Shelly Howard Dallas wrap up

Howard takes tough loss in round one.

ENNIS, Texas - NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster pilot Shelly Howard took a tough first round loss during this past weekend's O'Reilly Fall Nationals presented by Castrol Syntec at the Texas Motorplex just south of Dallas.

Howard, from Tulsa, Okla., qualified her Tom Conway tuned Blown Alcohol Dragster sixth with a 5.446 at 260.04 mph. In her first round matchup with good friend Bruce Bowler, Howard was distracted at the line and subsequently gave up enough of a starting line advantage to Bowler for him to take the win. His 5.678 at 227.15 mph was enough to hold off Howard's hard-charging 5.503 at 254.09 mph.

"It was rolling through the beams," said Howard. "I had to really make an effort to pull back on the brakes to keep the car from rolling. When I did that, the lights went down, and I was just stuck there. It was a quick tree, and caught me off guard. It was either that or rolling through and redlighting. It's really disappointing because we had a really good running car."

The Howard team did not quit there, however. Determined to gain ground on next year, the team stayed over and tested on Monday with favorable results.

"We are very pleased with the results we had on Monday," stated Howard. "The car responded very well to the changes we tried. That really helps the off-season go by better. We will go into next season with a proven combination rather than spending half a year figuring out a new car like we did this year. We are all looking forward to it."

-sheelyhoward.com