Photo courtesy of Images LTD
LAS VEGAS (April 8, 2013) – A final
round showing at the SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals couldn’t have come at a
better time for Chris Demke and his Peen Rite/OSI/801 Racing Top Alcohol
Dragster team. Coming off a first round loss at the Vegas regional and just one
qualifying run this weekend, Demke was able to turn on the win light three
times before falling to 801 Racing teammate Joey Severance in the final round
by just over a foot.
Due to a low car count, TAD qualifying
was cut to just two sessions instead of the national event standard three.
Though he was able to click off a 5.44 to put him in the show during the final
session on Saturday, Chris didn’t even have a time on the board after Friday.
An empty air bottle prevented the Maddern Racing entry from making a qualifying
run in the opening session, as Chris explains.
“We go up for the first qualifying
session and crew member Kevin Watson turned on the air bottle. I hit a button
on the steering wheel to make sure there’s air – no air. We usually have a
spare air bottle in the tool tray but we forgot it on this run. In hindsight,
we should’ve at least started the car and taken the green light so we would be
on the run order. Now we’re down to one session and we’re not even on the
qualifying sheet. We went into the final session with a conservative tune-up
that we knew would make it go down the track. It ran 5.44, which ended up being
good enough for fifth.”
That lined Demke up with asphalt drag
racing rookie Ashley Sanford first round.
“I was way more nervous going into that
round than I should’ve been, due to a lack of run data for the weekend and
racing someone new. Everything went well; no games on the starting line and she
ripped off a .025 light, which I certainly commend her for. I think she’s got a
good future in the category. We ran a 5.38 to move on, so we were happy about
that, even though it did hurt two pistons,” Demke said.
Team owner Jerry Maddern and the team
spent Saturday night preparing the car for a long day of eliminations on
Sunday. Consistency followed on raceday. Second round saw Demke beat Aaron
Olivarez with another 5.38. The Californian driver used a big holeshot and 5.40
run to move past Megan McKernan’s 5.53. Fellow blown alcohol driver Joey
Severance would be his final round opponent.
“For the final round, we turned the
screws on it and shortened the wick. It hopped up and was on what appeared to
be a mid-to-high 5.3 run. Unfortunately a lifter broke 2.9 seconds into the
run. It made it to the finish line but you could tell it was hurt. I ran 5.444
and Severance ran 5.454. Joey got me on the starting line and won by three
thousandths of a second. It was disappointing to lose but we kept our national
event final round record alive at six final rounds. We got our bearing problem
solved so we’re ready to go to the next race and win some more rounds,” Demke
said after the race.
Chris was quick to thank the people who
had the Peen Rite/OSI/801 Racing dragster running mean all weekend – team owner
Jerry Maddern, crew members Kevin Watson, Mike Demke, Adam Rhoades, Ron Mann, Greg
Rice, and Mike Garcia. The Maddern Racing team was joined by Patrick Hale,
creator of QUARTERJr. and Nitro Tuner software.
…
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We believe true happiness comes from
blazing down the blacktop with the pedal to the metal and our hair on fire. The
whiter our knuckles get, the better. If it were up to us, cars wouldn't even
have brakes, just two gas pedals. It's this never-ending need for speed that
drives everything we do. We spend countless hours in the lab and lying awake at
night plotting and planning how to get more speed by any means possible. After
decades of research and innovation, we've developed a complete line of
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its potential on the street and on the track.
We know what you want. We got what you need. We are 801 Racing. For more information on 801 racing, please
visit: www.801Racing.com.
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