Some of you know that I make part of my living working as a motorsports reporter. While I have worked NASCAR, Busch Grand National, Craftsman Truck, IndyCar and several other forms of auto racing, NHRA and IHRA drag racing is what I love and what I've been covering exclusively for almost a decade.

In drag racing, there is a type of accident known as a blow over. It happens most often with Top Fuel Dragtsers and to a lesser extent Top Alcohol Dragtsers. The CC & GTCC's own Dick Allard experienced one of the first, if not THE first blow over in professional drag racing back in the 80's. These cars are of the long skinny variety with a wheel base of 260 to 300 inches.

A blow over happens when the front of the car rises so high into the air during acceleration that the car itself is blown over backwards. These incidents typically occur when the cars are traveling in excess of 250 miles per hour, some of them happening in excess of 300 miles per hour.

Blow overs are rare. The aerodynamic elements of these cars are meant to keep them on the racing surface, and usually, they do, although it is not uncommon for a dragster to carry the front wheels a foot off the ground for several seconds into a run. When a blow over does occur, it is the most violent action imaginable. One of the two too many blow overs that I've witnessed in person happened in Brainerd Minnesota back in the mid-90's. The car crossed the finish line upside down, pointed back at the starting line, and the entire car was at least 20 feet off the ground, it was an airborne missile. Thankfully the safety elements built into these cars allowed the driver to walk away from that crash with only bumps and bruises.

Shelly Howard had a blow over last night at Tulsa Raceway Park in her injected nitro Top Alcohol Dragster (TAD), racing in an exhibition/test run with a new car. What made this blow over more catastrophic that I could have ever imagined was, after becoming airborne, the car landed wheels down, backwards (pointed back at the starting line) and under full throttle!

There are always people back at the starting line, including the driver's crew and their tow vehicle. I can only speculate that Shelly was knocked unconscious at some point during the blow over, but her car headed right back toward the starting line under full power, crashing into the team tow vehicle killing both Shelly and her son Brian who was in the tow vehicle.

Shelly was a two-time NHRA TAD division champion (no easy feat), two-time NHRA National Event winner and someone who was in contention to win every event she entered. She didn't just drive the car, she got her hands dirty working on it right along with her crew. When she wasn't racing, her "real" job was that of an emergency room nurse. Smart, compassionate, competitive, and as approachable as anyone I've ever encountered in any form of racing.

For her husband Paul and her daughters Jennifer and Tracy, I can't imagine how much this must hurt. I know Shelly and Brian were doing something that they loved and something that I love too, but I hate it when something like his happens.

I was so looking forward to seeing Shelly again in Dallas at the end of this month. Her passing leaves a huge void in the sport and in my heart. God bless the Howard family.
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