David Wells Route 66 wrap up

Wells scores win at Route 66.

JOLIET, Ill. - NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster driver David Wells won his second race of the season during this past weekend's Division 3 Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event at Route 66 Raceway just outside of Chicago. Despite fighting problems during qualifying, Wells and tuner Norm Grimes found the setup on raceday to put the Blue Bunny Ice Cream/ "Plain Vanilla" dragster in the winner's circle.

Wells, from LeMars, Iowa, qualified No. 6 with a 5.404 at 261.83 mph. In round one, he took out heavy-hitter Marty Thacker with an off-pace 5.794 at 255.97 mph when Thacker had problems of his own. He then defeated Bill Reichert with a 5.429 at 260.76 mph in the semifinals. In the final, Wells' squared off with Ken Perry's "Iceman" dragster. Wells took the starting line advantage and never looked back, taking the win with a 5.404 at 261.83 mph.

"We got behind in qualifying," said Wells. "We kept on hopping it up, but the track just got better every time, so we were always behind the track. Then we had it too hopped up in the first round, and got lucky when Thacker had problems. From then on, we put it back to normal, and the track came back to our tune-up."

The win moved Wells to third in national points and put him in a tie with Alan Bradshaw for the Division 5 lead. Wells and the Blue Bunny Ice Cream/ "Plain Vanilla" team hope to keep that momentum up going into next weekend's Division 5 opener at Heartland Park in Topeka, Kan.

"We just want to keep up the progress we made this weekend," stated Wells. "It's going to be a tough fight for championship this year, and we want to get off to a good start in Division 5."

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