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Fatal accident stumps racing officials Race officials cannot explain why Michelle "Shelly" Howard's dragster flipped over and shot backward, killing her and her son.
"In my 40-some-odd years in racing I have never heard of an accident happening like this," said Aaron Polburn, president of the International Hot Rod Association. "It's something we are trying to understand because we have never gone through something like this before."
Howard, 59, and her son, Brian, 36, were killed Saturday night at Tulsa Raceway Park when her Alcohol dragster went out of control. Tulsa police estimate Shelly Howard's car was traveling 250 mph when it struck a chase car parked behind the starting line with her son in the back seat.
The force of the impact hurled the vehicles 150 feet through a fence and into a drainage area. Both Howards were thrown from their vehicles and pronounced dead at the scene.
Shelly Howard had been making a testing run and was the only car on the track when the accident occurred. Gates at the track had opened at 10 p.m. for the season's first "Midnight Drags" event. Police received a call on the accident at 10:05 p.m.
Shelly Howard was a three-time national event winner in the rival National Hot Rod Association and a regional champion in 2001 and 2003. She raced in Division 4, which includes Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas.
Howard raced in a category of vehicles one notch below the zenith in the sport, the Top Fuel dragster. Howard, who started racing in 1978, had won the Division 4 season-opening event three weeks earlier in Houston.
On Saturday, Howard's rear-engine dragster apparently suffered a "blowover," where all four wheels left the surface. Robert Vizcarra, senior media relations manager for California-based NHRA, said a car holding together after such a mishap was unexpected.
"They are supposed to break apart," Vizcarra said. "This is such a freak accident."
Meanwhile, Ohio-based IHRA awaited the final report from police and the track owner, Polburn said. Information from those reports, data on the dragster and hopefully eyewitness details would allow the IHRA to piece together what happened, Polburn said.
"It's obviously very tragic," he said. "Our thoughts are with the family."
Raceway owner Dan Guterman said Monday he was abiding by the family's wishes and was unable to comment on the accident.
Survivors include Dr. Paul Howard, Shelly's husband, and their daughters, Jennifer and Tracy.
Visitation for Shelly and Brian Howard will be Tuesday at the Ninde Woodland Memorial Funeral Home and Chapel. Funeral services will be Wednesday at New Spring Assembly of God in Jenks.
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