Shields Looks Back on 2014 Season

Courtesy of Todd Veney/Pro Sportsman Association
Photo courtesy of David Smith/PSA

You know you've had a good career when you win four times and it's almost an off year.

Duane Shields went winless over a dozen mid-season races in 2014 – a full season for most people – but still ended up sixth in the Top Alcohol Dragster national standings with what turned out to be another solid season: five final-round appearances and four wins – two at national events and two at regionals.

"The beginning of the year and the end were good, but the middle took me right out of the championship," says Shields, who topped the national standings at times this season and is in title contention year after year. "We ran out of clutch discs, had to replace them with a different kind, and went into smoke-the-tires mode. We kept backing the car down, thinking we were overpowering the track, and in the end, smoking the tires had nothing to do with the tune-up – it was the discs all along. That's why we went to so many extra races this year – to figure out what the problem was."

No TAD or TAFC team ran more races in 2014 than Shields' 20. He doubled up at Gainesville in in March, taking the rain-delayed Houston regional that was completed Saturday during Gainesville qualifying and the Gatornationals on Sunday. He then went seven months and 12 straight races without getting to a final, low-lighted by a dismal stretch of just two round-wins in eight races, and completely turned it around with four semifinal appearances in the next five races, including back-to-back finals and a third Gainesville win at the East Region closer.

"Drag racing is all about highs and lows, and if the lows weren't so low, the highs wouldn't be so high," says Shields, a former sand-drag racer who's pretty much seen it all in 17 years on the quarter-mile. "I've been humbled a few times over the years, believe me. I went from winning the championship [in 2011] to not hitting my ass the next year or the year after that. I kinda got used to winning at least a couple of races every year, but the problem with winning is that it just makes you want to win more."

For such an up-and-down season, Shields' overall win-loss mark was a more than respectable 26-14. "[Crew chief] Dana [Hopewell] has a tune-up that's easy on parts, and we have a tight maintenance schedule and not much parts destruction," says Shields, who finished in the Top 10 for the eighth time in the past nine years. "You have to have the right parts and the right people or you're never going to get anywhere. It's a team sport, and it takes time to develop a great group of people like this that can win races and give you a car that's always put together right and safe to drive. They're supportive, and you really need that during the down times, which there were plenty of this year. I didn't have any luck at all until I got to Pomona."

At the season-ending NHRA Finals, Shields had, as he puts it, "nothing but luck." He qualified in the bottom half of the field and drew the second-ranked driver in the country, Joey Severance, who had just swept both the regional and national events at Las Vegas, in the first round. "It wasn't looking too good, and you always know Joey's probably going to cut a light on you, but he red-lighted that time [barely, a with -.004 reaction time]," says Shields, who won all four rounds without ever having lane choice.

"The only thing we did at Pomona was go down the track, but sometimes just doing that every time is more important than anything, and when you win that last race of the year, it stays with you and really keeps you going," says Shields, who lives in Las Vegas but regularly competes thousands of miles from home in the East Region. "Drag racing really takes a lot weeks out of your year. Time just goes flying by. Sometimes, I wonder why I ever even got into it in the first place – I'd have tons more money, that's for sure, if I hadn't. I used to go to the lake, go ATVing, do all kinds of stuff. You start racing ... that's over. Sometimes, you sit back and ask yourself, 'I'm spending how much money to run 5.3 seconds?' It's hard to justify the expense, but in racing, running my convenience stores – anything I do, really – I want to win. I'm competitive. I won my first national event [Sonoma in 1999] pretty early in my career, but it took me years to win another one, and every time you win you wonder if it'll ever happen again."

Shields typically doesn't have to wait too long. He was the only driver to win a national event every year from 2002 to 2012, including multiple titles in 2002, when he was runner-up for the national championship, and 2006, 2009, 2010, and 2011. And he's won big both ways: in both blown-alcohol and A/Fuel dragsters. He set the national record at 5.26 more than a dozen years ago with a blown alcohol car, but won Indy and a championship on nitro.

