CHATHAM, La. — Dominic Scelzi earned his first Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 victory as the series made its inaugural visit to Louisiana at Chatham Speedway Sunday night.

The race was the finale of the eight-race Cometic Gasket Thunder Through The Plains presented by Hercules Tire.

“I’ll tell you what man, this is big for me. We’ve really been hitting our strides the last couple of nights and it’s really shown,” Scelzi said. “Jimmy, Marty, Aaron, Brandon; these guys have really busted their asses this week, going to a bunch of new places we’ve never been to before. I’m not even sure I ever made an All Star dash before this week. For me, this is every bit as big as winning the World Challenge. I have one more mark to add to my resume and that’s an Outlaw win. Hopefully we can do that real soon.”

The $5,000 triumph was accomplished in exciting fashion, first working underneath fellow California-native and race leader Justin Sanders at the exit of turn four with eight laps complete, then surviving multiple single-file restarts before holding off two-time All Star champion Aaron Reutzel in a drag race to the checkered flag.

Sanders, who actually retook command from Scelzi for a single circuit on lap 27, doing so by using the bottom groove to sneak below the familiar No. 41s at the exit of turn four, held on to finish third at Chatham, followed by Zeb Wise and Paul McMahan.

“We were lucky to hang on those last two laps, especially with Aaron (Reutzel) breathing down our neck,” Scelzi continued. “Getting a little love tap at the end from Aaron, and Paul (McMahan) and everyone giving me a thumbs-up, it just goes to show how big of a following and friends I have in this sport. I haven’t won a lot of races, but this is a big one. I just want to thank the big man upstairs. I’m going to get really drunk tonight.”

The finish:

Feature (40 Laps): 1. 41S-Dominic Scelzi [2]; 2. 87-Aaron Reutzel [3]; 3. 16A-Justin Sanders [1]; 4. 11-Zeb Wise [6]; 5. 13-Paul McMahan [9]; 6. 23B-Brian Bell [7]; 7. 14-Tony Stewart [14]; 8. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. [12]; 9. W20-Greg Wilson [11]; 10. 17G-Channin Tankersley [8]; 11. 10M-Morgan Turpen [17]; 12. 48-Danny Dietrich [13]; 13. 26-Cory Eliason [5]; 14. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [10]; 15. 9-Chase Randall [18]; 16. 17-Josh Baughman [4]; 17. 99-Skylar Gee [15]; 18. 70-Roger Crockett [16]; 19. 4-Danny Smith [19]; 20. 10-Terry Gray [20] Lap Leaders: Justin Sanders (1-7), Dominic Scelzi (8-26), Justin Sanders (27), Dominic Scelzi (28-40)