Demke Trying to Add Another Highlight to Heartland History

Courtesy of NVW Motorsports Promotion
Photo courtesy of Maddern Racing

TOPEKA, Kan. (May 16, 2013) – Top Alcohol Dragster frontrunner Chris Demke is entering the Kansas Nationals this weekend with assurance that his Jerry Maddern-owned car will make clean runs all weekend long. The Peen Rite/OSI/801 Racing blown alcohol dragster is coming off of a semifinal finish at Charlotte and number two qualifying position at the last race in Houston. Possibly as important as strong performances are healthy performances.

                                            

“I’m confident that our motor issues are behind us,” Demke claimed. “We proved that at Charlotte and on the two runs we made at Houston. We brought the car back to the shop, and for the first time in many months, the motor that was in the car was able to stay in the car. For Topeka, we can just concentrate on making the car go fast.”

The Southern California team is one of the few west coast teams making the trip to the heartland to race with some of the strongest A/Fuel cars in the country. Demke hopes to make the best of the trip by adding another highlight to Maddern Racing’s history at Heartland Park Topeka.

“As far away as Topeka is from our race shop in California, we’ve actually raced there quite a few times. Our team has never won at Topeka, but I’ve been to the final round three times, losing to Steve Torrence, Sean O’Bannon, and the late Mark Niver. Though we’ve had some success there, I also lost first round to Brittany Force,” Chris remarked.

Chris Demke’s rival blown alcohol competitor, Jim Whiteley, is not on the race’s entry list as of press time. A stout field of A/Fuel cars and a few blown cars will still keep Demke and the Peen Rite/OSI/801 Racing team on their toes.

“It’s one less competitor to worry about - and he’s certainly the toughest guy out there – but I am in no way overly confident. There are plenty of tough names on the list – Randy Meyer’s car, Rich McPhillips, Duane Shields will be there with a new car, and Mark Taliaferro with a new blown car. Not having Whiteley there is one less tough competitor to worry about but I’m not taking any of the other guys for granted. Any one of them has the ability to win the race,” Chris said before the race.

Chris and the Maddern Racing team will be joined by one of their newest sponsors this weekend, Kansas City-based Operational Solutions, Inc., an industry leader in blow molding and PET bottling.

“We’re looking forward to hosting Kent Goss from Operational Solutions this weekend. This is the closest national event to their headquarters. We would love to win the race with one of our biggest supporters in attendance.”

Maddern Racing, celebrating 20 years of competition in 2013, is a family-owned and operated NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster team based in Southern California. The Chris Demke-driven Peen Rite/OSI/801 Racing dragster is owned by Jerry Maddern and crewed by Adam Rhoades, Kevin Watson, Mike Demke, and Ron Mann. For more information on Maddern Racing, please visit www.MaddernRacing.com.

Maddern Racing receives support from the following companies: Peen Rite Inc., Operational Solutions Inc., 801 Racing, A1 Technologies, Boninfante Friction Inc., and Hoosier Racing Tire.