"The blown-alcohol car was way more fun to drive, but the expense factor was getting out of control, even 10 years ago," he says. "I was looking at if I was going to even continue racing or not. The A/Fuel combination was out there, but I didn't know much about it. We'd already run 5.20s on alcohol, but everybody kept telling me how much cheaper A/Fuel is once you got it figured out, and they were right. I'd never go back."

So how many years does he have left? "I don't know," Shields says. "It's still fun. I know I'm out here for at least a couple more years with Peak. I keep thinking I'm getting toward the end, but I'm still out here. I know one thing: I wouldn't go to a race if I didn't think I could win. Never have, never will."

Shields Scores 20th National Event Win at 50th Auto Club Finals

Courtesy of Rich Bailey

Pomona - Duane Shields won the 50th Annual NHRA Auto Club Finals which closed the book on a great season for the PEAK A/Fuel Dragster team. The win marked Duane's fourth victory of the season, landing him in sixth place overall in the final Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series national point standings.

The Finals win stacks up as a career highlight and Duane's 20th national event victory. Prior to Sunday, Duane had never won the Finals as it was always an elusive race so the team was happy to finally win the event. “This is awesome to go into the off season with a win at the 50th anniversary Finals. This win is for PEAK, NGK Spark Plugs, GRP Connecting Rods and Brad Anderson Enterprises along with all my guys including Ralph Freeman who passed away last year," Duane acknowledged.

Duane qualified 9th with a 5.33 @ 266 MPH and faced red hot Joey Severance who swept the last two races in Las Vegas. At the starting line Severance went red by .004 and then shut off after rattling the tires. Meanwhile, the PEAK Dragster shook hard but Duane still found a way to get it done with a 5.41 @ 260 MPH to advance into the second round.

In round two, Duane got by Chase Copeland with a 5.59 at 256 MPH. Duane dropped a cylinder on the run but it didn’t matter as Copeland lost traction off the starting line and aborted the run.

Next up was a semi-final battle between Duane and Aaron Olivarez. At the hit, it was Duane out of the box first with an .058 light to Olivarez’s .076. As Olivarez began to lose traction, Duane was on his best pass of the weekend as he ripped open a 5.29 at 272 MPH for a trip to the final round. “It was a good pass but I had to pedal it,” Duane said.

In the finals, Duane faced Cameron Ferre who ran consistently quicker on each of the prior rounds so Duane had to bring his "A" game. At the hit, Duane was again out first with a 0.052 to Ferre’s 0.061. As the cars thundered towards the finish line, both dragsters began to drop cylinders but Duane held a sizable lead and crossed the stripe for his first NHRA Auto Club Finals title. “I should have pedaled it but I was on an adrenaline rush. But, the way we won this race was to get down the track on every pass. Some days the breaks go your way which they did today and sometimes you can run really well but you don’t get the win,” Duane said.

Duane would like to thank PEAK Antifreeze and Motor Oil, Final Charge, Blue Def, NGK, GRP and Brad Anderson Enterprises for a great year in 2014.

PEAK Team Shows Improvement from Start to Finish at Las Vegas

Courtesy of Rich Bailey

Las Vegas - Duane Shields and the PEAK A/Fuel Dragster team returned to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, their home track, for the Toyota NHRA Nationals.  Besides striving to win the event, the race also served as a test session for the 2014 season.

A well attended memorial for PEAK crew member Ralph Freeman also happened at the Vegas race on Saturday night after qualifying. Many west coast racers showed their respect by gathering at the PEAK Racing pit area to say goodbye to their friend and competitor. Some funny stories were exchanged while racers and crew members enjoyed a BBQ rib dinner.

The Toyota Nationals field was stout as 21 cars were fighting to get into a 16 car field which ended up with a quick 5.57 bump spot. Duane had an opening run of 5.58 seconds to put him on the bump spot but then improved to a 5.53 in the final round of qualifying to get him into the field as the 15th qualifier.

