“The car has had a vibration out there,” Scelzi said. “We changed some tires and did some different things. There are vibrations on the burnout and vibrations during the run. I’m not sure where it’s coming from and I don’t like going into Sunday with that kind of a car.”

Houston, we have a problem. In the case, Chicago does too.

“Basically one good run out of four is not the car we had in Pomona,” Scelzi said. “I’m actually surprised that it didn’t make it down on the last run. We had it backed down. We just went out and shook the tires.”

Scelzi said he had yet to see the computer graph, so it was impossible for him to comment on what happened during the run. But, he has an idea.

It’s all about the track prep.

“The car has had a vibration out there,” Scelzi said. “We changed some tires and did some different things. There are vibrations on the burnout and vibrations during the run. I’m not sure where it’s coming from and I don’t like going into Sunday with that kind of a car.”

Houston, we have a problem. In the case, Chicago does too.

“Basically one good run out of four is not the car we had in Pomona,” Scelzi said. “I’m actually surprised that it didn’t make it down on the last run. We had it backed down. We just went out and shook the tires.”

Scelzi said he had yet to see the computer graph, so it was impossible for him to comment on what happened during the run. But, he has an idea.

“I know we can run and we can run on hot tracks,” Scelzi said. “It’s not a big confidence builder making one out of four good runs. To me the tracks are a lot different than they have been in the past. I don’t think it is just me. Look at the cars that have had trouble.”

Scelzi’s references were to top runners Robert Hight and Mike Ashley’s DNQ efforts.

“Something has changed and I don’t know what it is,” Scelzi said. “Maybe we are doing something different. Something is different and I don’t know what it is. I hope someone figures it out.”

Scelzi left no doubt when asked if he had an idea.

Track prep.

“That’s what I am thinking,” Scelzi said. “Something is going on that is not consistent. Maybe we are not spraying the track right. Something’s going on and we need to fix and it needs to be fixed now.

“I don’t know what is going on there. Either chemicals have changed or production. Something is going on. It needs to be fixed. I’m not making excuses. We qualified. Something is going on. Cars are not making consistent runs. I don’t know where to look but someone needs to start looking and it needs to be looked at yesterday.”

Then Scelzi paused.

“We can win,” Scelzi said. “I just don’t like knowing what we are coming up against. You go out there and if every car smokes the tires, you set it up to run a 4.90 and hope you win. It’s a crapshoot and I don’t like racing that way. We make educated guesses, but tomorrow is a gamble and that’s not historically what Chicago is. That’s more frustrating. It has been going on for a while and for me since Gainesville.

“They need to hire Chad Head [former NHRA track prep specialist] back and get him back here.”