Shields Wins Second Division Two Title of the Season

Shields Wins Second Division Two Title of the Season
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Atlanta - With just a month into the season, three Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series events have already been completed in the Southeast Division. Atlanta Dragway was the third stop in the series and a chance for Duane Shields to take a commanding lead in the Top Alcohol Dragster class driving his Shortline Express A/Fuel Dragster.

Shields established himself early as the favorite to win by qualifying on the pole with a great 5.29 at 272 MPH blast. As the top qualifier, Shields received a bye run in the first round since there was just five cars in the field. Even without an opponent, Shields made a spectacular pass to start off eliminations by recording an incredible 5.21 at 274 MPH to advance into the second round. "The track was really good and we decided to go with an aggressive tune-up since we had the bye" Shields said.

In the second round, Shields faced Dan Mercier. At the light it was Mercier out of the gate first with a 0.079 to Shields' 0.114. Mercier began to experience tire shake and had to pedal. Meanwhile, Shields was on a another clean run and crossed the stripe first with a 5.36 at 269 MPH to Mercier's 5.60 at 255 MPH to advance to the final round. "The conditions were not as ideal as they were in the first round but we still ran a 5.36" Shields observed.

In the finals it would be a showdown between Shields and veteran driver Randy Meyer. "Randy is a tough customer and we knew we would have to run well. We put a new set of tires on so we wanted to be careful with the tune-up" said Shields.

This race would be a close one as both drivers left the starting line at nearly the same time with Meyer getting a slight advantage with an 0.036 reaction time to Shields' close 0.039. At the finish line it was Shields by less than a car length to win the race with a 5.35 at 270 MPH to Meyer's close 5.41 at 262 MPH. "We were hoping it would run a .28 or a .29 but we're glad to have won. We wanted to run the car as aggressive as we could and still get the results we wanted. And we officially clinched a spot in the JEGS Allstar race" Shields continued.

Next week, The Shortline Express team will try to duplicate their Atlanta success and defend their title when they compete at the NHRA Gatornationals in Gainesville Florida. Shields would like to thank his sponsors Hussey Copper and NGK Spark Plugs for assisting the team in 2010.