SACRAMENTO, Calif. — With five races complete on a 24-race schedule, the NARC Fujitsu General Sprint Cars are just about a fourth of the way through the season, so what do the numbers say about what’s transpired so far?
First off, it’s clear Dominic Scelzi has resumed his 2021 dominance.
Through five races, Scelzi has three victories and has finished on the podium in all five races. The Fresno, Calif., native became the first driver since Jonathan Allard to podium in the first five NARC events of a season.
The Jimmy Carr effect continues to shine on Scelzi’s career as the two seem to go together like peanut butter and jelly. Prior to joining forces with the legendary crew chief, Scelzi’s NARC résumé featured 89 starts, eight wins and 17 podium finishes. Since the two began working together, Scelzi has made 28 starts and tallied 10 wins and 19 podiums.
• While Scelzi has starred, Colby Copeland has been so slouch.
Copeland has only appeared in a trio of events so far, but he’s made the most out of each one.
The new promoter at Silver Dollar Speedway dominated the season opener at Stockton Dirt Track and scored a pair of runner-ups on Peter Murphy Classic weekend, making his average finish 1.67 aboard the Larry Antaya Motorsports No. 16a.
Copeland and Scelzi are the only two drivers who have earned multiple podiums so far.
• One of the most noteworthy happenings of California silly season was Mitchell Faccinto making the move to Tarlton Motorsports after a nearly 10-year tenure with Stan Greenberg’s team, and the new ride has proved fruitful so far.
The 29-year-old has only missed the top five once, a 12th-place effort at Silver Dollar Speedway being the outlier.A solid 5.6 average finish has him sitting second in points.
• Another driver who has been quietly consistent is 2017 series champion Bud Kaeding
While he hasn’t been knocking on the door of a win each night out, Kaeding has earned top-10 finishes in all events with a pair of seventh-place efforts being his best outings.
Kaeding is another driver in an exclusive group with Scelzi as the two are the only ones to finish in the top-10 each night.
• It’s been a mixed bag of results for phenom Corey Day.
The second-generation driver finished inside the top 10 in the NARC opener, then followed it up with his third career series victory and first at Silver Dollar Speedway. The 16-year-old won by more than six seconds on the quarter-mile.
Two weeks later at the Peter Murphy Classic, issues in the feature of the first night slowed him. Then on night two he was battling for victory in the $11,000 to win finale before contact with Justin Sanders ended his night.
• As is usual with the California sprint car scene, a couple young drivers have made their presence felt on the NARC tour and may be an indicator of names to watch moving forward.
Redding, Calif.’s Max Mittry has been fast nearly every night as he looks to conquer the full tour.
Prior to 2021, Mittry had never appeared with NARC, but this year in just his second showing he set fast time in qualifying.
Two races later he earned his first top-10 finish with a sixth-place showing on the final night of the Peter Murphy Classic.
Mittry has had a little bit of help in the form of Justin Sanders. When the veteran isn’t piloting the Works Limited No. 57, he wheels a second Mittry Racing entry and lends a hand on setting up the youngster’s car.
• A last-minute deal for Landon Brooks to run some 410ci races in the Vanlare No. 5v has turned into him climbing in the machine for NARC races whenever his schedule allows.
The graduate of the Red Bluff Outlaw Kart ranks ran inside the top three for most of the 35-lap David Tarter Memorial main event with NARC in just his third series start.
Brooks went on to compete with Vanlare in the Peter Murphy Classic, and just this past weekend at Petaluma Speedway, Brooks timed in third quick in qualifying before notching his first NARC top-10 finish.
• The series will now enter its busiest stretch of races with 11 events scheduled over the next month.
It begins with four straight nights of racing in the Pacific Northwest over Memorial Day weekend and concludes with three nights at Washington’s Skagit Speedway for the 50th annual Super Dirt Cup.
Keyword: NARC Notes: Hot Start For Scelzi