Shields Sonoma Post Race
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Sonoma - While Duane Shields didn’t exactly have the weekend he wanted in Sonoma, the Nevada based driver still went a few rounds on Sunday at the Fram-Autolite NHRA Nationals and did well enough to keep pace with his goal of winning the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series Championship. Shields went into eliminations as the no. 2 qualifier with a fine 5.38 at 263 MPH.
This set up a first round match up against Mark Foster. On that pass Shields posted a 5.58 at 267 MPH for the win as Foster had problems and idled though to the finish line.
In the second round, Shields faced Justin Davis driving a blown alcohol car for Steve and Patty Federlin. Shields got off the line quicker with an 0.064 to a 0.071 and didn’t look back as he stormed through the finish line with a 5.58 at 267 MPH to beat Davis’ impressive 5.45 at 264 MPH.
In the Semis it looked like it could be another Duane Shields vs Mark Niver showdown in the final but this time it wasn’t meant to be as Shield’s rival, Jim Whiteley beat him at both ends of the race track to move onto the final. At the hit, Whiteley got of the line first with a 0.066 to Shields’ 0.102. At the top end it was all Whiteley with a 5.26 at 273 MPH to Shields’ 5.37 at 276 MPH.
While Shields was disappointed he didn't win the race he was pleased how well the team did during the Western Swing. "We were making rounds but were sometimes too aggressive. These guys are all good so you can't take them lightly and you have to really lean on it. But we gained points so it worked out good" Shields said after the event.
<img src="http://www.nitromater.com/gallery/files/5/shields_candid1.jpg" alt="shields_candid1"align="left"borders="0" />
Sonoma - While Duane Shields didn’t exactly have the weekend he wanted in Sonoma, the Nevada based driver still went a few rounds on Sunday at the Fram-Autolite NHRA Nationals and did well enough to keep pace with his goal of winning the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series Championship. Shields went into eliminations as the no. 2 qualifier with a fine 5.38 at 263 MPH.
This set up a first round match up against Mark Foster. On that pass Shields posted a 5.58 at 267 MPH for the win as Foster had problems and idled though to the finish line.
In the second round, Shields faced Justin Davis driving a blown alcohol car for Steve and Patty Federlin. Shields got off the line quicker with an 0.064 to a 0.071 and didn’t look back as he stormed through the finish line with a 5.58 at 267 MPH to beat Davis’ impressive 5.45 at 264 MPH.
In the Semis it looked like it could be another Duane Shields vs Mark Niver showdown in the final but this time it wasn’t meant to be as Shield’s rival, Jim Whiteley beat him at both ends of the race track to move onto the final. At the hit, Whiteley got of the line first with a 0.066 to Shields’ 0.102. At the top end it was all Whiteley with a 5.26 at 273 MPH to Shields’ 5.37 at 276 MPH.
While Shields was disappointed he didn't win the race he was pleased how well the team did during the Western Swing. "We were making rounds but were sometimes too aggressive. These guys are all good so you can't take them lightly and you have to really lean on it. But we gained points so it worked out good" Shields said after the event.
