D)

87-Aaron Reutzel, 15.498; 2. 2M-Kerry Madsen, 15.614; 3. 11-Dale Blaney, 15.618; 4. 71P-Parker Price-Miller, 15.653; 5. 2C-Wayne Johnson, 15.811; 6. 44S-Trey Starks, 16.051; 7. 7s-Jeff Swindell, 16.081; 8. 1-Travis Rilat, 16.204; 9. 85-Chase Wanner, 16.855

Group (E)

21-Brian Brown, 15.441; 2. 24-Rico Abreu, 15.746; 3. 2KS-Austin McCarl, 15.873; 4. 9-James McFadden, 15.917; 5. 7X-Justin Henderson, 15.922; 6. 83-Lynton Jeffrey, 15.986; 7. 3p-Sawyer Phillips, 16.143; 8. O9-Matt Juhl, 16.165; 9. 2AU-Andrew Scheuerle, 16.506

Heat #1 – Group (A) (8 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer

71-Gio Scelzi [4]; 2. 7-Craig Dollansky [1]; 3. 13-Paul McMahan [2]; 4. 44-Chris Martin [5]; 5. 99-Skylar Gee [6]; 6. 14M-Marcus Dumesny [9]; 7. 75-Glen Saville [10]; 8. 70-Brock Zearfoss [3]; 9. 33M-Mason Daniel [8]; 10. 5H-Spencer Bayston [7]

Heat #2 – Group (B) (8 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer

56N-Davey Heskin [2]; 2. 49-Josh Schneiderman [1]; 3. 17-Josh Baughman [3]; 4. 21K-Thomas Kennedy [5]; 5. 20-AJ Moeller [4]; 6. W20-Greg Wilson [7]; 7. 70X-Justin Peck [6]; 8. 15-Bobby Mincer [8]; 9. 40-George Hobaugh [9]; 10. 1AJ-Tevor Mell [10]

Heat #3 – Group (C) (8 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer

4-Terry McCarl [4]; 2. 26-Cory Eliason [3]; 3. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. [2]; 4. 55-Brooke Tatnell [1]; 5. 17W-Shane Golobic [7]; 6. 7T-Tasker Phillips [8]; 7. 14-Tony Stewart [6]; 8. O7-Gerard McIntyre [5]; 9. 56-Joe Simbro [9]; 10. 19-Bobby Weuve [10]

Heat #4 – Group (D) (8 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer

71P-Parker Price-Miller [1]; 2. 2M-Kerry Madsen [3]; 3. 11-Dale Blaney [2]; 4. 87-Aaron Reutzel [4]; 5. 2C-Wayne Johnson [5]; 6. 7S-Jeff Swindell [7]; 7. 44S-Trey Starks [6]; 8. 1-Travis Rilat [8]; 9. 85-Chase Wanner [9]

Heat #5 – Group (E) (8 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer

9-James McFadden [1]; 2. 21-Brian Brown [4]; 3. 2KS-Austin McCarl [2]; 4. 24-Rico Abreu [3]; 5. O9-Matt Juhl [8]; 6. 3P-Sawyer Phillips [7]; 7. 83-Lynton Jeffrey [6]; 8. 7X-Justin Henderson [5]; 9. 2AU-Andrew Scheuerle [9]

Dash #1 (4 Laps)

2M-Kerry Madsen [1]; 2. 26-Cory Eliason [2]; 3. 4-Terry McCarl [3]; 4. 49-Josh Schneiderman [4]; 5. 7-Craig Dollansky [6]; 6. 56N-Davey Heskin [5]

Dash #2 (4 Laps)

71-Gio Scelzi [1]; 2. 21-Brian Brown [3]; 3. 9-James McFadden [2]; 4. 71P-Parker Price-Miller [4]; 5. 87-Aaron Reutzel [5]; 6. 13-Paul McMahan [6]

C-Main (10 Laps) – Top 2 Transfer

O7-Gerard McIntyre [1]; 2. 1-Travis Rilat [3]; 3. 33M-Mason Daniel [5]; 4. 15-Bobby Mincer [4]; 5. 19-Bobby Weuve [11]; 6. 2AU-Andrew Scheuerle [6]; 7. 56-Joe Simbro [7]; 8. 85-Chase Wanner [9]; 9. 40-George Hobaugh [8]; 10. 1AJ-Tevor Mell [12]; 11. 7X-Justin Henderson [2]; 12. 5H-Spencer Bayston [10]

B-Main (12 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer

2C-Wayne Johnson [3]; 2. 17W-Shane Golobic [5]; 3. 7S-Jeff Swindell [8]; 4. O9-Matt Juhl [6]; 5. 70-Brock Zearfoss [1]; 6. 44S-Trey Starks [15]; 7. 14-Tony Stewart [12]; 8. 83-Lynton Jeffrey [14]; 9. 99-Skylar Gee [4]; 10. 70X-Justin Peck [13]; 11. 1-Travis Rilat [18]; 12. 3P-Sawyer Phillips [9]; 13. 75-Glen Saville [16]; 14. O7-Gerard McIntyre [17]; 15. 20-AJ Moeller [2]; 16. W20-Greg Wilson [11]; 17. 14M-Marcus Dumesny [7]; 18. 7T-Tasker Phillips [10]

A-Main (25 Laps)

71-Gio Scelzi [2]; 2. 2M-Kerry Madsen [1]; 3. 21-Brian Brown [4]; 4. 26-Cory Eliason [3]; 5. 87-Aaron Reutzel [10]; 6. 4-Terry McCarl [5]; 7. 71P-Parker Price-Miller [8]; 8. 9-James McFadden [6]; 9. 2KS-Austin McCarl [16]; 10. 24-Rico Abreu [17]; 11. 49-Josh Schneiderman [7]; 12. 55-Brooke Tatnell [20]; 13. 13-Paul McMahan [12]; 14. 11-Dale Blaney [13]; 15. 2C-Wayne Johnson [21]; 16. 17W-Shane Golobic [22]; 17. 7-Craig Dollansky [9]; 18. O7-Gerard McIntyre [26]; 19. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. [15]; 20. 44-Chris Martin [18]; 21. 17-Josh Baughman [14]; 22. 56N-Davey Heskin [11]; 23. 7S-Jeff Swindell [23]; 24. 70-Brock Zearfoss [25]; 25. 21K-Thomas Kennedy [19]; 26. O9-Matt Juhl [24] Lap Leaders: Kerry Madsen (1-9), Gio Scelzi (10-25)

2019 All Star Circuit of Champions Driver Standings (After 7/27/2019):