Shields Goes out in the Quarter Finals

Shields Goes out in the Quarter Finals

Reading PA - It was one of those bitter sweet weekends for the
Shortline Express A/Fuel Dragster team as they had a good weekend but
not the kind that delivers the gold at the end of the race. Duane
Shields qualified in the top half of the field with a 5.33 to end up
in the number five spot which would set up a first round pairing with
local racer Rich McPhillips of Audubon, PA.

At the light, it was McPhillips out first with a 0.066 to Shields'
0.082. But it was all over at that time as McPhillips shook the tires
and Shields was off to the races in one of the best performances of
the first round as Shields ran a sizzling 5.28 at 272 MPH. The
conditions were great in the early morning hours which allowed for a
good run. "We knew the conditions would be great in the first round so
we stayed conservative on the tune up" Shields said.

In the second round, Shields took on John Finke in what turned out to
be one of the best races of the day. Shields was out of the gate first
with an 0.081 but Finke was close behind with an 0.085. Finke was able
to get ahead of Shields by a nose and by the time the cars made it to
the finish line it was Finke taking the stripe with a 5.36 at 263 MPH
to Shields' close 5.38 at 268 MPH. "I'm tired of these close losses
but John won the round fair and square and it was a very good race.
The conditions changed since the first round and we didn't compensate
for the warmer weather. We stayed conservative and didn't give it all
we could have, we needed to give it a little more Mojo" Shields
observed.

Shields isn't taking the loss too hard as he's already looking forward
to returning to Georgia for the next NHRA Divisional event this coming
weekend in Reynolds. The Shortline Express team thanks Hussey Copper
and NGK Spark Plugs for their support.