Madison Payne takes on Tough Four Wide Field

Las Vegas - Madison Payne took on a tough 21 car field at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway four cars at a time! The NHRA Four Wide Nationals is where the field is divided up into four quads and the first and second place winners advance from each quad to the next round until the finals where there is just one quad left and the winner of that quad wins the race. The Four Wides are very spectacular with four cars racing side by side but the different format has always had a mixed reaction among both racers and fans.

Madison qualified the Muscle Milk A/Fuel Dragster at the top on the opening day of qualifying but ended up as the number five qualifier going into eliminations with a 5.32 at 269 MPH.

In the first stanza, Madison was included in a group of tough competitors made up of Chris Demke, Casey Grisel, Ron Anderson, and Madison all running within .04 seconds of each other ranging from a 5.30 to a 5.34. Unfortunately, Madison's 5.32 was not enough to advance to the next round by virtue of her reaction .088 time. While it's easy to dismiss Four Wide racing as a novelty, the numbers from that round prove it can be very close and competitive racing.

After the race, Madison had a few minutes to reflect on her first Four Wide event. "It was a good and not so good race. I prefer conventional racing over the Four Wides because there was so much going on. I didn't think I won but I didn't know who the winners were. Even though it's a four car race, I can only see the car right next to me. We did better in Super Comp where I went three rounds. We are getting our 60 foot more consistent in my car and the same with Duane's.

Car owner Duane Shields was satisfied with the weekend. "We were competing at our home track and qualified first on the opening day but dropped to fifth. Being this is Vegas and it was a tight race we rolled the dice to see what we could do. The Four Wides is an anomaly, a different race and I will be driving at the event in Charlotte and then we will get them both out of the way. Madison did a good job this weekend and continues to learn. We have a good running car this year and we are running right with everyone else" Duane said.

The team will stay in Las Vegas for a regional event next weekend where Duane will be back in the driver's seat. Duane and Madison would like to thank Muscle Milk, NGK Spark Plugs, GRP Connecting Rods, BAE and Clean Boost for their support in 2022.