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Wells looking to double up after Vegas win. BAYTOWN, Texas - After winning last weekend's SummitRacing.com Nationals in Las Vegas, NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster pilot David Wells will be looking to take his second win in as many weeks during this ...

Published: Apr 10, 2003, 9:29 PM

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Wells looking to double up after Vegas win.

BAYTOWN, Texas - After winning last weekend's SummitRacing.com Nationals in Las Vegas, NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster pilot David Wells will be looking to take his second win in as many weeks during this weekend's O'Reilly Spring Nationals in Houston. After taking a win in only his second race with six time World Champion tuner Norm Grimes on board, Wells' "Plain Vanilla"/ Blue Bunny Ice Cream team is excited about their chances this weekend in Houston.

In Vegas, Wells, from LeMars, Iowa, qualified his Blown Alcohol Dragster fifth in the field with a 5.403 second elapsed time at 263.51 mph. In round one, he defeated fellow Division 5 racer Ed Schmeekle with a 5.442 at 258.81 mph, and then took out Bob Perkins in round two with a 5.414 at 261.12 mph. In the semifinal, Wells squared off against West Coast championship hopeful Morgan Lucas. Wells was able to take the win with a 5.417 at 263.36 mph to Lucas' right-there 5.482 at 264.23 mph. In the final, Wells took on first time finalist Don Hudson. The pair left together, but Wells' Norm Grimes horsepower quickly took over, powering Wells to a career-best 5.374 at 265.53 mph for the win.

"It was a pretty good weekend for the team," said Wells. "We hurt a few parts because we had a problem with it going lean a few times, but it wasn't anything we weren't able to fix. We decided to get after the tune-up this weekend, and Norm really has this thing flying now. We ran our career best time and mph in high altitude conditions, I can't wait to see how we'll run in the sea level conditions in Houston next weekend."

The win lifted Wells to sixth place in national points standings. With much of the season left to go, Wells and the "Plain Vanilla"/ Blue Bunny Ice Cream team are excited about their championship chances.

"The last few years we've been stuck in ninth place," stated Wells. "I think getting Norm Grimes in our camp has really helped our chances at winning a national championship. It's going to be tough the way a few of the A/Fuel cars are running, but we're not going to back down because of that."

Houston Raceway Park's low elevation combined with one of the best racing surfaces in the country usually equals the recipe for record performances. Wells hopes the team can run consistent mid to low 5.30's this weekend.

"We ran low .40's in the altitude in Vegas," cited Wells. "We hope that in the conditions we'll probably see in Houston, we'll jump down into the mid to low .30's. Norm has done it before at this track, so we'll see how it goes."

Qualifying begins on Friday for the alcohol cars with two sessions, followed by one final session Saturday morning. Eliminations will begin with first round on Saturday afternoon, and final eliminations will conclude the event on Sunday. Stay tuned to InsideTopAlcohol.com for the latest news in alcohol racing.

-pvr-

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