NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series

Gary Scelzi
Oakley Dodge Stratus R/T

"I dwell on it. I live it. I breathe it. I sleep it."

Questions and story by Dwight Drum
Photos by Gary Larsen
Web work by Gary Larsen

Gary Scelzi was our first big time four wheel interview when he was the Winston team driver and the NHRA Winston Champion. When we got that interview opportunity I promised to be swift with my questions. I could have been slow with my questions, because Scelzi ripped through them with like a hot launch at the tree. His crisp responses for us were like gathering gold for a fledgling Motorsports Web site media operation and they did much to help our venture. We don't have to introduce ourselves to Scelzi any more, and now that he is a Funny Car pilot for Schumacher Racing we don't have to slow down our questions either. We know Scelzi will rip through them like the speed he generates on the NHRA POWERade tracks now. His crisp answers are as good as ever and the comfort zone around this skilled racer for this media operation remains as steady as his next stage at the tree.

Dwight chats with Gary Scelzi

"The guys that work on the car…just being around them. I'm around them so often. We have so much fun chasing and pulling practical jokes on each other, when we're not racing, that I really miss being around them and being around the car."

"I'm still waiting! I guess when Allen Johnson called me to drive his Top Fuel car is when I felt that I really had made it, that I was going to be a professional. I was actually going to get paid to drive, and I got to do what I saw guys do on TV all my life as a kid growing up."

"I have that fear of not being perfect and the fear of being beaten. I hate to lose. I'm not a sore loser, I just hate to lose and I don't want to look stupid. I have something inside of me that just drives me to be better. I dwell on it. I live it. I breathe it. I sleep it. I think driving race cars and that's how I've always been since I was a kid driving dirt bikes. "

"Drive is feel. You have to become one with the car. You have to know what's happening as it is happening. You have to know that maybe the clutch is slowing down instead of it starting to smoke the tire. There are a lot of things that you need to relate and be able to make that decision naturally. I don't think it is something you can teach. I think you're either born with it or you're not."

"I had two older brothers. They used to beat on me pretty hard, but they also used to drive and push me. From the beginning they've always been there for me, but they've always said….'Man, how come you did this? How come you did that? Couldn't you be a little better?' I think that helped me to get to where I am at."

"No...Most fans are great. There are some people that aren't going to like me even if I gave them a 100 dollar bill. It's unfortunate, but I don't want to be friends with everybody anyway. (laughs) That sounds kind of rude, but some people are jerks. I'd just as soon they stay on the Gary Scelzi hate list. I mean that's OK. I would say though that 90 percent of the people are great and the ones that aren't…are looking for something. It's too bad you've got to have some enemies out there somewhere, but otherwise life would be too easy."

"Yeah. I think when I was told that I was going to let me drive the Oakley Funny Car and Don Schumacher agreed to it. They all decided this was going to happen. That was probably one of the brightest moments of my career. I really thought that this could have been the end, when I was out of the car for a year."

"Yeah, I think so. I think all good drivers know they are the competition, that's part of them being good. I know Tommy Johnson can tell you everything a driver does. We talk a lot about watching other guys. When we get beat, we're not always up in the lounge whining and crying. We're normally back on the starting line watching and trying to figure out what we've done wrong, or what we could do to be better and what the other guys weaknesses are and try to play off that. We're all vultures out here! We try to feed off of them." (laughs)

"I really want to thank my Gary Scelzi supporters. I don't really have a fan club, but I've got so many supporting letters the past six months that I didn't drive a race car. There are times I think they forgot me and then some kid will come up and recognize me or when we were in a restaurant in Gainesville and a group of fans bought my dinner. That really makes you feel good. They didn't have to buy my dinner. It just felt good to be recognized. It doesn't bother me when people come up to me outside the racing either. It's funny, you get spotted pretty regular when you're in a town where the race is at, but when you're in an airport or somewhere else and people start to stare at you then say…'You're Gary Scelzi aren't you?' That's kind of neat and don't stop doing that because I love it."