Gainesville - Duane Shields didn’t have quite the weekend he was expecting at the Amalie NHRA Gatornationals after losing in the second round. Historically, the Gainesville track has been very good to the PEAK A/Fuel Dragster team as they have won the Gatornationals three times as well as three regional events including a sweep of the Gatornationals and the regional event before it in 2014.
The weekend started out well as Duane qualified on top during the first qualifying stanza but eventually had to settle for third with a very strong 5.25 at 278 MPH.
In round one, Duane took on Richard Bourke who qualified 14th with a decent 5.43. At the hit it was Bourke out first with an .059 reaction time to Duane’s.104. Bourke’s lead didn’t last long as Duane overpowered Bourke and got to the finish line first with a 5.34 at 276 MPH to Bourke’s losing 5.40 at 271 MPH.
In the second round, Duane raced Jerry Powell. As the lights came down it was Duane out first with an .078 reaction time to Powell’s .110. When the cars began to move down track, Duane lost traction and had to pedal when the dragster went up on the wheelie bar and hit a centerline cone which cost him the race. Powell was already long gone and won the round. No time was recorded in Duane’s lane. “That was the first time I have ever hit a cone. When I pedaled the car got away from me. Other than that, it was a good weekend as the car is running strong. We’ll move on to the next race and hope we do much better” Duane said.
Next up is the NHRA Four Wide Nationals, April 22-24 at ZMax Raceway in Charlotte, NC. Duane would like to thank PEAK Antifreeze and Motor Oil, Final Charge, Blue Def, NGK, GRP and Brad Anderson Enterprises for supporting the team in 2016.
The weekend started out well as Duane qualified on top during the first qualifying stanza but eventually had to settle for third with a very strong 5.25 at 278 MPH.
In round one, Duane took on Richard Bourke who qualified 14th with a decent 5.43. At the hit it was Bourke out first with an .059 reaction time to Duane’s.104. Bourke’s lead didn’t last long as Duane overpowered Bourke and got to the finish line first with a 5.34 at 276 MPH to Bourke’s losing 5.40 at 271 MPH.
In the second round, Duane raced Jerry Powell. As the lights came down it was Duane out first with an .078 reaction time to Powell’s .110. When the cars began to move down track, Duane lost traction and had to pedal when the dragster went up on the wheelie bar and hit a centerline cone which cost him the race. Powell was already long gone and won the round. No time was recorded in Duane’s lane. “That was the first time I have ever hit a cone. When I pedaled the car got away from me. Other than that, it was a good weekend as the car is running strong. We’ll move on to the next race and hope we do much better” Duane said.
Next up is the NHRA Four Wide Nationals, April 22-24 at ZMax Raceway in Charlotte, NC. Duane would like to thank PEAK Antifreeze and Motor Oil, Final Charge, Blue Def, NGK, GRP and Brad Anderson Enterprises for supporting the team in 2016.
