Young sprint car racers chasing pro dreams

The clock is ticking – just like when they speed around the race track during hot laps.

Carson Macedo, Dominic Scelzi, DJ Netto and Mitchell Faccinto – four of the top young drivers on the King of the West 410 sprint car series and close friends off the track – understand that the window of opportunity to realize their collective dream of becoming professional racers is a small one.

“You know if you’re 30 and still racing in California, chances are it’s not going to happen,” the 19-year-old Macedo said. “That’s why all of us are pushing so hard.”

Striving to make names for themselves, the quartet of Fresno-area drivers all sat among the top 10 in the King of the West points standings prior to Saturday’s race at Placerville Speedway.

Macedo, a 19-year-old from Lemoore, leads the way with a series-best 1,592. Scelzi, an 18-year-old from Fresno, was second, five points back at 1,587. Hanford’s Netto, 19, and Faccinto, 23, were sixth (1,532) and 10th (1,313), respectively.

All four, along with Scelzi’s younger brother, 13-year-old Giovanni, who races micro sprints, have long desired to make their livings driving race cars, be it on dirt with the national World of Outlaws or on asphalt in NASCAR.

But it’s a tough sport to crack, as Scelzi’s father, former NHRA Top Fuel and Funny Car champion Gary Scelzi, knows too well. He was a 37-year-old journeyman racer before he got his shot in NHRA as the replacement driver for Blaine Johnson, who died from injuries sustained in a crash at the 1996 U.S. Nationals.

The elder Scelzi said his success story – at his age – was more exception than the rule, and that’s why the clock is ticking on his sons, Macedo, Netto and Faccinto.

“Every one of them have the talent to do it – and I know they have the desire and the want,” Gary Scelzi said. “But the reality is this is no different than Major League Baseball or the NFL. It’s one in a million who make it.”

The ties that bind

Macedo, Dominic Scelzi, Netto and Faccinto all cut their teeth in racing driving micros – first junior sprints then 600cc cars – at Visalia’s Plaza Park Raceway and Lemoore Speedway.

Their ties, however, go beyond Friday and Saturday nights at the race track.

Faccinto, who is second cousins with Macedo, sold Scelzi his first junior sprint.

Netto and Faccinto live a mile apart, while Macedo and Netto have been best friends since playing little league together. In fact Netto decided his wanted to drive a junior sprint after seeing Macedo’s at his house.

Scelzi, Macedo and Netto all have their race shops within a mile radius of each other in Fresno, and they often gather to talk shop and compare notes.

“We try to help each other out,” Netto said. “We don’t all have good nights on the same night, so we try to keep each others’ heads up.”

But friendship only goes so far on race nights.

“We are buddies, but if you ask any one of us, friends goes out the window when we’re on the race track,” Macedo said. “We’re all going for the same title. There is a competitiveness. We don’t hit each other to win; we have too much respect for each other to do that. But if there is a last-lap pass I can make to win, I will put my car in position to do that, and I expect the same from them.”

Their rivalry on the track is also helpful in furthering their careers.

“When one of us runs better than the others, it motivates you to get better,” Faccinto said. “Of course we’re all friends, but no one wants to lose. We push each other.”

Family tradition

Racing and family go hand-in-hand for all four drivers.

Dominic grew up around the nation’s drag racing strips with his father. But he got the itch to race sprint cars at the ago of 6 when his dad took him to an Outlaws race to watch friend Danny Lasoski, the 2001 series champion.

“From the day I was born, I wanted to be a race car driver,” Dominic said. “When I went to the Outlaws race, I fell in love with sprint cars.”

Dominic got his start in go-karts and progressed quickly to junior sprints, and then to micros, 360s and now 410s. Giovanni got introduced to the sport through Dominic and got his start in junior sprints at the age of 6. He’s since moved up to micros and is looking to make the next jump into 360s and 410s.

“I was around it so much, I was just brought up into it,” Giovanni said.

Macedo was introduced to the racing by his grandfather, Robbie Tarlton, a 20-year racer and the brother of long-time car owner Tom Tarlton. Macedo also used to watch cousin Tommy Tarlton, Tom’s son, race. Macedo now drives Tom Tarlton’s car.

