Mohnton, Pa. - For the first time in three years Duane Shields qualified his PEAK A/Fuel Dragster in the number one position at an NHRA event. This time, the honor came at the historic Maple Grove Raceway during the NHRA Lucas Oil Regional event. Duane qualified his PEAK Motor Oil sponsored dragster on the pole in the Top Alcohol Dragster class with a blistering 5.26 at 273 MPH. Sixteen cars attempted to qualify for a tough eight car field which made being the top qualifier even more impressive.
In round one, Duane was matched up with Richard St. Pierre who qualified eighth. As the lights on the tree came down, Duane was out of the box first and had a sizable lead which he never relinquished in spite of having to pedal the car. He then crossed the stripe with a 5.35 at 268 MPH to take the win over St. Pierre’s 5.56 at 258 MPH.
In the semi finals, Duane faced Rich McPhillips. At the hit, it was McPhillips out of the hole first with Duane not far behind but he then lost some real estate when forced to pedal at the same place on the track as he did in round one. At the finish line it was a tight race but McPhillips got the narrow win and scored a 5.41 at 268 MPH to Duane’s close 5.43 at 270 MPH. “It was sort of frustrating because that was our slowest run of the entire event. We discovered after the race that we broke a valve spring in the semi finals or it would have run a .30 which could have won the race” Duane said.
Even though a mechanical issue slowed down the PEAK team, Duane was happy over all on how well the car performed. “The car is really coming around and we had our first number one qualifying position in over three years so we're happy about that. We are now looking forward to our next Lucas Oil Regional event at Lebanon Valley” he said.
Duane would like to thank PEAK Antifreeze and Motor Oil, Final Charge, Blue Def, NGK, GRP and Brad Anderson Enterprises for all of their support this season.
In round one, Duane was matched up with Richard St. Pierre who qualified eighth. As the lights on the tree came down, Duane was out of the box first and had a sizable lead which he never relinquished in spite of having to pedal the car. He then crossed the stripe with a 5.35 at 268 MPH to take the win over St. Pierre’s 5.56 at 258 MPH.
In the semi finals, Duane faced Rich McPhillips. At the hit, it was McPhillips out of the hole first with Duane not far behind but he then lost some real estate when forced to pedal at the same place on the track as he did in round one. At the finish line it was a tight race but McPhillips got the narrow win and scored a 5.41 at 268 MPH to Duane’s close 5.43 at 270 MPH. “It was sort of frustrating because that was our slowest run of the entire event. We discovered after the race that we broke a valve spring in the semi finals or it would have run a .30 which could have won the race” Duane said.
Even though a mechanical issue slowed down the PEAK team, Duane was happy over all on how well the car performed. “The car is really coming around and we had our first number one qualifying position in over three years so we're happy about that. We are now looking forward to our next Lucas Oil Regional event at Lebanon Valley” he said.
Duane would like to thank PEAK Antifreeze and Motor Oil, Final Charge, Blue Def, NGK, GRP and Brad Anderson Enterprises for all of their support this season.
