[coverattach=1]While Duane Shields' A/Fuel Dragster ran with perfection all weekend, imperfect weather conditions at the Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals in Mohnton, Pennsylvania made Shields' march to the winner's circle a very cautious one. The Top Alcohol Dragster class only got one round of qualifying in due to rain and it was stop and go delays from there as the conditions effected the entire event.
While there were just enough cars to fill the 16 car field, Shields took no chances and did everything possible to prevent the car from going up in smoke at the starting line. "We were very cautious in qualifying. We have a new tune-up in the car and the car is running much better so we were more conservative with the tune-up" Shields said. Still, the car ended up in the sixth position with a 5.48 at 258 MPH.
Shields opened the first round by facing Division 2 rival Bill Evans. Shields knew he couldn't take Evans lightly as the pair have raced before. At the hit, Evans was out of the gate first with a 0.09 reaction time to Shields' 0.115 but Shields' better ET quickly made up for Evans' better reaction time and blew by him with a 5.39 to Evans' slower 5.77. "It was a good run for us and we were happy with how well the car performed. Bill is a good racer and we were again cautious when we made our tune-up decisions" Shields said.
In round two, Shields took on Ken Winward. The race was over before it could begin as Winward red lit. Still, Shields didn't allow Winward's red light to spoil a good pass and it turned out to be Shields' best run of the weekend, as he stopped the clocks with a 5.29 at 269 MPH. "We wanted to see if we could step it up and we were just a little to aggressive on the run and slightly hazed the tires" said Shields when looking back on the second round win.
In the semi finals, Shields took on East Coast hitter Mike Kosky. Again, a red light decided the race as Kosky went red. Shields once again made a beautiful run and recorded a fine 5.34 at 267 MPH to earn a trip to the finals. Shields was back in the caution mode in the semis. "We backed it off against Mike as we didn't want to smoke the tires." Kosky meanwhile oiled the track on the run which contributed to NHRA officials decision to postpone several class finals for Monday including Top Alcohol Dragster.
With the finals held on Monday, Shields and his crew had to deal with some added stress and had to make different tune-up decisions. "The one day delay added additional anxiety and the weather changed as it was cooler so the car would make more horsepower on Monday. I wanted to again be sure that we didn't smoke the tires" Shields said. Shields' had to race an unexpected powerhouse, Mike Lewis, who use to operate Maplegrove Raceway, and is now a Senior Vice President of Don Shumacher Racing during his "day" job. "We had to race Mike Lewis driving Tom Conway's car and he was running very close to us. Plus, Mike was cutting good lights so we had to be on our game" Shields said.
Lewis left first but the race didn't last long as a broken fuel line on Lewis' car caused him to smoke the tires which quickly put the brakes on his weekend. Shields in the other lane cruised to the Toyo Tires Nationals victory with a 5.33 at 259 MPH. "It's a good weekend any time you get a win but it was emotionally exhausting for us due to all of the rain and track delays. This is the start of five races in a row so to begin with a win is great" Shields said after the win. The team now heads to Cecil County Dragway for an NHRA divisional event.
While there were just enough cars to fill the 16 car field, Shields took no chances and did everything possible to prevent the car from going up in smoke at the starting line. "We were very cautious in qualifying. We have a new tune-up in the car and the car is running much better so we were more conservative with the tune-up" Shields said. Still, the car ended up in the sixth position with a 5.48 at 258 MPH.
Shields opened the first round by facing Division 2 rival Bill Evans. Shields knew he couldn't take Evans lightly as the pair have raced before. At the hit, Evans was out of the gate first with a 0.09 reaction time to Shields' 0.115 but Shields' better ET quickly made up for Evans' better reaction time and blew by him with a 5.39 to Evans' slower 5.77. "It was a good run for us and we were happy with how well the car performed. Bill is a good racer and we were again cautious when we made our tune-up decisions" Shields said.
In round two, Shields took on Ken Winward. The race was over before it could begin as Winward red lit. Still, Shields didn't allow Winward's red light to spoil a good pass and it turned out to be Shields' best run of the weekend, as he stopped the clocks with a 5.29 at 269 MPH. "We wanted to see if we could step it up and we were just a little to aggressive on the run and slightly hazed the tires" said Shields when looking back on the second round win.
In the semi finals, Shields took on East Coast hitter Mike Kosky. Again, a red light decided the race as Kosky went red. Shields once again made a beautiful run and recorded a fine 5.34 at 267 MPH to earn a trip to the finals. Shields was back in the caution mode in the semis. "We backed it off against Mike as we didn't want to smoke the tires." Kosky meanwhile oiled the track on the run which contributed to NHRA officials decision to postpone several class finals for Monday including Top Alcohol Dragster.
With the finals held on Monday, Shields and his crew had to deal with some added stress and had to make different tune-up decisions. "The one day delay added additional anxiety and the weather changed as it was cooler so the car would make more horsepower on Monday. I wanted to again be sure that we didn't smoke the tires" Shields said. Shields' had to race an unexpected powerhouse, Mike Lewis, who use to operate Maplegrove Raceway, and is now a Senior Vice President of Don Shumacher Racing during his "day" job. "We had to race Mike Lewis driving Tom Conway's car and he was running very close to us. Plus, Mike was cutting good lights so we had to be on our game" Shields said.
Lewis left first but the race didn't last long as a broken fuel line on Lewis' car caused him to smoke the tires which quickly put the brakes on his weekend. Shields in the other lane cruised to the Toyo Tires Nationals victory with a 5.33 at 259 MPH. "It's a good weekend any time you get a win but it was emotionally exhausting for us due to all of the rain and track delays. This is the start of five races in a row so to begin with a win is great" Shields said after the win. The team now heads to Cecil County Dragway for an NHRA divisional event.
