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Las Vegas - With his company Shortline Express Markets sponsoring the event, Duane Shields wanted to win the Lucas Oil Series race held at Las Vegas Motor Speedway more than the national even held there the week before. And for the most part the event unfolded just the way he had planned. He took the pole with an impressive 5.28 at 276 MPH which fueled his optimism. ”I was really pumped. I liked our chances going into eliminations” Shields said.
In the first round, Shields took care of business by beating Arizona racer Mark Niver. Niver had a slightly better reaction time but Shields took the stripe with a 5.44 to Niver’s 5.59.
In round two, Shields raced newcomer Scott Murray. Shields had a great run as the Shortline Express dragster easily got down the track without dropping any cylinders and recorded a 5.31 to Murray’s 5.42. ”We had a good clean run and I was impressed with how well Murray did in his first outing. He came into the race with a Bill Reichert tune-up and he did a great job driving the car” Shields said.
In the finals, Shields took on recent national event winner Joey Severence from Washington State. A win would give Shields three consecutive divisional wins and a chance to even up the score with Severence who won beat him last week in the semifinal round. At the start, Severence got a holeshot with a 0.037 reaction time to Shields’ 0.075. Shields then dropped a cylinder at the 1,000 foot mark and that was all she wrote. Severance cruised ahead for the win with a 5.36 at 269 MPH to Shields’ quicker 5.34 at 270 MPH.
“We had a good weekend. Runner-up is second to the best and we need to work just a little harder next time to get the win. But it was still a difficult loss as it was the last race on 97% percent nitro and a win would have given our team three division wins in a row. We had our employees out here so we were hoping for a big winner’s circle picture.” Shields said.
Shields Goes to Final Round in Vegas
Las Vegas - With his company Shortline Express Markets sponsoring the event, Duane Shields wanted to win the Lucas Oil Series race held at Las Vegas Motor Speedway more than the national even held there the week before. And for the most part the event unfolded just the way he had planned. He took the pole with an impressive 5.28 at 276 MPH which fueled his optimism. ”I was really pumped. I liked our chances going into eliminations” Shields said.
In the first round, Shields took care of business by beating Arizona racer Mark Niver. Niver had a slightly better reaction time but Shields took the stripe with a 5.44 to Niver’s 5.59.
In round two, Shields raced newcomer Scott Murray. Shields had a great run as the Shortline Express dragster easily got down the track without dropping any cylinders and recorded a 5.31 to Murray’s 5.42. ”We had a good clean run and I was impressed with how well Murray did in his first outing. He came into the race with a Bill Reichert tune-up and he did a great job driving the car” Shields said.
In the finals, Shields took on recent national event winner Joey Severence from Washington State. A win would give Shields three consecutive divisional wins and a chance to even up the score with Severence who won beat him last week in the semifinal round. At the start, Severence got a holeshot with a 0.037 reaction time to Shields’ 0.075. Shields then dropped a cylinder at the 1,000 foot mark and that was all she wrote. Severance cruised ahead for the win with a 5.36 at 269 MPH to Shields’ quicker 5.34 at 270 MPH.
“We had a good weekend. Runner-up is second to the best and we need to work just a little harder next time to get the win. But it was still a difficult loss as it was the last race on 97% percent nitro and a win would have given our team three division wins in a row. We had our employees out here so we were hoping for a big winner’s circle picture.” Shields said.
