Red-Hot Duane Shields Cools off Slightly in Round Two at Four-Wide Nationals

Courtesy of Rich Bailey

(Concord, N.C.) The PEAK A/Fuel Dragster continued to perform in competitive style at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals until round two where Duane Shields lost a very close race to Jackie Fricke. The PEAK Team ran well throughout qualifying as Duane put the PEAK Dragster in the number two position with a 5.25 at 275 MPH. The success in qualifying naturally spurred confidence that the PEAK Team would do well in eliminations.

In round one, Duane faced number 15 qualifier Dan Page. At the hit, Page got a sizable lead out of the hole but the “PEAK Express” ran like a cruise missile and passed Page at the 330 foot mark and held on to win the round with a respectable 5.34 at 272 MPH to Page’s competitive 5.47 at 263 MPH. “The car shook a little bit so I had to give it a quick pedal" Duane said.

Duane then moved on to the second round to race Jackie Fricke. At the hit, Fricke got a slight lead off the line with an 0.47 reaction time to Duane's 0.60 but he was still right there with her as they raced all the way down the 1,320. Both cars were side by side but Frickie got the win by just four feet as both cars ran nearly identical ETs. Duane was just a fraction quicker and posted a 5.364 at 267 MPH to Fricke’s 5.368 at 264 MPH. “We both had good lights and she ran really well. Since the car shook slightly on the last qualifying pass and because I had to pedal in the first round we made a timing and clutch adjustment. The two adjustments slowed us down a little too much and it gave us our slowest run of the weekend. Only one adjustment was needed".

Even though Duane lost in the quarterfinals he was still upbeat. “You know, when your 5.36 is your slowest run of the weekend you have to feel pretty good that you have a competitive and consistent car that can get down most tracks. We have never done real well in Charlotte even though we have made it to the final round here once before”. The PEAK team now moves on to Houston where they won the regional event earlier in the season. Duane would like to thank PEAK Antifreeze and Motor Oil, Final Charge, Blue Def, NGK, GRP and Brad Anderson Enterprises.