Earlville David Wells wrap up

EARLVILLE, Iowa - Sometimes, even with the utmost preparation, the things that happen to a racecar can be out of your hands. Such was the case for NHRA Federal Mogul Dragster driver David Wells at this past weekend's Division 5 Federal Mogul Drag Racing Series event at Tri-State Raceway in Earlville, Iowa.

In a semifinal round match up with the defending Division 5 Champ Bruce Bowler, a match up that could have clinched the Division 5 title for Wells had he won, a broken blower belt rendered his Blue Bunny Ice Cream/ "Plain Vanilla" entry helpless, and allowed Bowler to pass him just at the finish line.

Wells qualified his Tom Conway tuned Blown Alcohol Dragster fifth with a 5.552 second elapsed time at 255.17 mph. In the first round, Wells took out Chris Ricketts with a 5.590 at 253.73 mph, before facing Bowler in the semifinals. Wells took a large jump off the starting line, and maintained that lead most of the way until his blower belt snapped at around the 900' mark, allowing Bowler to pass. Bowler won with a 5.449 at 257.87 mph, while Wells coasted to a 5.605 at only 228.36 mph, nearly 25 mph off his normal pace.

"It came out and shook a little," said Wells. "It hadn't quite left as hard as what it had been doing. I got him on the line pretty good, and things were going along pretty good, and at about 900 ft, the belt snapped. It just came off, the motor didn't go lean or anything, the belt just broke."

"At that point, I still had him by about .03 of a second," Wells continued. "But I was just coasting by then, so it was pretty easy for him to come around me."

Bowler went on to a runner-up finish, which puts him in a must win mode to catch Wells, as the Division 5 tour closes in Denver, Sept. 21-23. Bowler must not only win Denver, but two out of division races in Noble, Okla., and Las Vegas in order to surpass Wells.

Furthermore, due to the high altitude in Denver, Bowler's A/Fuel combination will be at a serious disadvantage to the blown cars. Wells' tuner Conway has won the last seven out of nine national events in Denver either as a driver or tuner, so the advantage is clearly on Wells side heading into that race.

"We'll go to Denver," stated Wells, a former two-time Division 5 Champion. "Obviously, we'll see if we can win that thing, and try to lock the Division up and get it over with."

Plain Vanilla Racing