Shields Reaches Semifinals in Houston

BAYTOWN, Texas - With a somber atmosphere surrounding Houston Raceway Park, Duane Shields and the Shortline Express team raced this weekend with heavy hearts as the sport of drag racing just lost one of it's most colorful stars, Eric Medlen. "Our whole team had Eric on our minds all weekend as did all the racers" Shields said.

Even with the painful loss, drivers and teams still managed to get back on track and return to racing while fighting off rain showers throughout much of the weekend. The wet weather limited qualifying to just two runs. Shields ended up qualifying fourth with a 5.31 at 274 MPH.

In the first round, Shields got a single as his opponent Dave Heitzman couldn't make the call. Shields cruised to a 5.36 which was good enough to get lane choice in second round against Marty Thacker. Shields ran a 5.31 at 274 MPH to get around Thacker who ran a 5.40 at 265 MPH.

In the semifinals, Shields was matched up with Bill Reichert and did everything right including cutting down the tree with an 0.02 reaction time and a 5.28 at 272 MPH package. But it wasn't nearly enough as Reichert hammered down a 5.10 at 281 MPH blast which is the fastest run ever in Top Alcohol Dragster, and it backed up Reichert's 282 MPH pass in round one for a new national speed record. "We had the second quickest pass in the semis but Bill ran a 5.10. Normally our 5.28 would have won the round." Shields said.

While Shields would have loved to have advanced to the finals, he was content with how consistently well the car ran all weekend. "We were happy with how the car performed and would like to thank our sponsors including Valvoline Motor Oil, NGK Spark Plugs, and Hussey Copper Gaskets for their continued support." Shields added.