Shortline Express 2007 News & Archives
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Hot off of securing his first NHRA Division Seven Championship title, Duane Shields was looking for more as he had the chance to finish in the top five nationally for a second year if he could close out the year with a final round appearance. This would be the last time driving his current Short Line Express car as he's got a new one on the jig for the 2008 season. In qualifying
Shields qualified seventh with a 5.30 at 273 MPH and drew Diana
Harker in the first round. Harker got out of the gate first but
was unable to maintain the lead as Shields flew by her at mid-track.
Shields posted a 5.50 at 270 MPH to Harker's 5.83. In the second round, Shields faced Spencer Massey at the wheel of his red and black Texas-based entry. Massey had qualified second and was running well all weekend. At the light Shields got away first with a great 0.010 reaction time to Massey's 0.077. Shields never looked back as Massey began to drop cylinders throughout the run and recorded a disappointing 5.79 to Shield's 5.30 at 274 MPH. In the semis, Shields faced another tough customer, Morgan Lucas, driving the Lucas Oil car. This race was one of the best all weekend as both driver had nearly identical reaction times. At the hit, Shields posted a 0.038 to Lucas' 0.039. This race was a nail biter as both cars were side by side all the way down Parker Avenue. At the stripe it was Shields with a 0.0171 second margin of victory, which translated into a stout 5.25 at 277 MPH to Lucas' valiant 5.27 at 271 MPH. The win set the stage with eventual series champion Bill Reichert. Reichert was unstoppable throughout the event and was driving like he was on another planet. Shields had to get aggressive on the tune-up and clutch in order to stop the Reichert express. At the starting line Shields had a great 0.022 light but then went up in smoke and that was all she wrote for the popular Nevada racer. Meanwhile, Reichert went on to post low ET of the weekend with an impressive 5.19 at 275 to take the win and the national championship title. While a win at
the Auto Club Finals was what the team was shooting for, the
second place showing was enough to move the team into fifth place
in national points which translates into another great year.
Shields will be back in February at Pomona to do it all over
again. After getting in the show with a 5.53 at 269 MPH that landed him in the 14th spot, Shields ended up smoking the tires during the final qualifying lap which presented him and his crew the dilemma of having to soften the tune-up in order to avoid smoking the tires, yet still make a quick enough run to get past Kate Harker, who qualified third. At the hit, Shields
gave the track to much power and smoked the tires after a slight
starting line advantage. Shields pedaled it but despite his effort,
Harker was long gone and posted a 5.35 at 261 MPH to Shield's
disappointing 6.43 at 255 MPH. "We missed the tune-up in
the first round but did find some more power in Dallas. We are
going to head home to Vegas and start testing in order to work
on our hot weather tune-up for next year. We need to tighten
up the car and get back on track. Once we're done with testing,
we'll head to Pomona and wrap up the season" Shields said
after the event. In the first round, Shields faced red hot Randy Eakins. Eakins was at the top of his game and deep staged his car which gave him an excellent 0.018 reaction time to Shields' 0.080. Shields then slightly got out the groove and spun the tire 200 feet out and then had to pedal it. Eakins charged ahead for the win and posted a 5.63 at 243 MPH to Shields' 5.84 at 261 MPH. "The car left fine but I was just a hair out of the groove and that was all she wrote" Shields said. With the first round lost, Shields' two closest competitors can go out of division to try and win the championship but must win the race in order to secure the title. "Our first round loss left the championship undecided so we'll wait and watch the competition race out of division to see if they can win the championship." Shields said.
