PEAK Team Reaches Four-Wide Finals

Charlotte - Duane Shields in the PEAK A/Fuel Dragster reached the finals in the Top Alcohol Dragster class at the 10th annual NGK Spark Plugs NHRA Four-Wide Nationals. The PEAK Team had a great running car all weekend but just came up a little short in the final round against Julie Nataas who won her first NHRA national event.

Duane qualified second with a scorching 5.22 at 280 MPH which paired him up against Jeff Veale in the first round. At the hit, Veale got a slight starting line advantage but he went up in smoke. Meanwhile, Duane was on a solid run and stopped the clock with a 5.27 at 274 MPH blast to move into the next round.

In round two, Duane faced tough east coast contender Dan Mercier. Unfortunately for Mercier, he red lit and then backed out of it. Duane was on another great run and rang up a 5.32 at 278 MPH to easily advance into the semi-final round.

In the semifinals, Duane took on tough Canadian competitor Shawn Cowie. Duane was out of the gate first with an .039 to Cowie's .070. Duane's lead only got larger as Cowie lost traction and went up in smoke. At the finish line Duane rang up another great run as he scored a 5.34 at 276 MPH to make it into his first final round appearance of the year.

In the finals, Duane faced Julie Nataas who qualified fifth with a 5.27 at 274 MPH so both drivers were closely matched. As the lights came down it was Duane out of the box first was an .079 reaction time to Nataas' .086. In spite of the lead at the starting line, Nataas' was able to power past the PEAK dragster and take the stripe with a 5.26 at 277 MPH over Duane's very competitive 5.33 at 277 MPH.

Next, the PEAK team moves on to Maplegrove Raceway for a Lucas Oil Series event, May 24-26. Duane would like to thank PEAK Antifreeze and Motor Oil, Final Charge, Blue Def, NGK Spark Plugs, GRP Connecting Rods, Brad Anderson Enterprises, Hot Wheels Car Care Products, SRI and Clean Boost for their continued support.