Madison Payne Goes to Semifinal Round at Houston's Swan Song

Houston Texas - Madison Payne driving the Muscle Milk A/Fuel Dragster had a great weekend at the NHRA Springnationals, the final national event to ever be contested in Houston. Knowing this, the fans came out in droves making the race nearly a sell-out on both Saturday and Sunday. Madison qualified in the top five, landing fourth with a fine 5.25 at 271 MPH.

In round one, Madison defeated Todd Bruce of Horace, ND. Bruce driving "The Bull" Dragster had a quicker .031 to Madison's .083 reaction time but the Dana Hopewell tuned machine overpowered Bruce's 5.43 by a tenth with a quicker 5.33 at 273 MPH which allowed Madison to advance to the quarterfinal round.

In the quarters, Madison faced Texan Hunter Green driving a Randy Meyer team car. At the hit, it was Green off the line first with a .039 to Madison's .078. Once again the Muscle Milk Dragster took care of business and sidelined Green with a 5.31 at 272 MPH over Green's 5.43 at 267 MPH.

In the Semifinals, Madison met the other half of Randy Meyer Racing with Julie Nataas at the wheel. As the lights came down on the tree, it was Nataas with an instant lead with a .039 reaction time over Madison's .091. Nataas cruised to a clear victory with a 5.21 at 276 MPH over Madison's 5.34 at 273 MPH.

While they would have liked to have gone to the final round, both Duane and Madison thought it was a great weekend overall. And to add a cherry to the cake, Madison's Super Comp dragster won the best appearing car award. "It was a good weekend. The Muscle Milk Dragster went down the track on every pass and Duane and the team had a good handle on the car in the heat. In the semis, we raced Julie Nataas but she was due as we were 2 and 0 against her" Madison said.

Duane agreed. "It was a good weekend even though we would have preferred to have run better in the semis. But making it that far is always an accomplishment" Duane said.

This coming weekend, the Muscle Milk team moves on to Charlotte, NC for the 4 Wides where Duane will return to the driver's seat. "I'm excited to get back into the seat and we are shifting our emphasis back over to me. Maddy did an excellent job driving in the first quarter of the year and we are excited when she returns in the future" Duane said.

Duane and Madison would like to thank Muscle Milk, GRP Rods, Clean Boost, Brad Anderson Enterprises and NGK Spark Plugs for their excellent support in 2022.