Muscle Milk Dragster Loses Early Close Race in Brainerd

Brainerd MN - The Muscle Milk team returned to the Land of 10,000 Lakes for the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals in Brainerd, MN with Madison Payne behind the wheel. Madison qualified tenth with a 5.37 at 272 MPH. However, in the final round of qualifying, there was a malfunction with the car and the Muscle Milk team did not get any useful tune-up information going into the first round.

In round one, Madison faced David Sheetz. As the cars left the starting line, Sheetz was out first with a .071 light to Madison's .091. At the finish line, it was Sheetz by a whisker with a 5.33 at 265 MPH to beat Madison's close 5.37 at 272 MPH.

Car owner Duane Shields was disappointed by the early loss but realized it was the lack of data that likely lead to the loss. "We didn't have any data to go by, so we were overly aggressive, and the car rattled the tires. Madison did a great job with her .37 to his .33 but when you lose a qualifying run you get behind and it's hard to make up" he said. Madison agreed. "We tried some new parts on the car so it will be good for Indy but we got behind after the third qualifier" she said. In addition to competing in the Top Alcohol Dragster class, Madison raced in the Super Comp class where she lost a very close race in the semifinal round.

Speaking of Indy, Duane will be traveling so Madison will be going solo at the US Nationals without Duane's guidance. "I trust my crew will do a great job providing Madison with a safe and competitive ride in my absence" he said. Duane and Madison would like to thank GRP Rods, NGK Spark Plugs, Muscle Milk, Clean Boost, and Brad Anderson Enterprises.