I caught up with Funny Car driver Gary Scelzi, a four-time NHRA world champion. He announced recently that he will be stepping away from the car at season’s end to spend more time at his family business and with his kids. The word I had heard was that the right opportunity could come along to bring him back. After talking to him a little bit ago, it sure doesn’t sound that way. Anyway, there will be a slideshow on inrich.com with some comments of his a little later tonight. Check it out. In the meantime, here’s our conversation from today…....

You talked about a year ago about stepping away, and then some travel accommodations brought you back this year. What makes this retirement announcement different?

Three races into the travel arrangement, I realize that I still made a mistake because I really wanted to leave. The travel arrangement helped. We weren’t able to do it as much as I’d like to have done it. So, my schedule conflicted with his, and things have just changed. I mean, the travel is still there. Doesn’t matter – corporate jet deal helps, but I’ve found myself back on commercial because of obligations. You know, being away from home and the same old rat race out here….it just….I should have stuck to my guns last year. I don’t regret it, but I always wondered if I really knew if it was time, and it’s time. There’s no question in my mind. You go home, and you back to working in the family business and spending time with my kids. I don’t have any regrets. A lot of people ask me ‘Are you done? When are you coming back?’ I don’t know if I’m coming back. I would tell you right now probably not. But, call me in January when testing starts and I might be saying ‘what did I do?’ I’m leaving one of the best teams in drag racing, and it’s not like there’s a whole lot of them out there, and I almost compare it to when I sold my own alcohol dragster back in 1986. I sold every tool, I sold every part, I sold the trailer so I knew I couldn’t come back as a car owner. I’m 48 years old. I don’t know that I’m going to be that appeasing to a new sponsor.

We’re talking four championships – three in Top Fuel and one in Funny Car – if this is your last season, how secure are you in your legacy here?

You know what, I really don’t care. Half these people out here don’t know I raced Top Fuel. We have that much of a new fan base. I didn’t do this for the recognition. I didn’t do this for the money, although I’ve made a very good living at it. I didn’t do it to be a star. I did it to race Joe Amato and Kenny Bernstein and Cory McClenathan at the time and John Force. I wanted to race these guys. I never really thought about wanting to be on the road all my life and I wanted to be a part of this. I talked to (a reporter from) National Dragster at the airport, and she said ‘you know, people look at you like the Joe Amatos and Kenny Bernsteins in your era.‘ I mean that’s kind of hard for me to believe because I never tried to be those guys. I came in, I won some championships, I did more than I thought I would. I’ve been fortunate to be with Alan Johnson and Mike Neff – two great crew chiefs. Do I still want to win? Absolutely. Do I want to travel to go do it? No, I don’t.

I talked to you last year about this time, and when you picked up the phone, you were at, I guess, Dominic’s baseball game. I think Dominic (11) understands that daddy’s going to be home a little more. Has Giovanni come around, too? 

(Giovanni’s) six years old, and he definitely….when I go to leave, it’s really hard on him. Most of the time when I leave, I’ll leave early in the morning when they’re still asleep. And the last few races, I’ve been leaving in the afternoon, and it’s hard. It makes it hard on me. That’s just a part of it. I’m just tired. This is not a glamorous life that everyone thinks it is. You’re alone a lot of times, you travel and you’re rushing here to be here at certain times. Flights are delayed and you want to get home, and you can’t get home, you’ve got to spend the night in a town in another hotel room. You get up to use the bathroom, ‘where’s the bathroom, where’s the lightswitch. I’m not here, I’m there.’ I’ve been in four different hotel rooms in four different states in four different nights….boom, boom, boom, boom, all around. It wears on you.

Clearly, the handlebar mustache tradition must continue.

That’s not going anywhere.

Any luck talking to (your cleanly shaven teammate) Ron Capps about carrying that on?

Oh, no. Capps is….people ask me ‘who am I going to root for?’ and I say Capps. I don’t put much stock into it. People get over it pretty quickly. It’s very nice and flattering ‘we’re
going to miss you, it’s never going to be the same’….it’s flattering and I don’t mean to be rude. It’s not the end of the world. Fortunately, I don’t have bad news that I’m dying of a bad disease or something like that . It’s all good.