Duane Shields Makes it to the Second Round in Topeka

Duane Shields Makes it to the Second Round in Topeka

Duane Shields and the Shortline Express Team has been gaining ground on the competition as the season progresses. The team made it to two straight final rounds before moving on to Topeka this past weekend where they made it to the quarterfinals. Duane smoked the tires while trying to get into the 5.20 zone in round two. “We got greedy. The temperature changed so we hopped it up and got very aggressive with the tune up. Two other cars in the same lane also smoked the tires in the second round” Duane said.

In qualifying, the Boulder City, Nevada driver landed fifth with a 5.35 at 267 MPH. That would set up a first round match up with Jeff Veale who qualified twelfth. At the hit, Veale got out first but Duane had a quicker ET and took the win light with a 5.43 at 265 MPH to Veale’s close 5.52 at 253 MPH.

In round two, Duane took on Mark Taliaferro. As the lights came down, Duane was out of the gate first but went up in smoke right off the line. Meanwhile, Taliaferro cruised to the win with a 5.32. “It was disappointing but there can only be one winner and it was Rich McPhillips' turn to win. We still had a great weekend as the car ran good until we got too aggressive. Also, Brian Scullen from GRP Connecting Rods was in Topeka helping us out” Duane said.

The team now makes the long haul to Maple Grove Raceway in Reading, PA for the next NHRA Regional event held over the Memorial Day Weekend. The Shortline Express team would like to thank GRP Connecting Rods, NGK Spark Plugs and Molinari Racing Products for their support.