Shields Makes it to Final Round at US Nationals
Indianapolis - Duane Shields went to the final round of the most prestigious event in the sport of drag racing, the Mac Tools NHRA US Nationals. While Shields didn’t win the event, going to the finals made for a great weekend although Shields clearly wished he had made it to the winner’s circle. “I was the runner-up at Indy once before but didn’t really think about how important a victory was at the time, but a couple of years later I finally realized just how big winning Indy really is. Winning the US Nationals is the one race people always refer too” Shields said.
Shields qualified fifth out of 27 cars trying to get into a 16 car field. Shields recorded a stout 5.31 at 272 MPH which earned him a first round meeting with Courtney Force driving a John Force Racing A/Fuel entry. Force qualified twelfth with a respectable 5.39 at 261 MPH proving there were no easy first round opponents at the Big Go. At the green, Shields was off the line first with a 0.078 to Force’s 0.110. To make matters even more difficult for Force, Shields improved on his qualifying time with a great 5.25 at 275 MPH to take the win over Force’s slower 5.57 at 259 MPH.
In the second round Shields pulled of a squeaker when he raced Diana Harker. Harker reacted first with an 0.053 light to Shields’ 0.090. She continued to pour on the magic with her best pass of the weekend, a 5.31 at 267 MPH. Harker’s great pass wasn’t enough though, as Shields nipped her at the finish line with a 5.23 at 276 MPH pass.
As the day progressed, the rounds never got any easier and in the semifinals Shields took on Spencer Massey driving a potent A/Fuel entry based out of Texas. At the hit Massey was out first with a 0.027 reaction time to Shields’ 0.094. However, Shields was able to unleash some more of his Dana Hopewell horsepower to get to the stripe first with a 5.28 at 275 MPH to Massey’s 5.44 at 267 MPH. Massey reportedly dropped a cylinder on the run.
After getting by Massey, Shields took on Top Alcohol Dragster Champion, Bill Reichert. For the first time in eliminations Shields lost lane choice and ended up in the right lane. “We knew this was going to be a fierce race against Reichert and cutting a good light was important. We didn’t want to smoke the tires so we didn’t step it up before the final round” Shields said.
At the start, Reichert left the line first with a 0.053 reaction time to Shields’ 0.068. Shields was still able to get out ahead of him before smoking the tires, but pedaled it as he tried to get back into the race but was unable to catch Reichert who recorded a 5.58 at 257 MPH to become the 2008 Mac Tools NHRA US Nationals Champion. Shields recorded an 6.09 at 231 MPH for runner-up honors. “We were surprised to have smoked the tires since we didn’t get aggressive on the tune-up. The only difference was the lane. We had brought out our A game all weekend, you have to at Indy. But being the runner-up is still good” said Shields.
Regardless of the loss, Shields had a great showing against the top cars in the country, and it was a good moral booster for the Shortline Express Team. The team now heads back to the west coast for a Division Seven event at Bakersfield in two weeks.
