Gary Scelzi has been watching and likes what he sees in rookie Pro Stock Bike rider LE Tonglet. He’s not even concerned the youthful rider’s success might take a measure of his own unique history away.

Scelzi is the only driver to win the Automobile Club of Southern California Road to the Future [Rookie of the Year] award and a professional world championship in the same season.

“I haven’t watched many races but this kid is bad-a**, I like his style,” said Scelzi, who achieved the memorable feat in 1997.

Tonglet entered the Countdown to 1 in Indianapolis as the seventh seeded rider and has pulled into second place, just 44 points behind Hines on the strength of 12 consecutive round wins. He is the only competitor out of 40 playoff finalists still undefeated at the halfway point.

Gary Scelzi has been watching and likes what he sees in rookie Pro Stock Bike rider LE Tonglet. He’s not even concerned the youthful rider’s success might take a measure of his own unique history away.

Scelzi is the only driver to win the Automobile Club of Southern California Road to the Future [Rookie of the Year] award and a professional world championship in the same season.

“I haven’t watched many races but this kid is bad-a**, I like his style,” said Scelzi, who achieved the memorable feat in 1997.

Tonglet entered the Countdown to 1 in Indianapolis as the seventh seeded rider and has pulled into second place, just 44 points behind Hines on the strength of 12 consecutive round wins. He is the only competitor out of 40 playoff finalists still undefeated at the halfway point.

Long before there was a playoff format, Scelzi had an impressive run of his own. Replacing the late Blaine Johnson, who was killed less than five months earlier in a racing accident, Scelzi won the first two races of his Top Fuel career. He went on to win five races in ten final rounds. Not to be overlooked, Scelzi drove the Alan Johnson dragster to six No. 1 qualifying positions.

Scelzi nearly led the points championship all season long, losing the lead, to Joe Amato, for one race.

“That whole year was like a dream,” Scelzi admitted. “We kept going to races and we won and won, going to the semis. I said to myself, ‘My God I’ve never had anything like this happen. We were doing it against the best, the Bernsteins, Kalittas, Cory Macs and the Joe Amatos. Everyone I ever looked up to, or wanted to race, I’m hanging with them – beating them. I used to tell Alan Johnson, it was a dream and they woke me up and told me I was champion.”

Scelzi drove a car owned by the Johnson family and sponsored by R.J. Reynolds’ Winston brand, also the series sponsor for the NHRA at the time. Previously, Scelzi had been regarded as one of the up and coming Top Alcohol racers, with experience in both Dragster and Funny Car.

“When I drove for Alan, Everett and Agnes [Johnson] it was like a group of guys who knew how to have a good time racing together. In the beginning, we’d all meet up at LAX [airport, Los Angeles] to fly to where we needed to go. We traveled together, ate together, and not only learned racing Top Fuel and winning, but the other part of racing, Ruth Chris steakhouse, flying first class – never flew there before. Flew very little, and if I did – it was usually in the back of the bus.

“I learned just how fun racing was but there was also another side of the fun. Then we had Winston, who was more than just a sponsor, they were family. [Late Winston exec.] T. Wayne Robertson would call me and say, ‘Dangit Scelzi, you only won two races in a row. You’re nothing if you can’t win three.”

The fun wasn’t limited to the success on the strip for Scelzi.

“It was just fun, the birth of my son Dominick came along in that championship year. There were so many things going on in that year, press conferences and media tours. I never really knew what was going on until the end.”

And even then, Scelzi had his doubts whether he’d pulled off the improbable. In those days rookies didn’t win championships. He didn’t expect to be the first either.

“I’ll never forget, in the final round of the Houston event, we were racing Larry Dixon,” Scelzi recalled. “It blew up right at the start, and I had to drive it to the finish line because I didn’t see him. It blew the right rear slick out and bent the frame. [NHRA announcer] Alan Reinhart came running over with his cell phone and told me I had won the championship.

“I asked him if he was serious, and I let him know it was something I didn’t want to be teased about. He assured me that all we had to do was pull in the gates of Pomona and the title was ours.”

Then the reality of what Scelzi and the team had accomplished hit him dead center.

“I thought to myself, ‘My God, we have done it. We have pulled this thing off,” Scelzi said, remembering the moment.

As for Tonglet, Scelzi believes momentum is solidly on the rookie’s side. The manner in which Tonglet has pulled off his feat is not lost on Scelzi. Scelzi understands he had solid funding while Tonglet began the year racing paycheck to paycheck until sponsorship from Kenny Koretsky’s Nitrofish-brand kept him in the game.

Scelzi has never met Tonglet, but if he could speak to the aspiring champion, he has one bit of advice.

“Don’t change a thing because you look like you’re having fun,” Scelzi explained. “Don’t even think about the pressure because it’s yours to win and theirs to lose. You look like you’re genuinely having fun. You’ve got their attention and they’re the ones who are going to begin to feel the pressure. Just keep doing what you’re doing.”

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