Giovanni Scelzi (born November 28, 2001) is an American racing driver. He currently competes full-time in the World of Outlaws Nos Energy Drink Sprint Car, series driving the #18 sprint car for KCP Racing.
Scelzi began his career in the micro-sprint ranks, driving at Plaza Park Raceway.[1] Racing at Lemoore Speedway as a nine-year-old, Scelzi posted 24 wins during that season.[2]
In 2019, Scelzi became the youngest driver to win a feature at Knoxville Raceway, using the highest groove on the racetrack to take the lead.[4] He also won his first career United States Auto Club midget race, taking the checkered flag at Placerville Speedway.[5]
Scelzi during ARCA West qualifying at Evergreen in 2020.
Scelzi started his 2020 season by racing at the Chili Bowl in Tulsa, Oklahoma.[1] 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.[6] On January 14, Scelzi was confirmed for a full ARCA Menards Series West schedule for Bill McAnally Racing, driving the organization's No. 16 entry.[7] 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.[8] He won his first Pro Late Model race at New Smyrna Speedway on February 9, capitalizing on a last lap crash/penalty combination that took the top two cars out of contention.[9] In June, Scelzi returned to his family sprint car team for some All Star Circuit of Champions races[10] and also joined Tucker Boat Motorsports for some sprint car races during Indiana Midget Week.[11] Scelzi scored a career-best ARCA West finish of second at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway Bullring in September.[12] In the following race, Scelzi executed a bump-and-run maneuver on Taylor Gray during the penultimate lap to claim his first ARCA win.[13] He would finish the season 5th in points.
In 2023, Scelzi joined the World of Outlaws full time, pursuing Rookie of the Year honors.[14]
Personal life
Gio is the son of former drag racing driver Gary Scelzi, and is the younger brother of sprint car driver Dominic Scelzi.[1] He attended Clovis Online High School in a blended learning model with in-person and online instruction.[15]
Motorsports career results
ARCA Menards Series
(key) (Bold– Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics– Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. *– Most laps led.)
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