By Victoria Beaver

Dominic Scelzi wrapped up the 2017 season in the King of the West-NARC Fujitsu series with a pair of impressive showings in the 360 and 410 features at the Stockton (CA) Dirt Track last weekend.

Scelzi started on the pole in the 360 feature on Saturday after winning the dash from the pole as well. He battled Cory Eliason to claim the win in his home state.

“That was a great feeling to know we could knock off another win,” Scelzi said. “We've been so close the two months we've been at home. When you finally have a night go your way and you can knock off a big win like that with so many good cars there is huge. It's great to be able to end the season that way."

Scelzi mirrored his 360 dominance by posting the third-fastest time in 410 qualifying and winning the pole in the dash. However, he did not have the same stellar outcome in the second race as he experienced in the 360 class. While in the lead, Scelzi made contact with another driver and flipped, causing him to fall back to 12th at the checkers.

"I was extremely happy with how everything went," Scelzi said. "To be second- and third-quickest in qualifying and make the dashes, let alone win the dashes in both classes, was huge. That was big. I think it put an exclamation point on how fast we've been. It was an all-around good night."

While Dominic was leading late in the race, his younger brother, Giovanni, was stalking inside the top five while also participating in a race within a race with Bud Kaeding for the King of the West points title. Giovanni finished the race in fourth, two spots ahead of Kaeding. Unfortunately, that result was one point shy of what he needed to capture the championship, which Kaeding won by a 910-909 margin.

Kaeding shared the spotlight with the feature winner, Eliason, who inherited the lead when Dominic flipped. Eliason took the lead on the first lap, but Scelzi quickly regained it and held it for the first 12 laps without contest from another driver. While in traffic, Eliason started to hunt Scelzi down to close within striking distance. Eliason momentarily lost second place to Kaeding but regained it before Scelzi's flip in turn three brought out the red flag.

Eliason only needed to hold off the field for two more laps to capture the win. He was chased across the line by Tim Kaeding and fast qualifier Kyle Hirst.

“We were in the running for the championship most of the season,” Eliason said. “It sure is nice to get the win and set the stage to come back strong next season.”

Eliason won his heat and came second in the dash to set himself up for the win. Points leaders Bud Kaeding and Giovanni Scelzi also won their heats and set identical qualifying laps — further proof that the points battle was neck and neck until the end.

Bud Kaeding has been the series runner-up three times before finally capturing the title.

“It feels so good to finally win this title,” Kaeding said. “I can’t say enough about my team and everyone who made this run possible. Gio was a great competitor and made us work hard all season long.”

While Kaeding was sprayed with champagne by his team, one can only imagine the parallel universe in which the 15-year-old Giovanni celebrated instead with Yoo-hoo.

"Looking at the big picture, we weren't thinking we were going to run a full schedule at the start of the year," Scelzi said. "It went from running a few races to the full schedule. It was a big learning curve this year, and I'm grateful for Dennis and Teresa Roth providing me the opportunity to race."