Duane Shields Ends Driving Career with Solid Effort in Reading

Reading PA - Duane Shields hit the quarter-mile one last time behind the wheel of his Muscle Milk A/Fuel Dragster. This was the second of two farewell appearances as a driver. The first was in Las Vegas at the Four-Wide Nationals before wrapping up his storied career in Reading, PA where he has a lot of friends and fellow competitors that he enjoys spending time with. "For 26 years of driving, I’ve had a lot of fun and made lots of friends" Duane said.

Duane could not have picked a harder race to qualify for as 18 cars were fighting to get into an 8-car field on race day. Duane made it into the field on his last qualifying attempt and landed the Muscle Milk car in the 6th position with a 5.27 at 275 MPH. After qualifying, Duane received a special well-crafted trophy to commemorate his past accomplishments from fellow Top Alcohol Dragster competitor Tom Fox. It was inscribed with Duane's NHRA World Championship along with his win at the NHRA US Nationals.

In round one, Duane raced Mike Lewis who was making his first appearance in seven years driving the always-tough Samsel Racing entry. At the hit, both cars left the line together with Lewis having a slight starting line advantage with a .062 light to Duane's very close .064. By half-track, the cars were still side by side but at the finish line, it would be Lewis by half of a car length. Lewis stopped the clock with a 5.27 at 274 MPH to Duane's very close 5.31 at 274 MPH. "It was a good race. I’m so proud of my team and all the work they do. I am glad to stay out here as the team owner and watch Madison continue our team's legacy" Duane said after his final run.

The next event on the team's schedule is the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals, in Norwalk, Ohio, June 22-25. Duane would like to thank Muscle Milk, Clean Boost, NGK Spark Plugs, GRP Rods, and Brad Anderson Enterprises for their long-time support of Shields Racing.