Local man takes top prize at hot rod finals
By BOB McCLURE
Article published on Thursday, Nov. 29, 2007  |
SEMINOLE – It’s not often that a first-time competitor in the National Hot Rod Association Finals walks away with the top prize but that’s what Seminole’s David Scigliuto did.
Competing in drag racing’s Summit Racing Series, the 49-year-old financial adviser won the Division 2 Super Pro class in the 43rd annual Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals Nov. 4 in Pomona, Calif.
Scigliuto piloted his 235-inch, 1,000-horsepower rail dragster to three consecutive victories to earn the honor. In the finals, he dusted Bruce Main of Des Moines, Iowa, with a quarter-mile time of 7.57 seconds at 180 mph. To put it in perspective, his body absorbed about 3 Gs of acceleration off the line.
Since it is bracket racing, drivers must predict the speed they will finish the race in and not finish below that time while outlasting their opponent.
In the final round, Scigliuto varied only .016 of a second and defeated Main by 4 feet.
He earned the spot in the event by winning the Division 2 Southeast Finals a few weeks earlier at Cecil, Ga.
Scigliuto credits being detail-oriented and preparing his car extensively for his success.
“The key is paying attention to detail and listening to the car,” he said. “For example, just before we went to Pomona, I felt like the brake pads weren’t as strong as they should be. So I changed them out. We’re forever doing preparation.”
Scigliuto also gets the satisfaction of watching his family compete in the sport. His wife Kecia, along with daughters Nina, 22; Samantha, 20 and 11-year-old Siena all are learning the ropes of what David has done since he was a teenager.
“We race about 20 weekends a year,” said Scigliuto. “This is a hobby for us. We all love the competition.”
Scigliuto said he began drag racing at age 16 but it wasn’t until 1998, when his investments were paying well, that he purchased his first competitive dragster.
He earned about $11,000 for winning this year’s Southeast title and won about $9,000 at Pomona.
But the big dollars are yet to come.
“The sponsorship money we’ll get will be big. That’s the big thing for us,” he said. “It changes the economics and takes all the pressure off. We’ll race about the same number of races next year but we’ll be racing at higher visibility events.”
Scigliuto also will be racing in a new top dragster that turns the quarter-mile in the low seven seconds using 1,200 horsepower from a 582-cubic inch Chevrolet engine.
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Article published on Thursday, Nov. 29, 2007
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