In the first round, Duane faced the recently crowned Champion and number two qualifier, Jim Whiteley. Unfortunately for Duane, Whiteley saved his best run for round one and stopped the clock with a 5.28 at 271 MPH to grab the win over Duane’s best pass of the weekend, a 5.48 at 256 MPH. “We made some progress since we started out with a 5.58 and ended with a 5.48. We will continue to be in test mode as we look forward to the regional event here this coming weekend” Duane said.

Fans who want a double shot of Las Vegas drag racing action can go to any Shortline Market this week and pick up a free ticket for Saturday’s qualifying action. There are eleven Shortline stores in the Las Vegas metro area.

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 continued support.

Duane Shields Makes Progress at Cordova

Courtesy of Rich Bailey

After fighting traction problems at the last couple of events, Duane Shields’ PEAK A/Fuel Dragster was able to successfully get down the legendary Cordova Dragway quarter mile without smoking the tires on any of his runs. Duane was a surprise entrant at the Summer Showdown which is a Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series Regional event.

Duane qualified sixth with a 5.55 at 250 MPH. His qualifying would have been even better but he dropped a cylinder on the run at 3.1 seconds.

The conditions going into the first round were not favorable as Duane would meet Gord Gingles who also raced a nitro fueled dragster. The temperature was 85 degrees and 85 percent humidity. As a result, the corrected altitude went up 1000 feet. As the tree came down Duane blinked at the wrong time which slowed his start off the line significantly and Gingles was able to get the lead and maintain it. At the stripe it was Gingles with a quicker 5.63 @ 256 MPH to Duane’s close 5.66 @ 253 MPH.

Next week, the team rejoins the Mello Yello tour in Chicago at the O’Reilly Route 66 Nationals. 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.

 

Duane Shields Reaches Houston Quarterfinals

Courtesy of Rich Bailey

Houston TX - Even with a lot of distractions such as a shuffled schedule and a monsoon Saturday afternoon, the PEAK A/Fuel Dragster showed some much needed improvement as the team picked up a round win to advance to the quarterfinals in Houston, Texas at the O'Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals.

Duane qualified 9th with a 5.82 at 236 MPH and was paired in round one with Aaron Olivarez who qualified 6th with a 5.48.  At the hit, Olivarez got out of the hole first but Duane was able to pass him at 400 feet when Olivarez began dropping cylinders. Duane was able to increase his lead and take the win light with a winning time of 5.48 at 265 MPH to Olivarez's 6.04.

In the Quarterfinals, Duane faced Randy Meyer. As the lights came down, Meyer left first with Duane in hot pursuit. It was a close race all the way to the finish line but Meyer tripped the beam first and would go on to win the event. Meyer recorded a 5.42 at 268 MPH to Duane’s close 5.45 at 264 MPH. “The track was a little tricky and I had to pedal in the first round so I backed it down before the second round to avoid going up in smoke. Unfortunately, we backed it down a little too much but hindsight is always 20/20” Duane said. 

The PEAK team has taken delivery of a new chassis and will debut it in Topeka, at the NHRA Summer Nationals. “I feel pretty good today that we are getting our momentum back. The car left the line without any traction problems and we should be in good shape by the time we are ready to make some runs in the new car” Duane explained. 

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, Sierra Ice and Shortline Markets for their support.

Shields Looks for Redemption in Pomona While Staying in Test Mode

Courtesy of Rich Bailey

Pomona CA - Duane Shields and his PEAK Motor Oil racing team will be looking for some redemption at the NHRA Auto Club Finals after a pair of disappointing outings in Las Vegas where the car did not qualify. "They were tight fields and even some of the national contenders did not qualify" Duane Said. Unlike Vegas, Pomona has been kind to Duane so it’s more than likely he will bounce back at the season ending race.

The famous track which is the home of both the Winternationals and the Auto Club Finals is where Duane sewed up the NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster Championship last year in a season ending thriller that went down to the wire.  Also, Duane is a two time NHRA Winternationals Champion, winning the event in 2011 and in 2006. 

