2/08/05 -- During the winter months, Duke Racing has been extremely busy in making the necessary preperations for the 2005 racing season.  The front office has been able to secure the sponsorship backing that is necessary to put together a top-notch micro sprint racing team.  Duke Racing would like to thank Paul Stine Chevrolet Inc., Vinnie's Pizza, and Treasured Images Photography for once again supporting the efforts of Duke Racing in 2005.  Duke Racing would also like to welcome Hoffman's Lawn Service of Selinsgrove, Dons Cleaning Service of Sunbury, and Gates Development of Selinsgrove as they will be our newest supporters for the 2005 racing season.  A few pre-season car apperences in several locations have been scheduled.  Check the schedule for a location near you.  Over the off-season, Duke Racing has completely re-tooled their orginazation.  The most exciting change will be that Hammer Racing Engines have become the official enigne builder of Duke Racing and have vowed to do everything in their power to get Duke Racing to the front of the pack where they belong.  Every effort is being made that will give Duke Racing the greatest chance of becoming successful at the micro sprint level and hopefully with the hard work and dedication this team is known for, Duke Racing will become a household name in the micro sprint community.  The web site will undergo some updates over the next few weeks, including a few pages of long awaited new pictures, the new 2005 shedule, as well as some more updates to keep you all posted on the progress made at Duke Racing as the team prepares for the 2005 season. 

As the air grows cold, and the autumn leaves brighten, the 2005 racing season has finally come to a close.  Blessed with excellent racing weather for most of the summer, Duke Racing was able to participate in 48 events in 2005.  In these events, Duke Racing saw significant improvement in only their second full season with the micro sprint car operation.  The most significant improvement was the ability to get to victory lane for the first time on June 17 and return 3 more times before the end of the year.  In 2004, Duke Racing finished in the top 10 17 times and only 4 of these finishes were in the top 5.  This past racing season, Duke Racing made a drastic improvement with 37 top 10 finishes and 24 of those finishes being in the top 5.  At Selinsgrove Raceway Park, Duke Racing’s home track, the team improved from 10^th place in championship point standing one year ago to a title contending 3^rd place effort in 2005.  Another coming of age effort was at the national United Micro Sprint Association sanctioned event at Greenwood Valley Action Track in September when Duke Racing posted the fastest time of the night in time trials and finished a solid third against some of the best micro sprint racers in the country.

During the 2005 racing season, the motor problems that plagued the team in 2004 were a distant memory, thanks mainly to Hammer Racing Engines for providing the team with great horsepower with high reliability throughout the 2005 racing season. 

Duke Racing avoided the sophomore slump in 2005 and emerged as one of the top 5 race teams in the area.  During this off-season, Duke Racing will continue to make more improvements to the micro sprint car operation with intentions of becoming a championship caliber race team and a regular visitor to victory lane in 2006.

Selinsgrove Raceway Park -- 8/19/05

Friday night, Duke Racing made their usual trip to Selinsgrove Raceway Park, where they are currently locked into a 3-way battle for second place in championship points.  After overcoming poor starting spots for top 3 finishes the past 2 weeks, Duke Racing looked to raise the bar and return to victory lane.  Unlike previous weeks, Duke Racing drew the pole for the first of three qualifying events for the 24 cars signed in.  For the third consecutive week, Duke Racing struggled in qualifying.  After taking the lead on the opening circuit, Duke Racing quickly surrendered the lead, but was able to finish the race in the second position, meaning they would redraw for the feature event.  Luck was on the side of Duke Racing on this evening as they once again drew the pole position for the feature event.  However, soon to be track champion, Shane Penny, started on the outside of the front row.  As the feature drew closer, the track started to take more and more rubber, and Duke Racing decided the track was coming towards their setup and decided to only make a small chassis adjustment before the feature race.  When the green flag dropped, Duke Racing vaulted into the lead on 2 occasions, only to have the yellow flag fly before a lap had been completed.  Meanwhile, the driver made a left rear shock adjustment during the caution and when the green flag waived, Duke Racing stormed into the lead.  After holding off advances attempted by Penny, Duke Racing started to slowly pull away from the pack.  Near the halfway point, Duke Racing encountered heavy lapped traffic and the gap between first and second closed and set up a torrid 4 car battle for the lead.  With 2 laps remaining, the caution flag flew one last time, setting up a green, white, checkered sprint to the finish.  With Duke leading and Penny in second, everyone in the joint had their eyes glued to the track to watch Penny head to the high side and pull off one of his patented high-side maneuvers to steal away the win.  When the green flag dropped, Duke Racing countered the move and drove two perfect laps to the checkered flag scoring a huge upset by taking the teams 3^rd victory of the season.

