Topeka: David Wells preview

TOPEKA, Kan. - Just as any other sport or business, the world of drag racing has it's highs and lows. NHRA Federal Mogul Dragster pilot David Wells was reminded of that lesson at his last outing during the Division 5 race at Heartland Park, in ...

TOPEKA, Kan. - Just as any other sport or business, the world of drag racing has it's highs and lows. NHRA Federal Mogul Dragster pilot David Wells was reminded of that lesson at his last outing during the Division 5 race at Heartland Park, in Topeka, Kan. Just one week after winning the Division 3 race at Route 66 Raceway near Chicago, Wells failed to qualify due to transmission problems on both of his qualifying attempts. After that low, Wells hopes to get back on the 'high side' of things during this weekend's Advance Auto Parts Nationals at Heartland Park.

The former Division 5 Champion, Wells, has spent the past two weeks inspecting his Blue Bunny Ice Cream/ "Plain Vanilla" Blown Alcohol Dragster to make sure mechanical problems do not sideline the team this weekend. Not only in that aspect, but Wells wants to jump back on top of the pack in Topeka.

"We're going to come in and go pretty easy," said Wells, from LeMars, Iowa. "We just want to get it down the track the first couple of runs. Once we do that, then we'll start hopping it up. We should be able to run a high .40, low .50 anyway. We'll just go from there and see what happens."

Wells feels if he can get a solid baseline in his first couple of qualifying runs, he may even be able to step up into the low 5.40's, or possibly a high 5.30.

"It shouldn't be a problem to run a really good number if we can get the car to go down the track," stated Wells. "I think we have tracked down most of the problems and have them corrected, so it should be ready to go."

The Federal Mogul Dragsters have two qualifying sessions on Friday, with the third qualifying session and first round of eliminations following on Saturday. Final eliminations will conclude the event on Sunday.