“I think I didn’t have a choice; it’s in my blood,” Macedo said. “This is what I was going to do.”

Netto was also surrounded by racers in his family. His father, Frank, raced 360 Bandits and uncle James Netto raced trucks. On mother Cindy’s side of the family, grandfather Bob Hill owned a car that was driven by uncle Jeff Hill. And his older brother, Garrett, used to race micros.

Faccinto is following in the footstep of his father, Monte, who raced the local tracks for more than 20 years before dedicating himself to helping his sons, including Mitchell’s older brother Michael, who has been one of the area’s most successful micro drivers in recent memory.

“We all grew up around racing. We don’t know anything different,” Faccinto said. “I don’t know if it’s a curse or a blessing, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. There is nowhere else I’d rather be on the weekends.”

Racing with California’s best

The King of the West series, which launched in 1986, has occasionally been a stepping stone toward the national World of Outlaws tour.

It’s a leap Clovis’ Jason Meyers made in 2001 after four years on California’s premier sprint car series, which was then called the Northern Auto Racing Club. Meyers went on to win two Outlaws titles before stepping away from full-time racing in 2012.

Meyers, who has raced against the older Scelzi, Macedo and Faccinto during local Kings of the West races, believes they all have the potential to follow his path to the Outlaws.

“What’s different about them is usually young talent is a little wild and crazy and tear things up, but these guys don’t do that,” Meyers said. “They all seem to be very smooth and smart, not just talented, and that will take you a long way in trying to make that next step.

“All of them have that star feel to them. They all have the ability to do it. It will come down to who’s willing to work the hardest for it. And who gets the right opportunity, who said hi to the right person, who says thank you to the right person. Because you never know when you are doing it.”

Macedo, Dominic Scelzi, Netto and Faccinto are all within striking distance of a points title that would be a welcome addition to their racing résumés. The series has nine more races, including stops July 25 and Oct. 10 at Tulare Thunderbowl Raceway and Sept. 19 and Oct. 24 at Hanford’s Kings Speedway.

“If you can put your name at the top of that list and win a championship, it can put your name out there,” Macedo said. “That’s a good thing about racing around here.”

Scelzi would also like to get his hands on the King of the West trophy.

“It would be huge for me to win the championship,” Scelzi said. “It’s the most prestigious series in California. It would be my biggest accomplishment.”

The future

The jump they would all like to make next is to the Outlaws, where there are currently 14 teams running full time.

The hitch?

There’s hundreds, if not 1,000s, of drivers itching to fill one of those seats. And starting your own team, as Meyers did in a creating Elite Racing in a partnership with car owner Guy Stockbridge and a host of sponsors, isn’t cheap. Meyers said it costs anywhere between $500,000 for a bare-bones operation to $1.3 million for the teams chasing the title.

So Macedo, Scelzi, Netto and Faccinti have realistic expectations and back-up plans.

“If you don’t see it developing by your mid-20s, then maybe it wasn’t cut out for you,” said Netto, a recent Hanford High graduated headed to Fresno State to study marketing. “At that time, maybe you set in and run the King of the West forever. But I want to push hard these next couple of years because I think I can make something out of it.”

Faccinto is a graduate of Sierra Valley College with a degree in court reporting.

“There are only 100, 200 people out there consistently making a living at racing,” Faccinto said. “You have to have a plan B or C. You never know what will happen. If it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t work out.”

Scelzi recently graduated from Clovis online high school and will take college courses online so he can work full-time and learn the trade of the family business, Scelzi Enterprises.

“I’m not sure how good I am or will be, but I’d like to think I have the ability to make it,” Scelzi said. “I’ll never give up. I’ll be 40 and working a full-time job and still chasing it. I believe in miracles and one-in-a-million shots.”

Macedo is attending West Hills College-Lemoore and studying civil engineering. He has an internship with Blair, Church and Flynn to learn more about the civil engineering field, but he also has no plans to give up his racing suit – or his professional dreams.

“My plan is to keep doing this as long as I possibly can,” Macedo said. “If I am 30 and still a local California driver, so be it. I will run sprint cars as long as I can.”

This story was originally published July 18, 2015 at 3:09 PM with the headline "Young sprint car racers chasing pro dreams."