After a six year absence, Duane Shield made an abrupt departure from his mostly east coast schedule and made a surprise visit to the Northwest. This weekend, the PEAK A/Fuel Dragster team competed at the NHRA Lucas Oil regional event in Woodburn, Oregon. Next, they will be moving on to Seattle and the NHRA O’Reilly Northwest Nationals. “It was great to be back in the Northwest after six years. We changed our schedule around as a way to get more laps on the car before Indy. It has rained at many of the events we have attended this year so we have not been getting in enough runs to learn what the car wants” Duane said.
Even though there were just nine cars entered in Woodburn, it still took a stout 5.51 just to qualify. Duane qualified sixth with a 5.44 at 264 MPH and would take on won Joey Severance who utilizes a blown alcohol combination. At the hit, Duane’s car quickly began to shake the tires. He then tried to pedal it to get back in the race but the car was unable to recover. Mean while Severance banged the blower at 3/4 track but he was too far down the track for Duane to catch him.
Severance took the win with a 5.77 at only 167 MPH to Duane’s 6.01 at 256 MPH. “We made three runs in that lane and got down the track with no problem. The track changed today and almost everyone in the left lane struggled to get down it. When you race Joey Severance you have to give it everything you got, but we must have gave it just a little to much” Duane said.
While Duane would like to have wanted to advanced to the next round, he’s optimistic that the team is headed in the right direction. “There were some good things that happened this weekend. First, we got back in the 5.40’s and that hasn’t happened in a while. And, it appears that we might be getting a handle on the tune up. I say might because I don’t want to jinx myself. It’s been a dragster marathon going from coast to coast, and we are looking forward to Seattle where we have won in the past”.
Duane would like to thank his sponsors PEAK Motor Oil, PEAK Antifreeze, Herculiner Truck Bed Liners, Blue DEF Diesel Exhaust Fluid and FINAL Charge Heavy Duty Truck Antifreeze, GRP Connecting Rods, NGK Spark Plugs, Molinari Race Products and Shortline Markets for their support.
Even though there were just nine cars entered in Woodburn, it still took a stout 5.51 just to qualify. Duane qualified sixth with a 5.44 at 264 MPH and would take on won Joey Severance who utilizes a blown alcohol combination. At the hit, Duane’s car quickly began to shake the tires. He then tried to pedal it to get back in the race but the car was unable to recover. Mean while Severance banged the blower at 3/4 track but he was too far down the track for Duane to catch him.
Severance took the win with a 5.77 at only 167 MPH to Duane’s 6.01 at 256 MPH. “We made three runs in that lane and got down the track with no problem. The track changed today and almost everyone in the left lane struggled to get down it. When you race Joey Severance you have to give it everything you got, but we must have gave it just a little to much” Duane said.
While Duane would like to have wanted to advanced to the next round, he’s optimistic that the team is headed in the right direction. “There were some good things that happened this weekend. First, we got back in the 5.40’s and that hasn’t happened in a while. And, it appears that we might be getting a handle on the tune up. I say might because I don’t want to jinx myself. It’s been a dragster marathon going from coast to coast, and we are looking forward to Seattle where we have won in the past”.
Duane would like to thank his sponsors PEAK Motor Oil, PEAK Antifreeze, Herculiner Truck Bed Liners, Blue DEF Diesel Exhaust Fluid and FINAL Charge Heavy Duty Truck Antifreeze, GRP Connecting Rods, NGK Spark Plugs, Molinari Race Products and Shortline Markets for their support.