Selinsgrove Raceway Park -- 7/08/05

After suffering 2 devastating crashes last weekend, Duke Racing headed down to Selinsgrove Raceway Park for their normal Friday night program.  After rain soaked the area during the morning hours, the track conditions were near perfect for fast, side-by-side racing.  Satisfied with their car after the practice session, Duke Racing made no changes to the King Racing Chassis.  In the qualifying event, Duke Racing started 5^th and quickly moved up to the second place position.  Satisfied with the run, Duke Racing did not push the envelope and made sure they completed the race in a handicapped position.  Before the feature event, Duke Racing team engineers scrutinized over a critical tire decision and decided to stay with the tire they ran in the qualifying event.  Unfortunately, the luck of the draw for the feature event had Duke Racing starting on the outside of row 3.  When the green flag dropped, Duke Racing went to the high side and attempted to make a move around the second row, but could not pull off the move in time and forced to back out of the gas off turn two and was punted back to 8^th place.  Luckily, after lap 2, the caution flag was thrown and Duke Racing regained their composure.  When the green flag dropped, Duke Racing began to storm back up to the front of the field.  By the half way point, Duke Racing was running in the fourth position and began to reel in the leaders.  Shortly after this point in the race, the tire decision made before the feature event began to prove to be the wrong choice Duke Racing started to fade in the late going.  A late caution flag with 1 lap to go helped out Duke Racing as they were able to move up one more spot to the third position on the restart and finished the race with a strong top 3 run.

Greenwood Valley Action Track -- 7/09/05

Saturday night, Duke Racing returned to the Greenwood Valley Action Track.  After waiting through a hard thunderstorm, the practice session began and the teams were met with beautiful track conditions.  Duke Racing ran 3 laps of practice and parked the King Racing Chassis as it was performing absolutely flawlessly.  Duke Racing lined up in the 5^th position for the qualifying event and when the green flag dropped, moved up to the 3^rd position and remained there until the checkered flag fell.  Learning from their mistake the previous night, Duke Racing went with a harder compound tire for the right rear for the feature event.  By luck of the draw, Duke Racing started on the pole for the feature event.  When the green flag dropped, Duke Racing took off and stormed into the lead.  On lap 2, Duke Racing was pressured for the lead and gave it up coming off turn 2.  Content to ride in the second position, Duke Racing stayed within striking distance for the next 15 laps.  As the race wore on, the King Racing Chassis started to hook up as the leaders entered lapped traffic.  With 3 laps remaining, Duke Racing decided it was time to pull the trigger and vaulted into the lead.  A caution with 2 laps to go bunched the field back up on the bumper of Duke Racing.  When racing resumed, the King Racing Chassis performed to perfection and Duke Racing ran their two fastest laps of the evening and faded into the sunset as the team earned their second victory of the year.

Selinsgrove Raceway Park -- 6/24/05

Friday night, Duke Racing returned to the Selinsgrove Raceway Park in attempt to repeat last Friday night’s amazing feature win.  Met with dry-slick track conditions which were completely opposite of last weeks conditions, Duke Racing struggled to find the handle during the practice session.  After making several changes, Duke Racing lined up on the outside of the front row for the qualifying event.  When the green flag dropped, Duke Racing stormed into the lead.  Quickly, the car started to develop a very loose condition on the right rear corner of the car and Duke Racing started backing up to the competition.  Struggling off the corner, Duke Racing lost the lead about 5 laps into the race and slipped to third by the time the checkered flag fell.  After analyzing the lap times which were 8 tenths of a second a lap off of the competition, Duke Racing team engineers decided to make some severe chassis adjustments before the feature event.  By luck of the draw, Duke Racing lined up on the outside of row 1 for the feature event.  When the green flag dropped, Duke Racing stormed into the lead only to have a crash in turn 2 negate the start of the race.  On the second restart, Duke Racing was not as fortunate as third place starter ran over the left front tire of Duke Racing, which punted the team back to the fifth position.  The dry-slick track conditions did not favor much passing on the fifth mile oval, and Duke Racing rode in line for much of the race in the fifth position.  Mid-way through the race, a caution flag flew again and something incredible happened.  Duke Racing was put back two spots for jumping a car that was never in front of them the entire race on the previous restart.  Duke racing was forced to restart in the seventh position and immediately went to work at regaining the unfairly lost positions.  By the time the checkered flag fell, Duke Racing was back up to fifth and notched another top 5 finish.