Shields Loses a Close Race
at Indy In qualifying, Shields nailed the 6th spot with a 5.31 at 270 MPH which put him in the top half of the field and set up a first round match with Bohr who qualified eleventh. At the hit Bohr got out of the gate first with an .074 to Shields' close .080. On top of that, Shields slightly spun the tires right off the line. Still, the race was on and what a dandy it was as the cars were separated by only ten inches at the stripe. To make it even closer, both drivers posted identical ETs. Shields ran a 5.490 at 264.03 MPH to Bohr's winning 5.494 at 262.39 MPH. "We were confident but we knew the heat was going to be a factor as the track temperature was 123 degrees at the time we raced. We over compensated and spun the tires as a result. Jeff's a good racer and earned the win" Shields said. Moving on to Bakersfield
The Shortline
Express team started their weekend in the right direction by
qualifying third for a very tough eight car field with a 5.34
at 272 MPH. This set the stage for a first round duel with Cody
Perkins who qualified sixth. "Cody is one of the best leavers
in the sport and he's running well so we had to be on our game"
Shields said. Perkins who lost a belt on the run, still posted
a 5.37 at 256 MPH and had an identical 0.062 reaction time to
Shields, but at the finish line it was all Shields with an impressive
5.23 at 270 MPH. Shields will
now have to wait until Bakersfield for a shot at winning the
Division Seven Top Alcohol title. The final Showdown for the
title will be September 7-8 at Auto Club Famoso Raceway. Shields Scores in Sonoma To kick off the weekend, Shields reminded everyone that the Shortline Express is still the car to beat as he qualified second with an impressive 5.24 at 272 MPH. In the first round, Shields met up with up and coming driver Lindsey Wood, who drives the latest Darien & Meadows entry. Both cars left together but something let go in Wood's car as she coasted at the top end while Shields stormed through the finish line with a 5.45 victory at 265 MPH. In round two, Shields met up with Seattle winner Thomas Bayer. Once again, Shields took care of business with 5.27 at 275 MPH to Bayer's close 5.30 at 267 MPH. Shields recorded the quickest pass in the second round which gave him lane choice against Utah's Aaron Olivarez in the Semifinals. In the semis, Shields earned a trip to the finals by treating Olivarez to a good old fashioned holeshot. Shields had an 0.056 reaction time to Olivarez's 0.077. Shields crossed the line first with a 5.33 at 273 MPH to Olivarez's quicker 5.31 at 271 MPH. In the finals
Shields faced off with A/Fuel newcomer Brandon Lewis from Oklahoma.
Shields got off the line first with an 0.030 to Lewis' 0.058.
For Shiel
ds, it was straight down Broadway with a 5.34 at 272
MPH blast to Lewis' valiant 5.42 effort. The win put Shields
back in the hunt after a short break for part of June and much
of July. Cold Weather
Plays Spoiler in Mission The weather did cooperate during qualifying as Shields ran a 5.33 at 273 MPH in the first stanza, and then smoked the tires in the second session after experimenting with an aggressive tune up. In the final round of qualifying, Shields matched his first qualifying effort with a 5.33 and set the track's speed record in the process by flying through the traps at 274 MPH. Unfortunately, some cold wet weather moved into the Fraser Valley on Saturday night and into Sunday morning. As a result, the track was a very cool 56 degrees at the time Shields fired up his engine. "We were a bit nervous as we have never raced when it was that cold. We didn't have a tune-up for those kind of conditions" Shields said. As a consequence, Shields smoked the tires at about five feet into the run and tried pedaling the car but lost a valuable second in the process while opponent Mark Hentges built up a good lead and ran a 5.52. After Shields realized that he was to far back to play catch up, he lifted and coasted through the finish line with a 6.53 as Hentges advanced to the second round. "I love
racing up here at Mission as it's one of my favorite tracks.
Unfortunately, we had to guess on the tune-up since it was cold.
We didn't de-tune the engine enough and the car ended up overpowering
the track" Shields said. Shields will stick around the Northwest
and will race at the Pacific Raceways Divisional, June 15-17.
