Madison Payne Enjoys Semi-Final Finish in Dallas

Madison Payne resumed the driving chores in the Muscle Milk A/Fuel Dragster at the "Stampede of Speed" NHRA Fall Nationals in Dallas, Texas. Madison had her best run of the weekend right out of the box during qualifying with a 5.28 at 277 MPH and wound up as the eleventh seed. "Madison continues her debut in A/Fuel and is doing good. She takes direction well and makes racing fun" said team owner and primary driver Duane Shields.

In round one, Madison faced Robin Samsel. As the car left the starting line it was Madison out first with a .064 to Samsel's .085 then about 200 feet out both cars began to drive into traction problems and Madison got way out of shape but Samsel got the worst of it when he crossed the center line and was disqualified as a result. "Both cars broke loose and fortunately for me he crossed the centerline. I was able to control the car and get it straight but what got my attention was that the whole instrument panel shook loose from the shake and moved up and down as I was driving" Madison said. "We got lucky on that round" Duane added.

In round two, Madison drew Julie Nataas. At the hit, it was Nataas out first with a .031 to Madison's .093. Nataas had a slight lead thanks to a better reaction time but Madison and the Muscle Milk team made up for the deficit and got around Natass before the finish line and rang up a 5.32 at 273 MPH over Nataas' 5.41 at 268 MPH. "I wasn't sure what would happen because Randy Meyer's cars always run good" Madison said. Duane agreed "Randy Meyer is always competitive so it was a good win".



The semi-finals pitted Madison against Jackie Fricke who has enjoyed a stellar season. As the lights came down on the tree it was Fricke out first with a .074 to Madison's .097. Fricke continued her winning ways and got to the finish line first with a 5.24 at 278 MPH to Madison's 5.33 at 271 MPH. "Jackie is competing for the Championship and is running well. We expected better air conditions and should have given Madison a better car. But anytime you can make it to the semis at one of these races it's a good weekend. Madison agreed. "If you get to race on Sunday it's a successful race".

Next, the Muscle Milk car gets hauled to the West Coast of the last three races of the year with two of them located in Las Vegas. "We will go to our home track in Las Vegas and see if we can get a win there" Duane said. Duane and Madison would like to thank their sponsors Muscle Milk, NGK Spark Plugs, GRP Connecting Rods, Clean Boost, SRI, and Brad Anderson Enterprises for their support of Shield's Racing in 2021.