Hill Valley Speedway -- 6/25/05

Saturday night, Duke Racing decided to make the trip back to the Hill Valley Speedway, which always seems to offer much drama and excitement by the end of the evening.  The night did not begin with much promise as Duke Racing seemingly missed the setup completely and were somewhat stumped by the rough and dry track conditions.  After much thought and deep concentration, Duke Racing team engineers decided to make 3 different chassis adjustments to the King Racing Chassis.  Unsure of what to expect, Duke Racing lined up on the outside of the front row for the second of three qualifying events for the 33 cars in attendance.  When the green flag dropped, Duke Racing stormed into the lead.  With the King Racing Chassis now performing flawlessly, Duke Racing endured several caution flags and the pressure from the track hot shoe and RTS Racing Chassis kingpin Terry Schaeffer to lead wire to wire as the checkered flag fell.  Extraordinarily happy with the car, Duke Racing only made one slight engine tuning adjustment for the feature event.  At approximately midnight, Duke Racing took to the track for the feature event.  Starting heads up from the qualifying events, Duke Racing started on the outside of the front row in the star-studded lineup.  When the green flag dropped, Duke Racing settled into the second position and slowly started running down the leader.  About 3 laps into the race, Duke Racing caught a small break when the leaders left rear tire went flat causing their car to spin in turn two.  After waiting for about 5 caution laps for the leader to change their tire (Did not know that was allowed?), the race resumed.  Duke Racing dominated most of the race as the King Racing Chassis was performing to perfection and the Hammer Racing Engine was screaming down the straightaway.  Caution flags were the only things that could slow Duke Racing down as they fell often and incompetent track officials would take as many as ten laps to make sure the line up was correct.  With seven laps remaining, the caution flag flew which erased the advantage for Duke Racing and put Terry Schaeffer and sprint car midget standout, Steve Buckwalter, directly on the rear bumper of Duke Racing.  When racing resumed, Duke Racing fended off the challenge from Schaeffer and started riding off into the sunset.  On the final lap, Duke Racing was coming to the checkered flag, and with victory in sight, a car flipped in turn two, bringing out the red flag.  During the red flag, the crewmembers were NOT allowed on the track to work on their cars.  Also, the lap counter was reverted back to two laps remaining.  This gave the heavy favorites another chance to unseat Duke Racing at the front of the pack.  When racing resumed, Duke Racing stormed out to a huge advantage as the white flag waived again.  Then, as Duke Racing came off turn two, the engine began to sputter as the fuel pressure dropped to zero.  Duke Racing nursed the car back to the front stretch to take the checkered flag as the rest of the pack finally caught up as the cars went side by side over the stripe, only to have the caution flag come out again.  With hardly any fuel left in the tank, officials knew the leader would not make it and reverted back to another 2-lap shootout.  When the final green flag waived, Duke Racing lost power and failed to finish the event for the first time this season and was credited with a 14^th place finish and the most heart-breaking loss in Duke Racing history.

