Earlville: David Wells wrap up

EARLVILLE, Iowa - Defending Division 5 Federal Mogul Dragster Champion David Wells ended his divisional season with a loss in the semifinal round of the Division 5 closer at Tri-State Raceway in Earlville, Iowa. Wells lost to eventual winner, and newly crowned 2000 Division 5 Champion, Billy Bybee. Wells lost in a close race, as Bybee edged him out with an elapsed time of 5.63 at 256 miles per hour, over Wells' right there 5.65 at 255 mph in his Blue Bunny Ice Cream/ "Plain Vanilla" Blown Alcohol Dragster.

Wells took the top qualifying position with a track record e.t. of 5.556 at 255.82 mph during Friday's first qualifying attempt. Due to an uneven amount of cars at the event, Wells recieved a bye run [no opponent] in the first round. Wells went on to run a 5.70 at 247 mph, but encountered problems that eventually led to his semifinal round loss.

"It shook so hard in the first round that it shook loose the clamp that holds the mag in place," Wells said. "It ended up retarding the timing a few degrees and it fell of to a 5.70. After that, we really didn't know which way to go for our race against Bybee."

Wells added, "The track conditions were pretty tricky. At around 90 feet out there was about a 20 foot section of track in both lanes that nobody could get a hold of. That really made everyone shake the tires when they were trying to get more aggressive with the tune-ups. Bybee just got through it better than we did."

In the final, Bybee defeated Bruce Bowler, clinching the 2000 Division 5 Championship for Bybee, as Bowler clinched second place. Wells' finished a strong third after two straight championships in '98 and '99.

Even with the third place finish in Division 5, Wells hopes to finish up the year with a top ten finish nationally. Wells has several more national events on his schedule, with one national event win [Colonel's Truck Acessories Nationals] to his credit thus far.

The LeMars, Iowa based team will make it's next stop the Parts America Nationals at Heartland Park, near Topeka, Kansas, where Wells will be looking to win his second straight national event.

"Topeka is a good track," said Wells. "We'll just have to go back to our baseline, and go from there."