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 began the weekend by qualifying no. 1 in the first round of qualifying but ended up in the forth position with a respectable 5.42. In the first round Shields took on newcomer Tom Bayer driving the Toyo Tires entry. Bayer went up in smoke at the hit and had to lift. Shields meanwhile cruised to an easy 5.41 win. In the second round, Shields faced Chris Demke in the Peen-Rite Abrasive Finishing entry. Demke got a jump on Shields but was unable to maintain the lead. Shields drove around Demke at half track and held on for the victory with a 5.33 blast, to Demke's 5.45. In the semifinal round, Shields faced eventual winner Joey Severence. Shields who was on a roll in front of his hometown fans experienced a lose locknut which backed off in the valvetrain resulting in a subpar 6.79, while Severance streaked to a 5.39 win. "I knew Joey was running well all weekend and he certainly didn't back in to the win. We dropped some cyl inders but it didn't damage the engine but it did damage my heart. Regardless, I was happy to see Joey get his first national event win" Shields said. Overall, Sheilds was happy with his team's performance this weekend. "We had a good time and I'm already looking forward to the Lucas race here next weekend. Our Shortline Express stores is sponsoring next week's race and we are giving away tickets at all Shortline Express stores in the Las Vegas area" said Shields. As always, Duane
Shields thanks his sponsors Valvoline Motor Oil, NGK Spark Plugs,
and Hussey Copper Gaskets for their support. Las Vegas - Free
tickets to the Lucas Oil Event to be held at Las Vegas Motor
Speedway are now available at all Shortline Express Stores! The
race is scheduled for next weekend, April 20 -22. Visit a Shortline
Express store for more information. Even with the painful loss, drivers and teams still managed to get back on track and return to racing while fighting off rain showers throughout much of the weekend. The wet weather limited qualifying to just two runs. Shields ended up qualifying fourth with a 5.31 at 274 MPH. In the first round, Shields got a single as his opponent Dave Heitzman couldn't make the call. Shields cruised to a 5.36 which was good enough to get lane choice in second round against Marty Thacker. Shields ran a 5.31 at 274 MPH to get around Thacker who ran a 5.40 at 265 MPH. In the semifinals, Shields was matched up with Bill Reichert and did everything right including cutting down the tree with an 0.02 reaction time and a 5.28 at 272 MPH package. But it wasn't nearly enough as Reichert hammered down a 5.10 at 281 MPH blast which is the fastest run ever in Top Alcohol Dragster, and it backed up Reichert's 282 MPH pass in round one for a new national speed record. "We had the second quickest pass in the semis but Bill ran a 5.10. Normally our 5.28 would have won the round." Shields said. While Shields would have loved to have advanced to the finals, he was content with how consistently well the car ran all weekend. "We were happy with how the car performed and would like to thank our sponsors including Valvoline Motor Oil, NGK Spark Plugs, and Hussey Copper Gaskets for their continued support." Shields added. Shields Sweeps
Back to Back Arizona Events 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. Duane Shields
wants to thank his sponsors Valvoline Motor Oil, NGK Spark Plugs,
and Hussey Copper Gaskets for their renewed support in 2007. Shields Experiences
Mixed Results at Winternationals Where the trouble came was during the first round when an idle check valve malfunctioned causing the Shortline Express dragster to bog down and didn't respond initially at the starting line. Finally, the problem took care of itself as the car gained momentum but it was to late, as Shields ran out of race track trying to catch his opponent, Randy Eakins by about fifteen feet. "I'm certainly disappointed to have gone out early, but the car is running great other than the problem we encountered in the first round. It's just one race and we will rebound, there's no doubt about that." Shields said. With his Shortline Express dragster out of the race, Shields is turning his attention to helping friend Brandon Johnson, who switched to A/Fuel this season. Johnson beat his first round opponent, so Shields will be sticking around to help him on Sunday. Shields wants
to thanks his sponsors Valvoline Motor Oil, NGK Spark Plugs,
and Hussey Copper Gaskets for their renewed support in 2007. Shields qualified in the top half of the field and was the second fastest car during the final qualifying session with a 5.315 at 265.01 MPH to boost him into fourth. "The car was running great on every qualifying round and I really expected to win the event." Shields said after the race. In the first round, Shields once again faced Garrett Bateman. It was Bateman whom he lost to in the semifinals at Las Vegas the week prior. Unfortunately for Shields the results were the same as there was a malfunction in the clutch and Shields had to abort the run. Meanwhile, Bateman sailed by with a 5.408 to end Shield's weekend. In spite of the
first round loss, all is not lost as Shields finishes the season
with two national event wins and a top five ranking. "I
feel great as we have a competitive car and we look good going
into next season. I want to thank Hussey Copper Gaskets, Valvoline
Motor oil, and NGK Spark Plugs for all their support this season."