Path Valley Speedway -- 4/29/05

After Mother Nature washed out the previous weeks racing events, Selinsgrove Raceway Park once again cancelled last Friday evening due to impending inclement weather.  Duke Racing then turned to Plan B, and made the hour and a half trip westward to the high banks of Path Valley Speedway.  After arriving at the racetrack, Duke Racing made many changes to the King Racing Chassis to prepare it for the super fast high banks.  During the practice session, the team was fairly satisfied with their performance.  In the second of three qualifying events, Duke Racing lined up in the second row and immediately moved into third when the green flag dropped.  With two laps remaining, Duke Racing was in the second position when the yellow flag slowed the field.  With track conditions deteriorating rapidly, the handle started to go away on the King Racing Chassis.  When racing resumed, Duke Racing was given a wheel and was wheeled out of the way in turn one and came across the line in third position.  When Duke Racing returned to the pit area, massive wholesale changes were made to the King Racing Chassis for the feature event.  For the feature event, Duke Racing lined up on the inside of row 4.  When the green flag dropped, Duke Racing immediately blasted up the inside lane into the 6^th position.  With track conditions bordering on those of a corn field, Duke Racing decided to go to the high side in turns 3 and 4, only to loose 3 positions and fall back to the 9^th position.  Shortly after that the caution flag slowed the field, giving time for Duke Racing to make some in-cockpit adjustments to the King Racing Chassis.  When Racing resumed, Duke Racing found a home on the bottom side of the racetrack and slowly worked their way through the field.  By mid-race, Duke Racing was back up to the sixth position and took over the fifth position as the leaders started to encounter lapped traffic.  A gaggle of slower lapped cars blocked the race track directly in front of Duke Racing.  It took a lap and a half for Duke Racing to work through the lapped cars which cost Duke Racing nearly a straightaway in valuable time to the leaders.  Determined to make it back up, Duke Racing dropped the hammer and started to reel back in the leaders.  With 3 laps remaining, Duke Racing has caught the top 4 and began applying heavy pressure to the leaders.  Duke Racing then pulled the trigger and dove to the bottom of the speedway to make a run into the top 3 with two laps to go, just as the caution flag flew for the final time slowing the field.   Unfortunately this would slow Duke Racings charge to the front and Duke Racing lined up for the restart in the 5^th position with two laps remaining.  Then, the unthinkable happened.  Path Valley track officials decided to put up cones on the bottom side of turns one and two, directly in the groove that Duke Racing was running and gaining valuable time on the leaders.  This forced Duke Racing up the racetrack for the remaining two laps and they could not mount another challenge, and finished the race in the 5^th position.

Selinsgrove Raceway Park -- 4/15/05

Friday night, Duke Racing made their usual trip to the Selinsgrove Raceway Park.  They were met with unusually dry track conditions, which made for a very slick racing surface.  After practice, Duke Racing was not satisfied with the King Racing Chassis and made a few adjustments for the qualifying events.  After lining up on the inside of row 3, Duke Racing quickly moved up to the third position after the green flag fell.  Slowly, Duke Racing reeled in the second place car and swept by on the inside of turn 4 to easily take the position, just before the checkered flag fell.  Happier, but still not satisfied, Duke Racing made one more significant change to the setup of the King Racing Chassis.  By luck of the handicap draw, Duke Racing lined up for the feature event in the third position.  That proved to be the perfect place to be as on lap 1 the front row collided in turn 3 taking out both the leaders.  On the restart, Duke racing was able to slide up to the pole position.  When the green flag dropped, Duke Racing dropped the hammer and took off like a rocket.  Duke Racing extended their lead to over a half straightaway until a caution flag flew on lap 8.  This put track hot shoe, Shane Penny on the rear bumper of Duke Racing and set up the shoot out that the fans have been waiting to see for quite some time.  When the green flag dropped, Duke Racing hit the accelerator and led the field around the Snyder County 1/5^th mile oval.  Fending off all challenges, Duke Racing started encountering lapped traffic.  Slicing through the traffic, Duke Racing was able to keep Penny at bay.  With 5 laps remaining, the handle started to go away from the Duke Racing entry as the right rear Hoosier tire began to loose optimum grip making passing the lapped cars quite a challenge.  With 5 laps remaining, Duke Racing encountered a bottle-neck of lapped cars on the inside of turn two.  Seizing the opportunity, Penny headed to the high side and pulled even with Duke Racing.  Duke Racing slammed the door and headed to turn three.  On the next circuit, Duke Racing made their way by another lapper, who decided not to give Duke Racing much room in turn three and caused the King Racing Chassis to slide up the track in turn four and opened the door.  Shane Penny capitalized by taking the lead with three laps to go down the front stretch.  With the right rear tire completed disintegrated, Duke Racing was unable to mount a comeback and had to settle for second place, their best finish of the season.

Greenwood Valley Action Track -- 4/16/05

Saturday night, Duke Racing made their first trip of the season to the Greenwood Valley Action Track.  On this night, Duke Racing decided to switch to their backup engine which was the same motor that was responsible for 19 burnt pistons last season, using the night as a tuning session for the spare bullet.  After being tuned up by Hammer Racing Engines during the off season, the motor performed up to standards during the practice session but still had room for improvement.  Several adjustments were made and Duke Racing lined up for the qualifying event.  After the first circuit, Duke Racing found themselves in the third position and quickly disposed of the second place car.  As the race went on, Duke Racing would gain significantly on the leader in every corner.  With few laps remaining, Duke Racing was stalking the leader.  On the white flag lap, Duke Racing patiently waited until the last corner of the last lap and then pulled the trigger and stormed by the leader off turn four to capture heat race victory by inches.  Very happy with the King Racing Chassis, no changes were made.  By luck of the handicapped draw, Duke Racing would start the feature event in the eighth position.  When the green flag dropped, Duke Racing quickly slid backwards as the track picked up a lot of moisture and became very sticky which caused the King Racing Chassis to become very tight.  Duke Racing quickly went to work in the cockpit, making drastic wing and shock changes as they settled in the tenth position.  Once the adjustments were made, Duke Racing went to work slicing through the field on the bottom of the racetrack.  The increasingly colder, wetter air played havoc on the engine in the feature event as the engine began to stumble due to the excess fuel load.  Still, Duke Racing was able to make some headway and finished the event in the 5^th position to capture the teams 6^th straight top six finish, already matching their season total from 2004.