Duane is confident of another respectable finish at the Auto Club Finals “We plan to go into Pomona and end the season on a high note. We have had lots of good luck in Pomona but the Finals is one of the only major events I have yet to win” said Duane, who scored a runner up finish at the Finals in 2007.

Duane also plans to continue to test a new engine combination so he can be ready in advance of the 2013 season “Right now we are in test mode. We installed a new engine right after the Las Vegas nationals and tested it this past weekend at the divisional. It’s a sensitive combination because it has a lot of power but it can also cause the car to smoke the tires. We are still learning the tune up and will continue to test in Pomona. I might as well get ready for next year since there will not be much movement in the points standings. Some times you have to go backward to go forward” Duane admitted. 

The Las Vegas divisional event was still very fulfilling for Duane and his wife Betsy, as their daughter Whitney had a great performance in the Super Comp class.  Whitney advanced all the way to the third round where she unfortunately red lit against National Champion Steve Williams in the K&N car.  “Whitney did a great job driving this weekend we are real proud of her” Duane said.

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, Sierra Ice and Shortline Markets for their support.

TAN

Duane Shields Makes it to Semifinals at Maple Grove

Courtesy of Rich Bailey

Reading PA - Duane Shields had a respectable showing at the 28th annual Auto-Plus NHRA Nationals. The race held at Maple Grove Raceway holds a special place for Duane, who drives the PEAK Motor Oil sponsored A/Fuel Dragster. “Other than the rain, we love racing at Maple Grove Raceway because we have a big fan base here” Duane said. 

In qualifying, Duane didn’t disappoint his loyal Maple Grove fans as he qualified sixth with a strong 5.39 at 266 MPH. 

In the opening round of eliminations, Duane took on Marty Thacker. Unfortunately for Thacker, he left the line early which automatically gave the win to the PEAK Motor Oil team. Duane posted a 5.36 at 265 MPH on the run.

Moving on to the second round, Duane was matched up against Richard Bourke. At the hit, Duane was out of the gate first with a 0.033 to Bourke’s 0.078. Duane would end up winning the round at both ends of the track with a 5.31 at 264 MPH to Bourke’s close 5.34 at 263 MPH. 

In the semi-final round, Duane faced fellow west coast racer Chris Demke. As the lights of the tree came down, Duane’s car lost traction at the step, and then the throttle hung open, keeping him from trying to regain traction.  Duane was able to close the throttle by pulling it back with his foot but by this time Demke was long gone even though he popped the blower at 1000 feet. “We were disappointed that we lost the round considering Demke banged the blower. That’s the first time the throttle has ever hung open. We thought we were really making some headway and we were happy with how the car ran. It’s a fine line, we didn’t want to overpower the track so we took some power out of the tune up. We just took too much power out” Duane explained. 

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, Sierra Ice and Shortline Markets for their support.

TAN

Duane Shields Gets First Win of the Year

Courtesy of Rich Bailey

Dinwiddie, Va - It's been a little bit of a struggle for the reining NHRA World Champion, Duane Shields, as up until this past weekend his Shortline Express team had not won a round in NHRA competition so far this year. But just as racers and fans predicted that streak wouldn't last long as Shields not only got his first round win of the year but he also secured his first event victory of 2012 as well.

The win at the Virginia Motorsports Park also gave Crew Chief, Mike Johnson, his seventh victory with a different driver. Since this was one of the new NHRA regional events the competition was tougher than at one of the traditional divisional events as 17 top alcohol dragsters tried to get into a very tight 8 car field. "We were lucky just to qualify as several big name drivers went home before the start of the first round" Duane said after qualifying second with a 5.35 at 266 mph.

In round one, Duane met up with no. 7 qualifier Jackie Fricke in a tight race to open the round. Fricke left first but Shields was able to make up the difference with a better ET and got around her at the top end of the track. Duane took the stripe with a 5.40 at 267 MPH to Fricke's valiant 5.47 at 263 MPH. "This was our closest race of the day as we ran a .41 to her .46. The car went straight down the track and we were able to get the win" said Duane.

