One thing that Scelzi was genuinely surprised at was the fact that not only was last Friday’s victory his own breakthrough with the World of Outlaws, it was his car owner’s first Outlaw win as well.

“This car has won a lot of All Star races and won a lot of races in general across the country, so to get its first Outlaws win was beyond incredible,” Scelzi said. “I couldn’t believe that, honestly. With as many races as Bernie has run and won, and as many good drivers as he’s had in the seat of this thing over the years, to be that guy and knock that one off the list was truly special and something I’ll never forget.”

Very few drivers get to say they’ve won a World of Outlaws feature, and even fewer can say they’ve done so by also beating the best that the Pennsylvania Posse has to offer as well.

Scelzi, a California kid by birth, can now say he’s part of that select list after what he called “a perfect night.”

“Just to be competitive at Williams Grove, with that group of guys that was there, was really cool for me,” Scelzi noted. “The feature couldn’t have gone any better. … To have a race play out that perfectly into your hands, where nothing goes wrong, is very rare.

“Rolling across the scales, getting all the thumbs-ups, seeing (the) Beerhill (Gang) and hearing everyone over my earplugs … it’s all something I’ve grown up my whole life seeing and wishing for.”

In fact, it’s something that Scelzi thought he might even see sooner than he did, given his team’s speed in the last handful of weeks.

“I feel like I’ve been due for (a World of Outlaws win), but it hasn’t been that long, really,” Scelzi said. “It’s pretty unreal, the things we’ve been able to accomplish and the opportunities that I’ve personally had this season to put such amazing races and achievements on my resume.

“It’s been somewhat of an up-and-down season, but we’ve had so much speed and been so close that I feel like this was supposed to happen eventually. Just how everything has played out this season has been beyond my wildest dreams.”

In looking back on his season so far, Scelzi has already piled up a list of accolades that most drivers would dream to have over their entire career.

He’s won the Chili Bowl Nationals Rookie of the Year Award, the Knoxville Nationals Rookie of the Year Award, the National Open Rookie of the Year Award, earned his first BOSS sprint car victory and earned first World of Outlaws victory, all in a span of 10 months.

It’s a stretch that he admits has made his head spin at times along the way.

“I can’t believe that I’ve done everything I’ve done this year … honest truth,” said Scelzi. “Things like this don’t happen every day. It’s been a magical season and I’m so grateful for every minute of it.”

But make no mistake – the young phenom isn’t planning to be done quite yet.

Scelzi still has two crown jewel races that he and the Indy Race Parts team plan to tackle as part of the closing month of their season, with their eyes specifically on the rescheduled Tuscarora 50 at Port Royal (Pa.) Speedway on Oct. 27 and the World of Outlaws World Finals at The Dirt Track at Charlotte, Nov. 1-3.

“We still want a few more victories,” he smiled. “Even if we don’t get them though, this has been a year to remember, for sure.”