Selinsgrove Raceway Park -- 4/08/05

Friday night, Duke Racing made their 3^rd start of the season at the Selinsgrove Raceway Park.  After finishing third in both of the previous outings, Duke Racing made significant changes to the King Racing Chassis during the week and went to the track with a completely different setup looking for the edge to get them to victory lane.  During the second of three qualifying events, Duke Racing took the lead and started blazing the 1/5^th mile oval in near record time.  When the checkered flag fell, Duke Racing had the pack covered by nearly a half lap.  Satisfied with the performance, Duke Racing made no changes for the feature event.  By luck of the draw, Duke Racing lined up for the feature event in the 7^th position.  On lap 2, the driver starting in 5^th tried to pass the entire second row with a 3-wide move down the front stretch, taking out he second row and collecting Duke Racing in the process.  With a bent steering arm, Duke Racing rejoined the race at the back of the 20 car pack.  When racing resumed, Duke Racing stood on the gas and stormed their way back through the field.  Duke Racing sliced through traffic and was able to recover to the fifth position until time ran out and the checkered flag fell, giving Duke Racing their 3^rd top 5 finish in as many races.

Hill Valley Speedway -- 4/09/05

Saturday, Duke Racing made their first trip of the year to the Hill Valley Speedway.  After a 2 hour delay due to poorly prepared track conditions, Duke Racing lined up on the outside of row two for the first qualifying heat race.  Duke Racing struggled on their first visit of the year to the quarter-mile, and was unable to gain any ground in the heat race, finishing fourth.  During the intermission, Duke Racing made many changes to the King Racing Chassis and lined up for the feature event in the 7^th position.  Unfortunately the bad luck would continue as Duke Racing developed a fouled out spark plug before the green flag fell.  With a misfiring engine, due to the spark plug, Duke Racing was able to hold their own in the top ten until a red flag fell about midway through the event.  After making several in-cockpit adjustments to the King Racing Chassis, the car came to life and spit and sputtered its way into the 4^th position.  Duke Racing then engaged in a torrid battle for the third position with DBY house driver, Stevie Dunmire, for the third position, exchanging it several times.  Unfortunately, Dunmire developed an engine problem and stopped suddenly right in front of Duke Racing.  Unable to avoid collision, Duke Racing jumped the right rear tire of the disabled car and collided with the front stretch wall causing major damage to the steering components of the King Racing Chassis.  With an erratically behaving car, Duke Racing was able to hobble home in the 6^th position when the checkered flag fell for their 4^th straight top 6 finish of the season.

Selinsgrove Raceway Park -- 4/01/05

Friday night, Duke Racing ventured to their home track, Selinsgrove Raceway Park for the second week of competition.  After last weeks top-3 performance, hopes were high that Duke Racing could find victory lane for the first time at the speedway in micro sprint car competition.  Unusually fast track conditions met the teams, as the speedway surface was prepared to perfection.  After the hot lap session, it became apparent that the slick track setup the team had been using at Raceway Park would need some major adjustments as the team was over 3 tenths a second a lap off the pace during the practice session.  Before the heat race, Duke Racing made several chassis adjustments to the King Racing Chassis and lined up in the fifth position for the second qualifying event.  When the green flag dropped, immediately Duke Racing moved up to the fourth position and engaged in an eight lap long duel with some of the tracks best competitors for the second and third final handicapping positions.  Battling a tight condition, Duke Racing was unable to maneuver around the third place car and finished in the fourth position leaving them with an outside, 4^th row starting position for the feature event.  Before lining up for the feature race, Duke Racing went to work by making more significant changes to the King Racing Chassis.  Unsure of exactly what to expect, Duke Racing dropped the hammer when the green flag flew, and moved up to the fifth position by lap 2.  After a brief caution flag, Duke Racing quickly disposed of the 4^th place car and set their sights on the leaders.  After another caution flag around halfway, Duke Racing was sitting in the third position, gaining ground on the leaders.  When racing resumed, Duke Racing started to apply the pressure to the front 2, however after a long green flag run, the King Racing Chassis started to tighten up and the Hoosier Racing tires started to overheat.  With 5 laps remaining, two cars crashed in turn 2 causing the red flag to be displayed.  During the red flag period, Duke Racing discussed race strategy and made a few in-cockpit changes to the King Racing Chassis.  When racing resumed, Duke Racing gave a bonsai run to the front, but could not make the pass as Duke Racing ran out of racetrack entering turn three and jumped a tire on the inside of the track.  This killed any momentum Duke racing had, and with one lap left, Duke Racing was able to hold on to the position and finish third for the second consecutive week.