In the second stanza, Duane raced east coast veteran Mike Kosky. Duane rolled into the beams and staged deeper than he anticipated and was late getting off of the starting line as a result. But Kosky shook the tires and Duane was able to get past him and take the win with a 5.41 at 268 MPH to Kosky's 5.61 at 253 MPH.

In the finals, Duane took on a familiar competitor from last season, Rich McPhillips. At the hit, McPhillips was out first but smoked the tires. Meanwhile, Duane made another clean run down the track with a 5.38 at 265 MPH to McPhillips' 6.98 to get his first victory of the year. "We hopped it up in the finals but dropped a cylinder. Regardless, the car ran good and we are definitely happy to get the win. In fact, just getting a round win today was great. I Hope this will give us some momentum going into Houston next weekend" Duane said.

The Shortline Express team would like to thank GRP Connecting Rods, NGK Spark Plugs and Molinari Racing Products for their support.

Shields Insists "New Car Blues" to Blame for Early Struggles

Written by Nate Van Wagnen

Top Alcohol Dragster defending national champion Duane Shields hasn't exactly started the season in a manner that backs up the digit on his rear wing. The driver of the Shortline Express Markets A/Fueler has yet to earn a round win in three national event and one regional event starts. Many fans, competitors and members of the media have assumed that these woes are due to the change in crew chief over the offseason. Shields' tuner, Dana Hopewell, went to work for Rick Henkelman and his new Garrett Bateman-driven HipLink A/Fuel car. Duane is quick to correct those beliefs.

"The most agitating part of this all is people think 'Oh, it's because of changes in the team'. It really has nothing to do with the team, it's really parts changes that were made over the offseason that are apparently not working," said the first-time national champion.

Shields' struggles continued at the 4-Wide Nationals last weekend. His first two passes in qualifying showed signs of promise, but tire smoke presented itself once again in the third session. This continued into first round, with Duane smoking the tires at the hit, letting Sidnei Frigo sail by for the round win. According to Duane, miscommunication caused the tire smoking runs to continue. "We thought we had those clutch parts changed out before the weekend, but we had a miscommunication. We think those parts are causing the issues, but we want to be sure so we're testing on Monday."

Testing apparently paid off, as Shields posted three solid runs, including a 5.31 best, according to a post on his Facebook page. He'll next attend the packed Richmond regional then the A/Fuel-heavy Spring Nationals in Houston.

When asked about his goals for the season, Duane joked "Ever-changing. Right now, our goal is to win a round. That was our goal when we first started. You win rounds and then you win races. I would like to be competitive, you know, right now we've run well at each race, we just haven't ran at our best level. I'd like to change that and show that we still have the car to beat."

How will the new regional system play into Shields' defense of the national championship?

"Originally I thought that it would be in our favor, but now that we've had these three first round losses, that might not be too good. But with the amount of races that you can run, it might work to our advantage. I don't want to say that we can't win the championship, because it's way too early to know who will or won't, but we need to recover quickly," said the Las Vegas convenient store owner.

Duane Shields restates his belief that car issues are purely to blame for the early lack of round wins. The incorrect assumptions end here.

"I want the people to know, everyone thinking that it's a crew chief issue causing the problems, that it's really not it at all. A combination of three seperate related things that I think we would have no matter what, because it all goes back to new car issues. Our crew is doing a great job," claimed Shields.

With new crew chief Mike Johnson, Bill Jones on bottom end, Chris Zedaker on general duties, and Ralph Freeman on clutch, Duane Shields is prepared to silence the critics and prove that he can back up his championship-winning performance of 2011.

Shields Earns JEGS Allstars Spot at Gainesville

Courtesy of Rich Bailey

Even with the 2012 NHRA drag racing season in full swing it's still winter as rain greeted the opening Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series regional event in Gainesville, Florida. The unpredictable weather took its toll on the event schedule but the rain let up in time to get the race underway. This event was important to Duane Shields and the Shortline Express team to qualify at since an invitation to the JEGS Allstar race could be clinched providing they were able to get their A/Fuel Dragster in the tough eight car field.

