Catching up with Gio Scelzi at the end of the 2023 sprint car season to take a look back at this past year and see what is happening as we look ahead to 2024.

JW: Hey Gio! Thanks for taking the time to chat. I have to start off with asking you what your overall thoughts on the 2023 World of Outlaws season are? How would you rate the year?
 
GS: “I thought it was really solid. It’s the first time I’ve run a season competing for points since running the entire NARC 410 series in 2017. Since my sprint car career has progressed, it’s been more of a true outlaw schedule where all you can do to assess the season is how many races you have won. Only winning two races this year was the one area we lacked this year. We had a lot of top fives and a lot of top tens. Ran upfront a lot. Turning those good dash draws into wins, or good starting spots into wins is where I felt I lacked a bit.”
 
JW: Congratulations on winning the Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year Award! You join a long list of top class sprint car drivers who have won the award. In addition to this award, you are the highest finishing rookie in an Outlaw season ever by finishing fourth in the standings. How does it feel to look back and know that you made history with the World of Outlaws?
 
GS: “My goal going into the season was to finish in the top five in the points. That meant beating guys like Logan [Schuchart], Sheldon [Haudenschild], and Donny [Schatz] to finish inside of the top five. We had to beat at least one of them to get inside the top five and we beat two of them. I’m glad we achieved that. It was awesome! The three stellar cars this year on the tour were Brad [Sweet], Carson [Macedo], and David [Gravel]. The only other ‘non-Outlaw’ that competed with them was Rico Abreu. To finish fourth in points overall is incredible, really. The season couldn’t have started much worse as we had to use a provisional in the first race of the year in Florida [Volusia]. I felt like we progressively figured it out more and more. As a team, we were able to build on the entire season and we will continue that together moving into 2024.” 
 
JW: What was your favorite race this year? You only won two races all year [WOO: Beaver Dam & HLS:  Lakeside], but your consistency race-to-race was almost unmatched by anyone. Is there one or two races that stand out for you?
 
GS: “I feel like my Knoxville Nationals performance stood out. In 2021, I started on the pole and finished fourth, and this last year [2023] I started ninth and finished fourth. That stands out for me with our performance the entire week. Lakeside was really cool! All of the good cars (from the Outlaws & All Stars) were in attendance for the High Limit opener. I mean, anytime you can win a World of Outlaws race, it really does stand out and it’s special. Beaver Dam is a cool place. I ran second there back in 2021 and it was the one-year anniversary of Adam Clark being the crew chief. It was cool to give him a win as a World of Outlaws crew chief!  For sure, though, the Knoxville Nationals stands out as my best performance for 2023.” 
 
JW: One of the bigger talking points going into the 2023 World of Outlaws season was the new tire that Hoosier came out with. Some drivers struggled out of the gate, while others seemed to get a hold of it right away. What are your thoughts on the new tire package that you had to work with this year?
 
GS: “Overall, there was less grip. We have all struggled with grip this year. I found with the compound this year, we were all fighting for one part of the race track a lot more, compared to having multiple lanes of racing - two or three available. Hoosier is the only game in town. When you don’t have any competition in any kind of business, the product quality does come down a bit. You can complain about it all you want, but we all get the same product. You get your car better, you start to figure it out more, and you will be one of those teams on top.”
 
JW: How has the relationship been going with KCP Racing since you joined the team halfway through the 2020 season? It seems like year after year, the success continues to build for the entire group. Does this make you confident moving into the 2024 season?
 
GS: “One thing our team understands is that you can’t buy success and you can’t buy wins. The comfortability with everyone on the team is key for success. There is no instant success either. It takes time to build a program where you are successful. It’s all built over time. For example, Adam [Clark] has been here since the beginning of 2020 and it is now his fourth year being here, where he started out as a tire guy, became the car chief, and is now the crew chief. All of the top teams and drivers have been together for multiple years which has been able to unlock their success on the track. When we have a couple of bad nights or struggle for a bit, as long as we are moving in the right direction, our team understands that we are moving in the right direction for the big picture.” 
 
JW: Speaking of next year, what are your thoughts on next year as we move into the 2024 season? Obviously, there are a lot of moving parts in the sprint car world at this moment between High Limit and the Outlaws. This year, KCP Racing and yourself decided to plunge into the Outlaw season as a full-time member after spending the last couple of seasons being a ‘true’ Outlaw; picking & choosing. Do you have any idea on what you guys will do moving forward? Is it already decided, or will you still wait and see going into January of 2024?
 
GS: “It’s really hard for us to make a decision only having tentative schedules. There are a lot of TBAs on both schedules (WOO & HLS). Until we sit down and run the numbers to see what makes financial sense. I can tell you right now, we are very, very happy with the Outlaws. They have helped grow our brand and we have helped grow their brand. That’s what it’s all about. It’s great to win more money, but what happens when you race tenth or fifteenth? We have a huge platform of DirtVision, that’s owned by WRG, that owns the Outlaws. It’s all one group there. I like a lot of the stuff that Brad Sweet is doing, even though we have only seen tentative schedules at this point. But, I can tell you that we are very, very happy with what the Outlaws have presented us between the perks and bonus money for running with the series. We went out with the Outlaws at the right time. We spent two years picking and choosing our schedule while building up our program to make ourselves ready when we decided to make the jump to be a full-time Outlaw this past year. Whether it’s High Limit or the Outlaws, we really don’t know at this point we are waiting. Before PRI, we will have a better idea of what we want to do next year. We want to make a final decision before the holidays to allow us to put together our 2024 package.”
 
 JW: To round off out chat, what are you planning on doing this offseason?! Racing plans? Vacation plans? Anything interesting going on in the life of Gio “Hot Sauce” Scelzi this winter?
 
GS: “Enjoy being home! I just bought a new house on August 1st. Probably not the best time to buy a home. I will get moved into the new home fully. Finish decorating and finish painting some stuff. But hey, by the time I get finished with all of that stuff, it will already be time to head down south to get started in Florida.”