Selinsgrove Raceway Park -- 3/25/05

Last Friday night, Duke Racing made the 2 mile venture for the season opener at Selinsgrove Raceway Park.  With temperatures dipping into the 30’s during the evening, Duke Racing looked to build some momentum going into the 2005 racing season.  It didn’t take long for Duke Racing to get that first checkered flag as they dominated their qualifying race by leading wire to wire and massing over a straight away lead by the time the checkered flag fell.  Luck of the draw would have Duke Racing starting in the third position for the feature event.  Happy with their heat race performance, Duke Racing decided to make no changes for the feature event.  When the green flag fell, Duke Racing immediately stormed to the inside of the pole sitter with a 3-wide move down the front straightaway.  Once the lead pack got to turn one, Duke Racing fell victim to the sloppy track conditions as the outside line went by and Duke Racing settled into the third position.  Throughout the race, Duke Racing tried to mount a charge on the leaders, but the wet and tacky track conditions made it nearly impossible to make a pass stick.  Duke Racing was able to get along side the second place car on several occasions, but was unable to complete the pass.  After only one brief caution, the race continued non-stop until the checkered flag fell on a strong, but somewhat disappointing third place finish.  

Trailways Speedway -- 3/19/05

On Saturday afternoon, the 2005 racing season was kicked off at the Hanover, 3/8^th mile oval known as Trail-Ways Speedway.  The dry-slick conditions and super long straight-aways are the conditions which make this track much different than any other on the local circuit.  In only their second ever visit to the speedway in a micro, Duke Racing was not sure what to expect.  On a bright and sunny, spring-like day, over 45 270 micros jammed the pit area.  With line ups being set by luck of the draw, Duke Racing greatly hampered their efforts by pulling 81 out of 100.   After a brief practice session, which allowed Duke Racing to work some of the bugs out of the King Racing Chassis, Duke Racing would line up in the 10^th position in the second of 4 qualifying heats in which only 5 would qualify.  When the green flag dropped, the brand new Hammer Racing Engine roared to life as Duke Racing began moving through the pack.  After a red flag for a wild wreck in turn two, Duke Racing engaged in a 3 car race for the final transfer position.  A caution flag flew with one lap to go.  Duke Racing was sitting in the 5^th and final transfer position, but when racing resumed, the new Hammer Racing Engine kicked up it heels and galloped up along side the 4^th place car as Duke Racing briefly had thoughts of making a handicapped qualifying spot.  However as the King Racing Chassis entered turn one, Duke Racing could not make the past stick on the slick speedway surface and had to settle for the final transfer spot.  Happy with their performance thus far, Duke Racing team engineers only made a small adjustment to chassis and then debated their compound choice for the right rear of the car for the feature event.  After deciding on a harder right rear tire, Duke Racing lined up for the feature event in the 18^th position of 24 high-profile, seasoned veterans.  When the green flag dropped, Duke Racing started slowly making their way through the field.  My mid-race, the team had moved up to the top half of the field only to have two drivers getting together directly in front of the Paul Stine Chevrolet racing entry causing a flat tire on one car which developed into a accident which collected Duke Racing, relegating them to the rear of the field with no real damage.  When racing resumed, Duke Racing shot out of a cannon, slicing their way back toward the front of the pack, however time ran out in the event and Duke Racing settled for a 13^th place finish when the checkered flag dropped.  Overall a satisfying performance as the team is greatly looking forward to getting on some of their home tracks and showing the micro sprint community what they are going to be capable of in 2005.