In the first qualifying session, Duane qualified in the fifth position with a 5.46 at 257 MPH. In the second and final qualifying round, Duane stayed in the fifth position even though he improved with a quicker 5.37 at 270 MPH. In round one, Duane met up with Florida's Sidnei Frigo. At the hit, Duane lost traction right away and the race was over just as quickly as it began. The car smoked the tires and Frigo was long gone.

It was a difficult loss for the Nevada based team but they came away with a lock on the JEGS Allstar race in Chicago. Also, they found a few clues as to why the car has not been performing to its full potential. "The beginning of the year has been a challenge to win a round. It makes last year great to think of. But we have figured a couple issues out and we'll get those fixed in time for the Gatornationals. Plus, we locked up the Division 2 Allstar spot" Duane Shields said.

The team will now regroup and fix the problems identified before returning to Gainesville for the NHRA Gatornationals, March 8-11. Duane would like to thank his sponsors GRP Connecting Rods, Molinari Race Products and NGK Spark Plugs for their support.

Defending Champ Runs Well But Exits in First Round

Courtesy of Rich Bailey

NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster Champion Duane Shields had one of those weekends where the car ran well over all, but he had to be a little disappointed when eliminations rolled around on Saturday. Unfortunately, the defending Winternationals Champ suffered a first round loss.

Duane started the weekend off right by qualifying number one in the first stanza of qualifying with a 5.41 at 262 MPH. In round two of qualifying, Duane improved his time with a respectable 5.35 at 259 MPH blast but ended up third in the final qualifying order as two other teams had quicker times.

In round one, Duane Shields faced off with Brooks Brown. The two got into a long staging battle which resulted in Shields smoking the tires right off the starting line. "The staging battle didn't go our way but lessons learned for the future" Shields said.

From Pomona the Shortline Express team heads across the country to compete next weekend at the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event in Gainesville, Florida as they will devote much of their racing schedule to the east coast. The team also has a new crew chief as long time A/Fuel tuner and former car owner Mike Johnson joins the team. "Mike is now working with us so we have a great professional team" Duane said.

Duane would like to welcome new sponsors GRP Connecting Rods and Molinari Racing Products who join long time sponsor NGK Spark Plugs.

Duane Shields Wins the NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster Championship

Courtesy of Rich Bailey

Pomona CA - After fourteen years of trying, Duane Shields' bid to win the NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster World Championship was accomplished in dramatic fashion at the NHRA Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals. "After fourteen years of trying it feels pretty awesome but it still hasn't sunk in." the newly crowned Champion said.

The drama unfolded in Pomona as only one competitor, Joey Severance, could pass Duane at the final race of the year to win the championship but he would have to win the race in order to do it. Duane could not claim any more points so all he could do is to draw Severance sometime in eliminations and take him out of competition but the two never met up during eliminations.

Severance struggled in qualifying but made the show and beat John Finke in round one as Finke jumped gun and left early. Duane would now have to wait until the final day of the 2011 season to be crowned the Champion. Also in round one, Duane faced Michael Manners driving the "Shredder" entry from Texas. Duane won the round with a 5.42 at 267 MPH over Manners' 6.19 at 253 MPH. "Going to the wire is great for the cameras, the media and the fans but it's terrible for the racers" Duane remarked.

In round two all eyes were on Severance to see if he would stay alive for another round. Severance would make his best run of the weekend but lost the race to Mark Taliaferro. At that moment the Shortline Express team had won their first World Championship. After a very brief celebration at the starting line it was back to business as Duane then faced Aaron Tatum. Tatum then red lit giving the win to Duane who recorded a 5.43 at 264 MPH to advance to the semifinal round.

Duane would end his Championship season in the semifinals by losing an incredibly close race to Ray Martin as both competitors ran identical 5.46 ET's. Martin managed to secure the win with a better reaction time. "We never really got a handle on the tune up this weekend. Testing in Vegas hurt us but we will get everything sorted out in the offseason and come back to Pomona to defend our title and make another run at the Championship" Shields promised.

