Duane Shields Gambles in Las Vegas but Came Up Short In Eliminations

Duane Shields rolled the dice and played it safe with consistency in Las Vegas but the gamble didn't pay off and he came up short in round one of eliminations.

The Muscle Milk A/fuel Dragster qualified twelfth with a 5.32 but the car lacked the ET needed to get into the late rounds. The team opted not to race on the ragged edge and risk losing traction which is always a trade-off. "We played it safe so we would be consistent. But in doing so it slowed us down a little too much". Duane admitted.

Duane's first-round opponent was Washington's Kim Parker. At the hit, Duane was out of the gate first with a .065 to Parker's .079. But, Parker was able to take a narrow lead and get the win with a 5.26 at 267 MPH to Duane's 5.32 at 270 MPH. "We need to work on getting our ET's quicker and will spend the next two races doing that. We have some ideas" Duane explained.

For the last two events of the year, Madison Payne will be driving the Muscle Milk Dragster. "That was my last race of the year so Madison can drive at the regional race here next weekend and the last race in Pomona. And then we will start planning for next year" Duane said.

The team would like to thank their marketing partners including Muscle Milk, BAE, Clean Boost, GRP Connecting Rods, and NGK Spark Plugs for their support this season.