Shelly Howard Dallas preview

Howard shooting for national event win in Dallas.

ENNIS, Texas - NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster driver Shelly Howard has had a very successful second half of the 2002 season. She has made the final round at five of her past seven races, but has yet to pick up a national event win this season. Howard and her team hope to change that during this weekend's O'Reilly Fall Nationals presented by Castrol Syntec at the Texas Motorplex just south of Dallas.

Howard, from Tulsa, Okla., has made the final round of a national event twice this year: Columbus, Ohio, and Brainerd, Minn. More recently, she made the semifinals of the Craftsman 75th Anniversary Nationals just outside of Chicago. Currently ranked eighth nationally, Howard hopes another strong showing will improve her standing.

"As always, we are going to just take it one run at a time," said Howard. "At this point in the year, it is always good to do well, because it lets you get a run on the next year. Dallas is always a good track, and there will be a lot of good cars there, so it will be a tough race. We really would like to get a national event win this year, though."

Qualifying will begin on Friday for the alcohol cars with two sessions. One final session Saturday morning will conclude qualifying with round one of eliminations later in the afternoon. Final eliminations will conclude the event on Sunday.

For more information on the Howard Racing Team, visit their website at ShellyHoward.com.

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