Scelzi's Don Schumacher Racing teammates, Ron Capps and Jerry Toliver (shown), also had tough outings at Gainesville, as both exited in the first round.
Husband and wife, Tommy Johnson Jr. and Melanie Troxel, were paired in the final round of qualifying. Troxel drove through tire shake and then got out of the groove and crossed the centerline and Johnson’s 5.226/287.96 was not good enough to make the show either.
Team Mopar factory-backed driver Allen Johnson continued his solid start, advancing to the quarterfinals at the NHRA Gatornationals on Sunday and moving to the fourth spot in the NHRA Pro Stock points standings.
Johnson qualified his Mopar/J&J Racing Dodge Stratus R/T fifth on Saturday, after Friday's round of qualifying was cancelled due to rain. AJ defeated Dave Northrop in the first round, overcoming a shaky reaction time off the starting tree to drive his HEMI-powered Stratus R/T to the round win by more than a car length. In the quarterfinals, Johnson bettered his reaction time, reeling off a near perfect light of .003 seconds—only to see his opponent, Mike Edwards, earn a perfect .000 light. Then Johnson's car went to the right, near the wall, and he lifted.
Former Pro Mod racer Johnny Gray put together an impressive run in his Dodge Stratus R/T Pro Stocker, advancing to the semis with round wins over Kurt Johnson and Justin Humphreys before losing to event winner Jeg Coughlin.