There’s a new look for the winner of the 2021 Xtream Powered by Mediacom 360 Knoxville Nationals presented by Great Southern Bank, and he’s taking it with him to Knoxville Raceway this weekend.
Two weeks following Giovanni Scelzi’s departure from KCP Racing, the 23-year-old Californian is getting back in the seat with the defending 360 Nationals winners, Clauson Marshall Motorsports. He will carry the torch for defending race winner Tyler Courtney while he recovers from an injury, and Scelzi is taking the challenge head-on in his first race piloting the NOS Energy Drink No. 7BC.
“I want to win for these guys because they’re a top-tier team, and they’ve proven they can win these races,” Scelzi said.
One night before Courtney’s crash at Eldora Speedway, Scelzi was also involved in a hard rollover incident that destroyed the KCP No. 18, taking him out of the main event. The next morning, Scelzi announced via social media that he had parted ways with KCP and was “not really sure what is next.”
Shortly after Courtney had announced he would be out of action for an extended period, Scelzi received a phone call from team owner Tim Clauson.
“Obviously, a terrible incident with Tyler getting hurt the night after I parted ways with my previous team,” Scelzi said. “[Tim] called me either Thursday or Friday morning after Tyler got hurt and said, ‘Hey, we’re in a bind here, do you have any interest in racing for us the rest of the year?’ And I said, ‘Absolutely.’”
Scelzi and the Clauson and Marshall families have made starts on the track together as far back as the 2010s, most notably in the 2018 Chili Bowl Nationals when Scelzi piloted the No. 57BC to his only A-Main start in the famed Midget event. Scelzi said he and Clauson stayed in touch at the racetrack throughout the years, which aided in rejuvenating the relationship for their new partnership moving forward.
While Scelzi will continue his 2025 season with his new team, he leaves a tenure of five-and-a-half years with KCP in his wake. In their time together, they scored three wins on the big stage at Knoxville, including the 360 Nationals’ main event and preliminary Features in 2021, and a 410 Knoxville Nationals preliminary Feature in 2024. Paired with eight World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series Feature wins and a $50,000 score at Lakeside Speedway in 2023, Scelzi has no regrets about the time he spent with the Des Moines, IA-based team.
“When you’re with a race team for that long, I feel like three years is about the happy spot with Sprint Car racing with a guy staying with the team, and I was [at KCP] for five years,” Scelzi said. “I’m extremely grateful for what we accomplished with KCP, and I’m still friends with all those guys and the crew guys too. No bad blood there.
“I had a great tenure there, and I’m looking forward to what’s next.”
Scelzi first linked with KCP for the 2020 season and spent the next two years chasing a self-made schedule, traveling across the country to compete in different events with several different sanctioning bodies. In 2023, they embarked on their first full-time World of Outlaws campaign together and produced a fourth-place finish in the championship points standings.
“We always had the overarching goal to win a championship. It sucks we never got to do it, but there was a lot of success,” Scelzi said. “We won multiple times at a lot of really cool racetracks, and I felt like we were competitive every night, which is always the goal.”
As Scelzi recalls, one of their brightest moments came in their second season together with their triumph in the 360 Nationals. The race will be remembered by a thrilling battle between Scelzi and Daryn Pittman in the closing laps that ended with Scelzi making a pass for the win in the final corners, but Scelzi himself remembers more intimate details from within the KCP pit.
“KCP doesn’t own any 360s, so the week before, we borrowed a 360 (cubic inch engine) from my dad,” Scelzi said. “I’m pretty sure we won the previous (weekly) show, won the prelim at 360 Nationals, and then won Saturday. So, that motor didn’t lose while it was in our hands, which I thought was pretty cool.”
Looking ahead, Scelzi said he’s looking forward to finishing the season for the Clauson Marshall team but is all focused on getting the job done in Knoxville the next two weekends. He admits the 360s feel different than his usual cup of 410 tea, but is confident in both he and his new team’s abilities to mesh together in their first weekend on track.
“Running a 360 for the first time in a couple years, they have different chassis, different shocks, different weights, different group of guys, so it’s very exciting,” Scelzi said. “[Clauson Marshall Motorsports] won the 360 Nationals last year, so you know it’s a good piece that rolls around the racetrack. My goal is just to fit into their program as fast as possible and get comfortable as quick as possible.”
Watch Scelzi and the Clauson Marshall Motorsports team take on a field of over 90 racers in the 35th Xtream Powered by Mediacom 360 Knoxville Nationals presented by Great Southern Bank at Knoxville Raceway this Thursday–Saturday night.
Tickets for the event are on sale now at KnoxvilleRaceway.com and will be sold at the track on race day. If you can’t be there, stream every lap live on DIRTVision.
