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Tucson - Red Hot Duane Shields made it two big wins in a row by taking an impressive victory at the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event at Southwestern International Raceway in Tuscon, on March 11. Shields also won the other Arizona LODRS event held the week before at Firebird International Raceway in Phoenix.
In Phoenix, Shields posted a new track record with a 5.24 blast at 278 MPH, in route to qualifying on the pole. In the final round of eliminations, Shields shook the tires but still had enough in the bank to beat Chris Demke in the Peen Rite entry with a 5.37 to Demke's 5.49 to win the first Division 7 event of the year.
Fast forward to Tucson where Shields qualified first again with a 5.28 at 268 MPH. In the first round Shields got a single, but ran hard anyway, ripping off a 5.24 at 278 MPH to get lane choice in the second round. "There is a bump in the left lane so we wanted to keep lane choice through out the race." Shields said. In the second stanza, Shields faced off with Ed Schmeeckle and had to peddle it in order to get the win light. Shields got it done with a 5.37 at 277 MPH over Schmeeckle's 5.55 at 258 MPH.
In the final Shields raced Larry Miersch who has some of the best reaction times in the Top Alcohol Dragster class. "I knew that Larry was a good leaver and I couldn't afford to make any mistakes and had to be prepared to peddle it if I needed to." Shields said. It turned out that he didn't have to as the Shortline Express had a flawless run sporting a 5.29 at 278 MPH to get the victory. Miersch got off to a good start with an 0.046 reaction time to Shields' 0.092, but his 5.52 package wasn't enough to match Shields' incredible pass. "This was our first race back on 100 percent nitro and it sure helped at this high altitude track." Shields said.
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After the race Shields was happy with the win but still kept everything in perspective. "It's nice that we're running so well but we need to keep our focus. We'll have to if we expect to keep winning races. There are just to many good competitors out there that we are having to race week after week.
Duane Shields wants to thank his sponsors Valvoline Motor Oil, NGK Spark Plugs, and Hussey Copper Gaskets for their renewed support in 2007.
Shields Sweeps Back to Back Arizona Lucas Oil Events
Tucson - Red Hot Duane Shields made it two big wins in a row by taking an impressive victory at the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event at Southwestern International Raceway in Tuscon, on March 11. Shields also won the other Arizona LODRS event held the week before at Firebird International Raceway in Phoenix.
In Phoenix, Shields posted a new track record with a 5.24 blast at 278 MPH, in route to qualifying on the pole. In the final round of eliminations, Shields shook the tires but still had enough in the bank to beat Chris Demke in the Peen Rite entry with a 5.37 to Demke's 5.49 to win the first Division 7 event of the year.
Fast forward to Tucson where Shields qualified first again with a 5.28 at 268 MPH. In the first round Shields got a single, but ran hard anyway, ripping off a 5.24 at 278 MPH to get lane choice in the second round. "There is a bump in the left lane so we wanted to keep lane choice through out the race." Shields said. In the second stanza, Shields faced off with Ed Schmeeckle and had to peddle it in order to get the win light. Shields got it done with a 5.37 at 277 MPH over Schmeeckle's 5.55 at 258 MPH.
In the final Shields raced Larry Miersch who has some of the best reaction times in the Top Alcohol Dragster class. "I knew that Larry was a good leaver and I couldn't afford to make any mistakes and had to be prepared to peddle it if I needed to." Shields said. It turned out that he didn't have to as the Shortline Express had a flawless run sporting a 5.29 at 278 MPH to get the victory. Miersch got off to a good start with an 0.046 reaction time to Shields' 0.092, but his 5.52 package wasn't enough to match Shields' incredible pass. "This was our first race back on 100 percent nitro and it sure helped at this high altitude track." Shields said.
.
After the race Shields was happy with the win but still kept everything in perspective. "It's nice that we're running so well but we need to keep our focus. We'll have to if we expect to keep winning races. There are just to many good competitors out there that we are having to race week after week.
Duane Shields wants to thank his sponsors Valvoline Motor Oil, NGK Spark Plugs, and Hussey Copper Gaskets for their renewed support in 2007.
