Dallas: Shelly Howard wrap up

ENNIS, Texas - Federal Mogul Dragster driver Shelly Howard lost a close race in round one due to engine damage during this past weekend's O'Reilly Nationals presented by Castrol Syntec at the Texas Motorplex just south of Dallas.

Howard, of Tulsa, Okla., qualified No. 13 with an off pace elapsed time of 5.625 at 253.66 mph before the race was rained out two weeks ago. Howard then made a strong showing at last week's Matco Tools SuperNationals in Houston where she returned to her usual 5.4 second performances. Unfortunately for Howard, she was ahead of Wells in her first round race all the way to 1000' [1/4 mile=1320'] when her motor let go, giving the win to Wells. Wells ran a 5.555 at 255.48 mph to her problem plagued 5.600 at 245.40 mph.

"I was ahead of David until about the 1000' mark," explained Howard. "I could feel the motor was eating itself up, but I couldn't lift at that point. It hurt that motor pretty bad, it kicked two rods out. It was just a bad weekend for us."

Looking back on her up and down 2000 season, Howard looks to 2001 to be a better year.

Howard said, "We definitely hope next year is better than the year we had this year. Towards the end of this year, the car has really started to run good, so we are happy about that. I really don't like to dwell on the past, so we are just looking to next year."