Dyno Dave Reaches the Semifinals at the U.S. Nationals
Courtesy of THR5 Communications
Photo by Dyno Dave Motorsports
Claremont, IN – This year’s rain delayed U.S. Nationals might have been a puddle-ridden hassle for some, but for Dyno Dave Heitzman 
it was his chance to shine. Qualifying in the number two position and advancing to the semifinals made a dreary two week affair much brighter. Dyno Dave also showed the Top Alcohol Dragster class how it’s done by recording low elapsed time for the event and capturing top mile per hour honors.
“To be knocked out by the world champ in the semifinals is nothing to be ashamed of,” said Dyno Dave. “It really pumped up the team to qualify so well, and the support from our fan base was amazing. You can’t be disappointed by running the quickest and fastest times at the biggest race of the year.”
Going into Saturday’s qualifying session the Shane Co. Dragster sat in the number eight position from the previous rounds of qualifying. In the one and only qualifying round Dyno Dave launched the Shane Co. dragster to a 5.360/268.17 blast that catapulted him to the number two slot.
That gave Dyno Dave the advantage of lane choice against Michael Manners going into the first round of eliminations. At the biggest and baddest Drag Race of the year, Dyno Dave won his first round with a thunderous 5.331/271.08 to a losing 5.618/257.73 for Manners. This was the low elapsed time and top mile per hour run that had the pits buzzing. It also once again gave Dyno Dave lane choice in the second round. In that round a bit of luck came Dyno Dave’s way. His opponent’s car quit after the burnout and could not restart. When the lights came down, the Shane Co. dragster lost traction and went up in a cloud of tire smoke. He crossed the finish line with a pedestrian 12.49/62.47 time. He would not have lane choice in the semifinals.
Waiting in the staging lanes was Duane Shields, the reigning World Champion in Top Alcohol Dragster. The lights came down and the two asphalt warriors were off. Dyno Dave rocketed down the track with no sign of the champ. Around one-thousand feet is where Shields chose to make his appearance. He took the race at the finish line stripe with a 5.418/267.11 to Dyno Dave’s 5.423/264.55. The margin of victory was only 0.0286 seconds at the end of the quarter mile. It turned out to be enough to put an end to the 2012 U.S Nationals for Dyno Dave and the Shane Co. Team.
“It was a long two weeks and you can’t change the weather,” added Dyno Dave. “I would really like to thank my crew, and the fans for all their support. My phone has been blowing up these past few weeks. I also have to hand it to the staff at Lucas Oil Raceway for doing a fine job under extreme conditions. After this strong performance we will re-group and look to the future – hopefully with less rain.”
Dyno Dave Motorsports is honored to have our incredible team members;
Shane Co. – shaneco.com – facebook.com/shanecompany
Meridian Alliance Partners – meridianalliancepartners.com
Surf City Garage – surfcitygarage.com – surf city garage on facebook
NGK Spark Plugs – ngksparkplugs.com – ngk spark plugs on facebook
KK Collision – kkcollision.com
Mahle Clevite – mahle-aftermarket.com
Exide Battery – Exide.com
Join the Dyno Dave MotorSports Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DynoDaveMotorSports and please visit our webpage at http://dynodave.com/Motorsports.html
