West Lebanon New York - Duane Shields in the PEAK A/Fuel Dragster made it to the final round of the NHRA Lucas Oil Regional at Lebanon Valley Dragway. Duane joined the who’s who of east coast Top Alcohol Dragster racers for one of the most competitive regional races of the season where twelve cars were trying to get into a tough eight car field. Duane qualified in the number two position with a very competitive 5.33 at 273 MPH.
In round one, Duane faced Richard St. Pierre. As the lights came down it was St. Pierre out of the gate first but his lead didn’t last as Duane out powered him and rung up the win with a stout 5.32 at 273 MPH to St. Pierre’s 5.70 at 245 MPH.
In the semifinal round, Duane took on Richard Bourke. At the hit, Bourke moved out of the box first but then abandoned the run after losing traction. In the other lane, Duane was on a flawless pass and stopped the clock with an impressive 5.34 at 268 MPH to advance to the final round where he would face Rich McPhillips who was hot off a national event win last week in Norwalk, Ohio.
As both A/Fuel Dragsters staged in the final round the cars left virtually together with McPhillips getting a very slight lead by only 2,000th of a second with a 0.082 to Duane’s ever so close 0.084. As both dragsters were traveling down track they were side by side in a race too close to call. At the finish line it was McPhillips taking the win by less than a car length. McPhillips posted a 5.37 at 271 to Duane’s close 5.44 at 270 MPH. “We believe we had an ignition problem in the finals which caused the car to slow down” Duane explained.
At the conclusion of the event, the PEAK team packed up and headed towards Chicago for the JEGS All Star race which is held in conjunction with the NHRA Route 66 Nationals this coming weekend. Duane would like to thank PEAK Antifreeze and Motor Oil, Final Charge, Blue Def, NGK, GRP and Brad Anderson Enterprises for their support.
In round one, Duane faced Richard St. Pierre. As the lights came down it was St. Pierre out of the gate first but his lead didn’t last as Duane out powered him and rung up the win with a stout 5.32 at 273 MPH to St. Pierre’s 5.70 at 245 MPH.
In the semifinal round, Duane took on Richard Bourke. At the hit, Bourke moved out of the box first but then abandoned the run after losing traction. In the other lane, Duane was on a flawless pass and stopped the clock with an impressive 5.34 at 268 MPH to advance to the final round where he would face Rich McPhillips who was hot off a national event win last week in Norwalk, Ohio.
As both A/Fuel Dragsters staged in the final round the cars left virtually together with McPhillips getting a very slight lead by only 2,000th of a second with a 0.082 to Duane’s ever so close 0.084. As both dragsters were traveling down track they were side by side in a race too close to call. At the finish line it was McPhillips taking the win by less than a car length. McPhillips posted a 5.37 at 271 to Duane’s close 5.44 at 270 MPH. “We believe we had an ignition problem in the finals which caused the car to slow down” Duane explained.
At the conclusion of the event, the PEAK team packed up and headed towards Chicago for the JEGS All Star race which is held in conjunction with the NHRA Route 66 Nationals this coming weekend. Duane would like to thank PEAK Antifreeze and Motor Oil, Final Charge, Blue Def, NGK, GRP and Brad Anderson Enterprises for their support.
