Duane Shields Seattle wrap up

Shields Wins in Seattle Divisional

Seattle - Duane Shields wasn't the number one qualifier this time around but that didn't seem to be a disadvantage for the driver of the Shortline Express dragster who has been taking the pole position a lot lately only to go out in the earlier rounds. This time Shield qualified second with a 5.26 at 274 MPH but gained the consistency needed to go all the way to the final and win the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event held at Pacific Raceways.

In the first round, Shields faced the world's fastest School bus driver, Kim Parker. 'Kim always makes me nervous as she always cuts good lights' Shields said. Sure enough, Parker got out of the hole quicker with a 0.082 to Shields' 0.132. But at the stripe it was Shields by three tenths of a second as he posted a 5.31 at 274 MPH. Parker was less than 100 feet behind and still ran a valiant 5.61 at 249 MPH.

In the semifinals, Shields faced Thomas Bayer driving Steve and Patty Federlin's Oregon based blown alcohol dragster. Bayer, who qualified third ran into problems and went up in smoke at the line. Meanwhile Shields cruised down the track and recorded a 5.34 at 272 MPH win. 'We knew we needed to pick up the pace against Bayer but we went the wrong way and slowed down a little bit. Shields said.

In the finals, Shields faced the number one qualifier Randy Eakins. 'Eakins beat me in Houston so I knew we couldn't take him lightly'. Sure enough, at the light both drivers had good lights. Eakins was a little quicker off the line with a 0.036 to Shields' 0.047. However, Eakins dropped some cylinders and slowed down to a 5.65 at 246 MPH. Meanwhile, Shields was trucking straight down Broadway with the candles lit and crossed the finish line with a stellar 5.28 at 273 MPH to take the victory.

The win was bittersweet as the team hadn't reached the final round in a while, but at the same time Scott Kalitta's death in Englishtown NJ was weighing heavily on everyone's heart. 'We heard the tragic news just before the first round and loosing Scott is on all of our minds right now' Shields said. As for winning the event, it was a big relief for Duane and crew chief Dana Hopewell. 'We're relieved. We have been on this three race circuit and couldn't seem to reach the final round. We knew we could win and we finally did although it would have been a much tighter race if Randy had not had any engine problems' Shields said while celebrating the win.

Next up for Shields is the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event in Woodburn Oregon, just south of Portland on July 10-13.