NHRA
Lee Callaway Belle Rose wrap up
Callaway maintains points lead with semifinal finish BELLE ROSE, La. - Despite losing ground, defending NHRA Division 4 Top Alcohol Dragster Champion Lee Callaway maintained his points lead with a semifinal finish at this past weekend's NHRA ...
Edited: Sep 17, 2003, 3:21 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Callaway maintains points lead with semifinal finish
BELLE ROSE, La. - Despite losing ground, defending NHRA Division 4 Top Alcohol Dragster Champion Lee Callaway maintained his points lead with a semifinal finish at this past weekend's NHRA Division 4 Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event at No Problem Raceway in Belle Rose, La., just northwest of New Orleans. Callaway's closest opponent, 2001 Champ Shelly Howard won the event, narrowing Callaway's lead to two points going into the final event.
Callaway, from Baytown, Texas, qualified his Tom Conway tuned Blown Alcohol Dragster fourth with a 5.593 second time at 251.44 mph in the rain-shortened qualifying. In round one, he defeated good friend Darryl Hitchman with a 5.601 at 250.74 mph. In his semifinal matchup with Gene Snow, Callaway suffered an engine explosion just before half track, giving Snow the easy win.
"We found a problem right at the last minute after the first round," said Callaway. "We found a cracked main cap. We didn't have time to change motors at that point, so we put another main cap out of another motor and put in it. We had to shim the cap with washers to get clearance for the main. We knew we were giving that motor a death sentence, but we were hoping it would live long enough to win the round. It's just like I said before the race, sometimes you have to break a few eggs to make a cake. We didn't back it down or nothing. It was on a good run, but it just didn't live long enough."
"All things considered, we still came out with the points lead," continued Callaway. "I've said it all year, that the Championship would probably go down to the last race, and once again, it has. Shelly has a very good team over there, and they really seem to be back in the groove lately. We're going to be loaded for bear when we get to Noble, though."
The Division 4 Championship chase will culminate at the last stop on the schedule, Thunder Valley Raceway Park in Noble, Okla., just outside of Oklahoma City, Oct. 3-5. With a two point lead, Howard must go one round further than Callaway to pass him. Stay tuned to InsideTopAlcohol.com for the latest news in alcohol racing.
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Memphis: Pre-race quotable
Next article Shelly Howard Belle Rose wrap up
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
Latest news
Barcelona set to host IndyCar race in 2027 under multi-year deal
IndyCar
Indy IndyCar 3 h
Barcelona set to host IndyCar race in 2027 under multi-year deal
Winners and losers from a Chase-altering NASCAR Cup race at Phoenix
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Phoenix II
5 h
Winners and losers from a Chase-altering NASCAR Cup race at Phoenix
Heart of Racing rules Valkyrie GTP step next year ‘too soon’ for IMSA standout Barrichello
IMSA
IMSA IMSA 5 h
Heart of Racing rules Valkyrie GTP step next year ‘too soon’ for IMSA standout Barrichello
Sergio Perez: Debut Cadillac season "without a doubt one of my best years"
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
5 h
Sergio Perez: Debut Cadillac season "without a doubt one of my best years"
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe