Giovanni Scelzi (born November 28, 2001) is an American racing driver. He currently competes full-time in the

World of Outlaws The World of Outlaws (often abbreviated WoO) is an American motorsports sanctioning body. The body sanctions two major national touring series. It is best known for sanctioning the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series and the World of Outlaws Late ...

Nos Energy Drink

Sprint Car Sprint cars are high-powered open-wheel race cars, designed primarily for the purpose of running on short oval or circular dirt or paved tracks. Sprint car racing is popular primarily in the United States and Canada, as well as in Australia, New ...

series driving the #18 sprint car for KCP Racing.

Racing career

Scelzi began his career in the micro-sprint ranks, driving at Plaza Park Raceway. Racing at Lemoore Speedway as a nine-year-old, Scelzi posted 24 wins during that season. At age sixteen, Scelzi moved from his hometown of

Fresno, California Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, makin ...

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Mari ...

to be closer to sprint car competition. In September of that year, he became the youngest winner in

history, winning a preliminary event at the National Open at

Williams Grove Speedway Williams Grove Speedway is a half-mile automobile dirt racing track located in Mechanicsburg , Pennsylvania, USA. The speedway opened on May 21, 1939, it has been owned by the Hughes family for over 50 years and has hosted many of the most nota ...

in Pennsylvania. In 2019, Scelzi became the youngest driver to win a feature at

Knoxville Raceway Knoxville Raceway is a semi-banked 1/2 mile dirt oval raceway (zook clay) located at the Marion County Fairgrounds in Knoxville, Iowa, United States. Races at the "Sprint Car Capital of the World" are held on Saturday nights from April through ...

, using the highest groove on the racetrack to take the lead. He also won his first career

United States Auto Club The United States Auto Club (USAC) is one of the sanctioning bodies of auto racing in the United States. From 1956 to 1979, USAC sanctioned the List of USAC Championship Car seasons, United States National Championship, and from 1956 to 1997 the ...

midget race, taking the checkered flag at

Placerville Speedway Placerville Speedway is a 1/4 mile dirt track located in Placerville at the El Dorado County fairgrounds in the Sierra Nevada foothills of eastern California. History The track began in 1965 as "Hangtown Speedway". On November 20, 2019, the spe ...

. Scelzi started his 2020 season by racing at the Chili Bowl in

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...

. On January 13, Scelzi announced a partnership with Guy Forbrook to run a limited number of sprint car races in the Midwest United States, saying that he wanted to scale back his sprint car efforts for the year. On January 14, Scelzi was confirmed for a full

ARCA Menards Series West The ARCA Menards Series West, formerly the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West, NASCAR AutoZone West Series, NASCAR Winston West Series and NASCAR Camping World West Series, is a regional stock car racing series owned and operated by the Automobile Raci ...

schedule for

Bill McAnally Racing McAnally–Hilgemann Racing (MHR) is an American professional stock car racing team that competes full-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. The team is based in Roseville, California, and is owned by Bill McAnally (in Truck, is co-owned ...

, driving the organization's No. 16 entry. A midwinter trip to Australia to race sprint cars was cancelled when Scelzi left Indy Race Cars, the team he drove for in 2018 and 2019, to join Forbrook. He won his first Pro Late Model race at

New Smyrna Speedway New Smyrna Speedway is a 1/2-mile asphalt oval racetrack located near New Smyrna Beach, Florida, that races the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series every Saturday night. It also has a smaller track, known as "Little New Smyrna Speedway" in t ...

on February 9, capitalizing on a last lap crash/penalty combination that took the top two cars out of contention. In June, Scelzi returned to his family sprint car team for some

All Star Circuit of Champions The All Star Circuit of Champions (abbreviated ASCoC), officially known as the Tezos All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 for naming rights reasons, is an American motorsports sanctioning body of winged sprint car racing founded in ...

races and also joined Tucker Boat Motorsports for some sprint car races during Indiana Midget Week. Scelzi scored a career-best ARCA West finish of second at the

Las Vegas Motor Speedway Las Vegas Motor Speedway, located in Clark County, Nevada in Las Vegas, Nevada about 15 miles northeast of the Las Vegas Strip, is a complex of multiple tracks for motorsports racing. The complex is owned by Speedway Motorsports, Inc., which is ...

Bullring in September. In the following race, Scelzi executed a bump-and-run maneuver on Taylor Gray during the penultimate lap to claim his first ARCA win.

Personal life

Gio is the son of former

drag racing Drag racing is a type of motor racing in which automobiles or motorcycles compete, usually two at a time, to be first to cross a set finish line. The race follows a short, straight course from a standing start over a measured distance, most c ...

driver

Gary Scelzi Gary Scelzi (born August 11, 1960) is an American dragster racer and midget car owner who has won the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series Top Fuel championship on three occasions and the Funny Car title once. In 1997 he won the title in his fi ...

, and is the younger brother of sprint car driver Dominic Scelzi. He attended Clovis Online High School in a blended learning model with in-person and online instruction.

Motorsports career results

ARCA Menards Series

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. ''Italics'' – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

ARCA Menards Series East

ARCA Menards Series West

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scelzi, Gio Living people 2001 births Racing drivers from California Racing drivers from Fresno, California Sportspeople from Fresno, California ARCA Menards Series drivers World of Outlaws drivers