As Shakedown founder and promoter, Dave Hance was shredded in more different directions than most people can fathom or appreciate. The upheaval included first a three-week delay because of the weather. Then he learned that several headliner cars would be absent because they were taken to Qatar for the start of the season there.  Once he had a respectable car count that approached 200 entries,  he had to deal with a rash of ugly accidents.  Joe Newsham's came during qualifying and several more -- along with massive clean-ups -- happened during eliminations.

Add to that his concerns about his own '93 Mustang as he competed in the Pro Torque Converters Drag Radial class.
 
Yet Hance looked like a cool customer throughout the weekend, qualifying No. 1 (with a 7.103-second E.T. and 217.88-mph speed) and blazing through the field Sunday, sharing the class time record with Alex Vrettos and rewriting the speed mark.

As Shakedown at E'town founder and promoter, Dave Hance was shredded in more different directions than most people can fathom or appreciate. The upheaval included first a three-week delay because of the weather. Then he learned that several headliner cars would be absent because they were taken to Qatar for the start of the season there.  Once he had a respectable car count that approached 200 entries,  he had to deal with a rash of ugly accidents.  Joe Newsham's came during qualifying and several more -- along with massive clean-ups -- happened during eliminations.

Add to that his concerns about his own '93 Mustang as he competed in the Pro Torque Converters Drag Radial class.
 
Yet Hance looked like a cool customer throughout the weekend, qualifying No. 1 (with a 7.103-second E.T. and 217.88-mph speed) and blazing through the field Sunday, sharing the class time record with Alex Vrettos and rewriting the speed mark.
 
He looked like a shoo-in to grab the $5,000 winner's payout at his own event. Instead, he pocketed $2,000 as runner-up to Dwayne "Big Daddy" Gutridge of nearby Toms River, N.J.
 
Hance and Vrettos, the No. 3 qualifier, matched history-making low E.T.s with 6.983 en route to the final. Vrettos ran his barrier-breaking number first, with a 212.73-mph speed, but Hance followed with a faster 214.04 clocking. However, the run cost him $3,000, for something in his Mustang broke. The crew, who had helped him win at Orlando the previous weekend and prepped the car for the consistent 6.8s and 6.9s he cranked out round after round here, was unable to fix the problem for the final.
 
Hance stood at the starting line, clapping for Gutridge, who, incidentally, was one of the "Magnificent Seven" drivers who joined him at the first Shakedown in 2003. He might have been groaning when he saw Gutridge's '89 Mustang roll to a 12.598-second pass at 92.46.
 
Just the same, Hance called this "a dream weekend," proving that he is the ultimate optimist. He simply calls it passion. "When I'm working on Shakedown stuff and I'm typing at my computer," Hance said, "my wife will come over and ask why in the world I'm banging so violently on the keyboard. I just get excited about the Shakedown."        
 
He had plenty to excite him in the seventh edition of the event, even if he did everything but land in the winners circle.

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