Shields said. Hot off his big win in Dallas, Shields looked to be the driver to beat after winning in the first round over Larry Miersch. Miersch, got a big hole shot but dropped a cylinder at the top end which allowed Shields to get around him and take the win by a little less then a car length. Shields was able to sneak by with a 5.59 at 258.42 MPH over Miersch's 5.720 at 245.09 MPH. In the second stanza, Shields took on the Big O Tire team with Garrett Bateman at the wheel. This time it was Shields that got off to the early lead but had a mag failure at half track. Bateman was on a clean run and got the win with a 5.58 at 254 MPH to Shields' 5.71 at 258 MPH. Shields now moves
on to the final NHRA event of the year, the Auto Club Finals
at Pomona, November 10-13. Shields won the Winternationals at
the Fairplex in February, and hopes to remain undefeated in Pomona
in 2006. Shields Wins
Big at Dallas!!! Shields from Las Vegas, had a good feeling going into the O'Reilly Fall Nationals after taking the pole at Indianapolis which was the last race he had competed in prior to Dallas. But after qualifying in the eighth position with a 5.51 he wasn't so sure how well he would do. "We didn't qualify as high as we would have liked and we didn't know what to expect. But we figured if we made it to Sunday we had a good shot at winning." Shields said. In the first round, Shields defeated Garret Bateman with a 5.36 before luck played into the second round while racing Sean O'Bannon, who has been a powerhouse this year. "The second round was all luck as glare hit the tree and I couldn't see the light. O'Bannon left so I got on the throttle trying to catch him but I smoked the tires. I peddled it and then something happened to OBannon as his lost a blower belt. After getting the break from O'Bannon we knew it was our day." Shields concluded. In the Semifinal round, Shields got another gift as his opponent Brandon Pierce got shut off due to an oil leak. This set the final round pairing between Shields and Spencer Massey driving the Snowman entry. In the final,
Massey who is known for his great reaction times, was less charitable
then the two prior opponents as he gave Shields all he could
handle in a very close race. While Shields had his best light
of the year, Massey still left the line first with a 0.016 light
to Shields' 0.032. However, Shields' quicker ET made the difference
as he ran a 5.388 to Massey's respectable 5.460. "At the
finish line I didn't know who won as I've lost a lot of very
close races. I came around the corner and saw an NHRA official
signal me and then I realized I got the win. Some of my family
were there including my dad so it was great to win in front of
them." Shields said.
While the team
fell short of their goal to win the US Nationals, Indy gave Shields
and the Short Line Express team some optimism going into
the final stretch of the season. "I'm disappointed we didn't
win Indy but I'm very optimistic going into Dallas." Shields
said following the race. |
Feel free to contact us at the link below: Contact us Winternationals, Pomona, 2/8-2/11 Completed, round 1 NHRA Divisional, Pheonix AZ, 3/2-3/4 Completed, won event NHRA Divisional, Tucson AZ, 3/9-3/11 Completed, won event Spring Nationals, Houston, 3/30-4/1 Completed, round 3 Summit Nationals, Las Vegas, 4/12-4/15 Completed, round 3 Shortline Divisional, Las Vegas, 4/20-4/22 Completed, runner up NHRA Divisional, Fontana CA, 5/4-5/6 Completed, round 2 NHRA Divisional, Mission CAN, 5/25-5/27 Completed, round 1 NHRA Divisional, Seattle Completed, round 1 Schucks Nationals, Seattle, 7/20-7/22 Completed Autolite Nationals, Sonoma, 7/27-2/29 Completed, won event NHRA Divisional, Sonoma, Completed, semi-final finish US Nationals, Indianapolis, 8/29-9/3 Completed, round 1 NHRA Divisional, Bakersfield, 9/7-9/8 Completed, round 1 Completed, round 1 Auto Club Nationals, Pomona, 11/1-11/4 Completed, runner up |