NHRA

Topeka: David Wells summary

Wells makes quarterfinals in Topeka. TOPEKA, Kan. - Three-time defending NHRA Division 5 Top Alcohol Dragster Champion David Wells made it to the quarterfinals during this past weekend's O'Reilly Summer Nationals presented by Castrol Syntec ...

Edited: May 30, 2002, 1:23 AM

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Wells makes quarterfinals in Topeka.

TOPEKA, Kan. - Three-time defending NHRA Division 5 Top Alcohol Dragster Champion David Wells made it to the quarterfinals during this past weekend's O'Reilly Summer Nationals presented by Castrol Syntec at Heartland Park in Topeka, Kan. Despite not going farther in eliminations, the team is still happy with the progress of their new engine program.

Wells, who helps run the family ice cream business in LeMars, Iowa, qualified his Blue Bunny Ice Cream/ "Plain Vanilla" Blown Alcohol Dragster 16th after struggling during the rain-shortened qualifying with a 5.638 second elapsed time at 256.45 mph. In round one, they found part of their problem and stepped up to upset No. 1 qualifier Gary Ormsby, Jr., who on Friday made the quickest pass in the history of the class with a 5.13. Ormsby fell off his earlier pace, while Wells stepped up to a 5.501 at 257.38 mph to take the win. On Sunday, in round two, Wells took a sizable starting line advantage over his opponent Mark Hentges, but encountered heavy tireshake and shut off early. Hentges took the win with a 5.479 at 257.58 mph.

"We got the combination to come around a little bit when we won the first round," said Wells. "In the second round, we had a few things that messed around with us. We tried to go back to what worked in the first round, and the motor was a little too hot, and spun the tires off the line. The track was a little tricky about 80 or 90 feet out because they had ground the track, and the rubber really hadn't grabbed on to it yet. We just had it hopped up a little too hard, and it went out there spinning and shaking the tires. I could see he was starting to pull away a good bit, I ran it down a little bit farther, and finally lifted when I saw he was about to cross the finish line."

The next stop for the Blue Bunny Ice Cream/ "Plain Vanilla" team will be race No. 2 on the Division 5 Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series schedule at the Colonel's Brainerd International Raceway in Brainerd, Minn. The track has been Wells' strongest, as he has won 12 out of 13 rounds contested there over the past two years, including two divisional wins and a national event win there in 2000.

"I think we can get the combination to where it will work really well," stated Wells. "We'll probably calm it down a little bit; it's a good track, but the points races are never as good as national event conditions. I think if we can take what we've learned over the last few weekends and make it work, we can really do well there."

-dwr-

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