Shields Tries to Gain Some Ground in National Points Battle at Home Track

Las Vegas - After winning the NHRA Divisional event at Silver Dollar Raceway in Remolds, GA which sewed up the Division 2 Top Alcohol Dragster Championship, Duane Shields headed home to Las Vegas for the Ninth annual NHRA Las Vegas Nationals. And since The Strip at Las Vegas is his home track, Shields pulled out all the stops for his fellow competitors and friends in the Top Alcohol pits with a hot dog feed throughout the weekend. His pit was also busy with friends and family from the surrounding area that come to the event each year to watch him race.

Besides the fact that the race was at his home track, the event was especially important to Shields' chances at winning the National Top Alcohol Dragster Championship. In qualifying, the car ran very consistent which gave the Shortline Express Team confidence going into eliminations. "We were very happy with how consistent the car was running throughout the weekend" Shield said after qualifying third with a 5.31 at 261 MPH. On the eve of eliminations the Shortline team had some tense moments as crew member Chris Zedaker had a top end crash racing the team's Super Comp car. Luckily, Zedaker was OK so the team was able to get back to preparing for their first round opponent.


Shields' first round paring turned out to be with none other than his teammate, Brandon Johnson. "Brandon works for me but there's no team orders. We are both here to race" Shields said. Johnson qualified 14th with a decent 5.41 at 260 MPH but would have his work cut out for him as Shields was a tenth quicker in qualifying. At the hit Johnson got out of the gate quicker with a 0.035 reaction time to Shields' 0.077 and at the finish line it was a close one as both Shields and Johnson ran identical 5.37 ETs and nearly identical MPH with Shields' 269 being just one MPH faster. But Johnson's slightly quicker reaction time at the starting line was the difference in the race as Johnson took the win light. "We were hoping for a 5.30 and to stay consistent. But it was a good race as Brandon and Mike Johnson really stepped it up. And it was a good race on the spectator side too but we really needed to win that round" Shields said.

While the loss hurt Shields' chances at winning the National Championship, Johnson would go on to defeat Jim Whitely in the second round which helped keep Shields' chances alive. "Brandon was my enemy in the first round but my best friend in the second round" Shields joked.


Even though the Las Vegas Nationals was the last national event that Shields could claim points at, he still can claim points at the final division event of the year also held in Vegas next week and can still make up some points depending on how well he does and how well his opponents do. At Pomona the following weekend, Shields won't be able to claim points but will be a blocker. "We are excited about next week's division race since our Shortline Express Market sponsors it and we'll have a chance to make up some points. I'm also looking forward to Pomona since we always do well there" Shields said.