Shields Reunites with Hopewell at Winternationals

Shields Reunites with Hopewell at Winternationals

Duane Shields returned to the O’Reilly NHRA Winternationals presented by Super Start Batteries with a familiar face as crew chief Dana Hopewell along with his wife Sheryl reunited with the team after a one year absence. While it was not the reunion the team had hoped for, the PEAK Motor Oil A/Fuel Dragster team did show big signs of improvement by the time they reached the first round of eliminations.

Duane qualified 14th with a 5.65 at 253 MPH after struggling with traction problems in the prior two rounds of qualifying. Duane was looking for a better start to qualifying but questionable weather conditions prevented them from making any meaningful test runs the week prior in Las Vegas. “We started out rough but we improved on every pass” Duane acknowledged.

In round one, Duane faced Canadian Don St. Arnaud who qualified third with a 5.30. As the lights came down, St. Arnaud was off the line first but Duane picked up the pace as the cars charged down Parker Avenue. At the finish line it was St. Arnaud taking a narrow win with a 5.36 at 256 MPH to Duane’s 5.39 at 264 MPH. “We made a lot of changes before the first round and it ended up being a very close race so we are going in the right direction” Duane said.

Even with the first round loss, Duane is optimistic that he has a well rounded program for 2013 with PEAK Motor Oil on board and the return of the crew chief that helped him win the National Championship in 2011. “I can’t wait for the season to unfold with Dana Hopewell back as crew chief and Sheryl Hopewell back on the crew” he said.

Duane would like to welcome back his sponsors: PEAK Motor Oil, PEAK Antifreeze, Herculiner Truck Bed Liners, Blue DEF Diesel Exhaust Fluid and FINAL Charge Heavy Duty Truck Antifreeze, GRP Connecting Rods, NGK Spark Plugs, Molinari Race Products, Sierra Ice and Shortline Markets.