Shelly Howard Baton Rouge preview

Howard looking to get back on track in Baton Rouge

BATON ROUGE, La. - NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster driver Shelly Howard will be looking to get back on track during this weekend's Division 4 Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event at State Capitol Dragway just outside of Baton Rouge, La. Following two consecutive races ending in redlights in the first round, the team's focus will be to slow the car's reactions down due to the new LED lights this weekend.

Howard, from Tulsa, Okla., feels that the new LED christmas tree lights have been a contributor to her redlighting problems of the past two races. To try to combat the problem, the team will try a number of things to try to slow the car's reactions.

"In both of my redlights at the past two races, I saw yellow," said Howard. "As a driver, its very difficult to slow yourself down. If you don't hit the tree hard, you are usually very late. There's not really a middle ground. So, we are going to try to slow the car down, but that's unfortunate that we have to since we are just getting the car to do what we want with the tune-up now. Slowing the car's reaction will have an effect on the tune-up. I have faith in my tuner Tom Conway that he will get it figured out for this weekend."

Howard enters the weekend second in Division 4 standings and sixth nationally. After opening the season with a win at the season opener in Houston, Howard has yet to revisit the winner's circle. She hopes racing at the site of her first career win will give her some luck going into this weekend.

"We won our first race here," stated Howard. "We'll do our best to win again here this weekend. We'll just take it one round at a time and do the best we can do."

Qualifying begins on Friday for the alcohol cars, with two more sessions on Saturday. Final eliminations will conclude the event on Sunday. Stay tuned to InsideTopAlcohol.com for the latest news in alcohol racing.

To find out more about the team, visit their website at ShellyHoward.com

-shr-