Duane Shields Wins Lebanon Valley Regional Race

Duane Shields in the Muscle Milk A/Fuel Dragster was back in the Winners Circle following a short three week break. The team ran exceptionally well among a tight group of very competitive dragsters and qualified no. 1 with a 5.26 at 277 MPH. "Qualifying number 1 was critical because it set the pace in eliminations" Duane said.

In the first round, Duane faced Bruce Horner. At the hit, Duane was out first with a .097 to Horner's .131. At the finish line it was the Muscle Milk car taking the win with a 5.71 at 265 MPH over Horner's 6.13 at 190 MPH. "Overnight, the conditions changed and the track got a little tricky. I had to pedal it and the car slowed down and only ran a 5.71" Duane said.

Between rounds the Muscle Milk team had to replace the fuel tank as it had cracked due to vibration that occurred in the previous round. In the semis, Duane got a bye run to advance to the final round but lost lane choice after mustering a 5.57 at 261 MPH when he lost some cylinders shortly after the launch.

It was a close race in the finals as Duane took on Rich Mcphillips Jr. in their signature green dragster. At the hit, Duane was out of the gate first with a .081 to Mcphillips' .109. Duane's better reaction time would be the deciding factor as Mcphillips had the quicker run with a 5.32 at 269 MPH to Duane's slightly slower 5.34 at 274 MPH. "Rich was running consistently well all weekend so we were very happy to have been able to grab the win light. I'm very proud of my team" Duane said after the holeshot win.

Next, the team travels to Norwalk, Ohio for the Summit Equipment NHRA Nationals this coming weekend. But before leaving Upstate New York Duane had some glowing things to say about Lebanon Valley Dragway. "This is one of the oldest tracks in the country and the terrain up here is beautiful. We always love racing here and the people are very nice".

Duane and his team would like to thank Muscle Milk, NGK Spark Plugs, GRP Connecting Rods, Clean Boost, SRI, and Brad Anderson Enterprises for their support of Duane Shields Racing this season.