Charlotte - Duane Shields hoped to improve on his runner up finish last week at Tri-State Raceway but had to settle for a semifinal finish at the NHRA Carolina Nationals held at ZMax Dragway near Charlotte. Duane qualified his PEAK A/Fuel dragster in the no. 2 position with an impressive 5.27 at 278 MPH.
In round one, Duane raced Tom Fox Jr. who qualified 15th. Fox got the starting line advantage but it didn't matter as the Dana Hopewell horsepower in the PEAK entry kicked in and carried Duane to a decisive 5.34 at 276 MPH to Fox's 5.49 at 261 MPH.
In the quarter-finals, Duane met up with Mia Tedesco. As the lights on the tree came down it wasTedesco out first but Duane's PEAK Dragster ran like a rocket ship and scored the win with a 5.36 at 274 MPH to her 5.54 at 267 MPH to advance to the semifinals.
In the semis, Duane took on Shawn Cowie who traveled all the way to Charlotte from Western Canada. At the hit, both cars left nearly together with Cowie getting a very slight advantage with his .073 to Duane' s close .075 light. It continued to be a tight side-by-side battle as both cars approached the finish line with Cowie taking the stripe by less than a car length. Cowie rang up a 5.31 at 272 MPH to Duane's close 5.34 at 273 MPH.
Duane would like to thank his sponsors PEAK Antifreeze and Motor Oil, Final Charge, Blue Def, NGK, GRP and Brad Anderson Enterprises for their continued support in 2016.
In round one, Duane raced Tom Fox Jr. who qualified 15th. Fox got the starting line advantage but it didn't matter as the Dana Hopewell horsepower in the PEAK entry kicked in and carried Duane to a decisive 5.34 at 276 MPH to Fox's 5.49 at 261 MPH.
In the quarter-finals, Duane met up with Mia Tedesco. As the lights on the tree came down it wasTedesco out first but Duane's PEAK Dragster ran like a rocket ship and scored the win with a 5.36 at 274 MPH to her 5.54 at 267 MPH to advance to the semifinals.
In the semis, Duane took on Shawn Cowie who traveled all the way to Charlotte from Western Canada. At the hit, both cars left nearly together with Cowie getting a very slight advantage with his .073 to Duane' s close .075 light. It continued to be a tight side-by-side battle as both cars approached the finish line with Cowie taking the stripe by less than a car length. Cowie rang up a 5.31 at 272 MPH to Duane's close 5.34 at 273 MPH.
Duane would like to thank his sponsors PEAK Antifreeze and Motor Oil, Final Charge, Blue Def, NGK, GRP and Brad Anderson Enterprises for their continued support in 2016.