With Duane out of competition he had some time to reflect on the winning the Championship. "I have realized how hard it is to win the Championship as everything has to go right and we're the last team win it under the old points system. I am disappointed that my biggest supporters including my dad, Lee Shields, and Laurie Nason are no longer with us to enjoy this moment but they are watching from above".

Duane Shields would like to thank his sponsors including: Brad Anderson Enterprise, Hussey Copper, Johnny Walker RV, Meadows Construction, Molinari Clutches, Moore Performance, NGK Spark Plugs, PBM/Erson Cams and Race Fuel Energy Drinks. He also wants to thank his crew including: Bill Jones, Dana and Sheryl Hopewell, Ralph Freeman and Chris Zedaker.

Shields Uses Vegas Race for Testing

Courtesy of Rich Bailey

Las Vegas - With no more points to claim and new knowledge to be gained, the Shortline Express team used the final divisional event of the 2011 season as a chance to do some testing at their home track in Las Vegas. "We never get the chance to test thoughout the year so we decided to try some different ideas on every pass since we couldn't claim points at this race anyway," Duane explained.

Even in test mode the Shortline Express team qualified for the tough eight car field. Over fifteen cars tried to qualify and some of the best teams in the class didn't make the show. Duane qualified seventh with a 5.40 at 257 MPH. "It was a real challenge. I'm just glad we qualified because this was not an easy field to get into" he said.

Ironically, in round one Duane faced the only man who can stop him from winning the Championship in Pomona: Joey Severance. If Severance can win the race in Pomona he will pass Duane in the points chase and win the Championship. Both racers are out of divisional events they can claim so this weekend's festivities are a warm up for the big showdown for the Championship at the Auto Club Finals in less than a week.

At the light, Shields was out of the gate first with an 0.062 to Severance's close 0.064. Once off the starting line, Shields began to suffer some brutal shake 100 feet out. He peddled it but was unable to recover. He then peddled it a second time but to no avail as Severance's lead was insurmountable so Duane wisely abandoned the run. "Obviously I would have liked to have won. The air was great and the conditions were favorable to both cars" Shields said.

Duane then revealed his plans for Pomona. "We'll be ready for Pomona. We are going back to the tune up that got us to where we are now in the points. Our plan is to win the race so we will win the Championship. But we'll have to see how it all plays out. It's going to be an exciting week and a lot of fun" Shields said.

As always, the Shortline Express team would like to thank Hussey Copper and NGK Spark Plugs.

Shields Holds on to the Points Lead After Las Vegas

Courtesy of Rich Bailey

Las Vegas - Duane Shields might have lost in the first round but he's still content with the results of the 11th annual Big O Tires NHRA Nationals. The Vegas event has narrowed down the Top Alcohol Dragster Championship to just Duane and Joey Severance, all other drivers in contention were mathematically eliminated by the end of the race.

Severance went out in the first round after breaking a rear end. Now, Severance will have to win the race in Pomona in order to win the title. Otherwise, Duane Shields will be crowned the Champion.

Duane qualified eighth with a 5.38 at 261 MPH. "We were happ with the third qualifying pass as the car started coming around." Shields said. His eighth qualifying position put him up against part time Top Fuel driver Scott Palmer who was piloting an A/Fuel Dragster for the weekend.

At the light, Palmer got a slight edge off of the starting line. Duane then suffered some tire shake 100 feet out and had to pedal giving Palmer the lead by two car lengths. The Shortline Express began to catch up to Palmer but ran out of real estate giving Palmer the win by about three feet. Palmer stopped the clock with a 5.47 at 247 MPH to Duane's close 5.52 at 263 MPH.

While Duane would have rather advanced to the final round, he is out of races he can claim but still leaves Las Vegas with the points lead. "Of course I was disappointed by the early loss but I'm keeping everything in prospective. Right now the focus is on the Championship and we still have the lead so it's going to come down to the wire at Pomona." Duane Shields said.

The Shortline Express team would like to thank Hussey Copper and NGK for their support this season.